Two Great Kashmiri
Buddhist Scholars
Buddhayasa
Buddhayasa was a well-known
Buddhist scholar of
Kashmir and contemporary of Kumarajiva (d. 413). The latter
had studied under Buddhayasa. The two were good personal fris. Buddhayasa hailed
from a Brahmin family of
Kashmir. His father, who did
believe in religion of Tathagata and had insulted a monk, suffered from many
physical ailments later. The son at the age 13, however, enrolled himself in a
monastery under a monk. At the age of 19, he could recite millions of words of
Hinayana and Mahayana texts. Since he was quite proud of his learning, others
felt jealous of him. Buddhayasa did not join holy orders till the age of 27. For
higher learning he moved to Kashgar. Crown Prince Dharmaputra was much impressed
with his learning and asked him to stay in the palace. Kumarajiva had also come
there. He studied the whole of Abhidharmapitaka under Buddhayasa for a
year here. Buddhayasa continued to stay in Kashgar, even after Kumarajiva left
for Kucha. The fall of Kucha to Chinese resulted in Kumarajiva being taken as
prisoner to China.
This pained Buddhayasa much.
He persuaded the Kashgar ruler to s an army to Kucha in 382 AD to fight Chinese
aggression, more for the sake of the security of his fri Kumarajiva. Buddhyasa
personally accompanied the force which reached there after the fall of Kucha.
Later on he too left for China to join Kumarajiva, ignoring the advice of the
ruler and quitting secretly. The two outstanding Buddhist savants settled down
at Changngan and collaborated to jointly translate four works into Chinese,
including the Dirghagama and Dharma-guptaka-Vinaya between 410 and 413. As
teacher of Kumarajiva, he received the honorific maha-vibhasa. Buddhayasa loved
his homeland and passed his last days in Kashmir.
Gunavarman
Gunavarman was a famous
Buddhist scholar from
Kashmir. He was a prince from the royal family of
Kashmir. His father
Sanghananda and grandfather Haribhadra were banished from the Kingdom, the
latter for his oppressive rule and the former for his father's lapses.
Gunavarman left home at the age of twenty and became a monk, even though he had
been offered to head his paternal Kingdom. He mastered the Buddhist cannon in
all its sections, and the agamas. He first went to Ceylon and then to Java,
where he converted the Royal family to Buddhism. His name and fame attracted the
attention of the Chinese emperor. The latter personally invited him. Gunavarman
reached Nanking (China) in 431 AD. During his short stay of one year at the
Jetavana monastery he was able to translate eleven works into Chinese. It was
here that another Kashmiri scholar Dharmamitra collaborated with him in these
translations
Source: Kashmir
Sentinel
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