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Aśvaghoṣa (?80-?150 CE) (Devanagari: अश्वघोष) was an Indian philosopher-poet, born in Saketa in northern India. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet prior to Kālidāsa. He was the most famous in a group of Buddhist court writers, whose epics rivaled the contemporary Ramayana.[1] Whereas much of Buddhist literature prior to the time of Aśvaghoṣa had been composed in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, Aśvaghoṣa wrote in Classical Sanskrit.[2] He was first a student of non-Buddhist teaching, but upon losing an argument with Parshva converted to Buddhism. He became a religious adviser to the Kushan king Kanishka. He was not a Mahayanist,[3] and seems to have been ordained into a subsect of the Mahasanghikas.[4] According to Geshe Ngawang Dakpa of Sera Je Monastery in a 2008 Dharma Talk, "Aryadeva was an Ayurvedic medicine doctor monk just like Aśvaghoṣa and Nāgārjuna." He is said to be the author of the influential Buddhist text Awakening of Mahayana Faith, although modern scholars agree that the text was composed in China.[5][6] He also wrote an epic life of the Buddha called Buddhacharita[7] (Acts of the Buddha) in Sanskrit and the Mahalankara (Book of Glory). He also wrote Saundaranandakavya, a kavya poem with the theme of conversion of Nanda, Buddha’s half-brother, so that he might reach salvation. The first half of the work describes Nanda’s life, and the second half of the work describes Buddhist doctrines and ascetic practices.[8] [edit] References
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