Buddhacarita, the story of Buddha was a Mahākāvya written by Aśvaghoṣa.
Buddhacarita – This is the story of Buddha from his birth to the last day of his life otherwise known as Mahānirvāṇa. Full Sanskrit version of this Mahākāvya is not available and only up to 14 sargas or chapters are available. There are 28 sargas/ chapters in the Chinese and Tibetan translation of this Mahākāvya. Aśvaghoṣa’s another work is called Saundarānanda. The Sanskrit version is available in full and this also deals with Buddha’s life in general and in particular about Saundarānanda’s conversion to Buddhism. Few philosophical works, Gandi- stotras (eulogies on Buddha) are also said to be written by Aśvaghoṣa. However, there are no confirming evidences for such claims. Śārīputraprakaraṇam
Prakaraṇam means a social drama and a part of it is written by Aśvaghoṣa. It is about his celebrated disciples and their conversion to Buddhism.
Prakaraṇam means a social drama and a part of it is written by Aśvaghoṣa. It is about his celebrated disciples and their conversion to Buddhism.
Buddhacarita – This work gives a faithful description about the life of Buddha from the time of his birth until his death. Prior to getting Jñāna or wisdom, Buddha was known as Sarvārthasiddha. He was from a place called Kapilavastu in North India and his tribe was known as Śākya-s and thus he is also known as Śākyamuni, Śākyasimha etc. Sarvārthasiddha father was Śuddhodana and his mother was Mayādevī and hence in Amarakoṣaḥ it is said māyādīvīsutaśca saḥ । śauddhodaniḥ which means Mayādevī’s son. According to Aśvaghoṣa’s story that even before Budhdha’s birth it was well known that he was going to be a great person and there was a shower of flowers when he was born with the beating of drums and all the Devas like Indras came secretly and saw the child that was born. King Śuddhodana enquired about the future of his child to his teacher Asita and he was told that his son would either become a great teacher or a great King. Though King Śuddhodana wanted his son to be a King, the wish of God was very different from King’s wish. Intentionally, Sarvārthasiddha was brought up without being exposed to any sorrow like sickness, death etc. And when he became a youth his father arranged his marraige with a beautiful girl called Yaśodharā. And thus all through his young age Sarvārthasiddha lived a very happy life indulging in all pleasures and there was absolutely no dearth of anything. His wife gave birth to a son whom they named Rāhul and this way the prince’s life progressed exactly as per the wishes of his father. However, as he was born for a special purpose and was destined to be a great teacher of the whole world, he eventually got exposed all the miseries of human life to old age, sickness etc. and decides to leave the Kingdom, his father, his wife and his son determined to find a solution for all the problems and sorrows in this world. And therefore, at night he leaves the palace after mounting a horse brought by his servant and his servant also followed him. After travelling a bit, Sarvārthasiddha dismounted the horse and asked his servant to return to the Kingdom. Though the servant tried to convince him to return Sarvārthasiddha refused and continued his journey. During the course of his journey, he met many people and teachers who tried to teach him various philosophies like Sāṅkhya etc. None of them were satisfactory to the prince and in the meanwhile his father sent a minister to him and asked him to return and advised him about the various responsibilities upon him as a Prince, husband, son and a father and asked him to seek the knowledge that he was aspiring for upon completion of his responsibilities. The prince sent them back saying that his time on earth was so limited and that there was no guarantee that he would live long to get the knowledge that he was seeking. And then he went on to do serious penance in order to get the knowledge that he sought and during his penance a demon called Mara tried to dissuade him from this path of penance but was not successful. And finally, after seven years of severe penance he got the flash of knowledge and understood the secrets of world. It was a very significant day and was a full moon day. Incidentally, he was also born on the full moon day of the Vaiśākha month and Mahānirvāṇa, the day he left the world after 80 years was also Vaiśākha Śuddha Pūrṇimā. He delivered his first sermon or teaching called Dharmacakraprāvartana (Turning the wheels as per the law of the world) and this was done after consuming the pāyasam (a sweet dish) brought by a woman. And with his first teaching it was indeed very clear that this Sidhārtha/ Sarvārthasiddha had attained the light of knowledge and everyone were so impressed with his words and became his disciples. Saundarānanda – The book got the name from the hero of this book called Saundarānanda. It is also said that this book is named so because the name of the hero was Nanda and his wife’s name was Sundarī. Nanda was the half-brother of Sarvārthasiddha/ Buddha. Nanda was an enamored husband who wanted to be in the company of his wife Sundarī at all times. Sundarī, true to her name was an extremely beautiful woman. Relentlessly, Buddha tried to teach Nanda the principle of Vairāgya or renunciation. Nanda did not want to leave his wife at all and after several efforts by Buddha, once on an invitation from him, Nanda goes out with him. He was shown on a female monkey on a tree and was asked how the female monkey was in comparison with his wife. Nanda became furious at this comparison and asked Buddha how he could compare his beautiful wife with a monkey that had lost an eye and was also limping. To this Buddha replied that he would take his brother to upper worlds like heaven. Nanda was taken to the upper world and was shown Dēvatās, their wives, nymphs, beautiful dancers etc. Nanda was drowned in their beauty and wanted to remain in that world and enjoy their beauty. However, Buddha replied that for him to remain in that world, Nanda must do some serious penance under his directions. Nanda started doing penance under Buddha’s directions and understood that nothing is permanent in this world including beauty. He understood that his mission should only be for the highest truth and therefore gave up everything and joined the order. And the order and dharma being, buddhaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi । dharmaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi । saṅghaṃ śaraṇaṃ gacchāmi । And thus, Saundarānanda was converted to the path of Dharma.
The uniqueness of this work is that it brings out the various basic facets that affects a human existence and the focus on Buddhist Dharma throughout the work. During his life as a Prince, there were specific instructions to those around him from his father the King that he should not be exposed to anything that would bring detachment or Vairagya in the prince. However, as planned by destiny one day as he was driving a chariot, he saw an old man extremely weak, lusterless, bent at his waist. As he had never seen anybody like that Sarvārthasiddha questioned the charioteer about the appearance of this man. As per God’s wish, the charioteer conveniently forgot the King’s instructions and told him that the man’s sufferings were because of his old age. As the prince did not understand what old age was he questioned further and the charioteer replied, rūpasya hantrī vyasanaṃ balasya śokasya yoniḥ nidhanaṃ ratīnām ।
nāśassmṛtīnāṃ ripurindriyāṇāṃ eṣā jarā nāma yayaiṣa bhagnaḥ ॥
The meaning is – “This is jarā” – jarā is old age. rūpasya hantrī – This is the one that kills the beauty irrespective of who the person. It affects everybody including great kings that were once extremely mighty and ferocious. vyasanaṃ balasya - The strength that they once had is all destroyed and is śokasya yoniḥ is the origin of all kinds of sorrow. nidhanaṃ ratīnām nāśassmṛtīnāṃ – all kind of pleasures that one experienced is lost and even all the memories are lost. ripurindriyāṇāṃ – the sense organs refuse to cooperate and have lost all the strength and ripu (enemy) this old age is the greatest enemy to all the organs. On getting this reply the prince immediately asked, eṣā jarā nāma yayaiṣa bhagnaḥ ॥
Why did it happen this way and did he not eat well during his childhood? The charioteer replied that like any other child he also drank milk, grew up to become a strong youth, had a strong robust body and then lost everything as he became old. The charioteer’s reply is given in Sanskrit below.
pītaṃ hyanenāpi payaḥ śiśutve kālena bhūyaḥ parisṛptamurvyām ।
krameṇa bhuktvā ca yuvā vapuṣmān krameṇa tenaiva jarāmupetaḥ ॥
The prince asked the charioteer whether he would also become old and the charioteer that old age is inevitable that led to Prince’s deep thinking on the various facets of life. A few days later he sees a corpse and the charioteer explains that as Bhagavadgītā says “jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyuḥ” ।– One who is born should die and there are no exceptions.
With respct to Dharma, Aśvaghoṣa’s work is a hand made literature of Dharma. He used litearure as a tool to preach the principles of Buddhism. At the end of Saundarānanda , Aśvaghoṣa says
ityeṣā vypaśāntaye na rataye dharmārthagarbhākṛtiḥ ।
The meaning is – He says that it is written in such a way that it contains Dharma in its womb and in its heart and na rataye means that it is not for entertainment. Buddhacarita in few places has vivid descriptions of rivers, gardens but Aśvaghoṣa opines that tatkāvyadharmāt kṛtam all such descriptions are attract people and make them tread the path of Dharma. And for this he gives the example of pātuṃ tiktamivauṣadham – In order to swallow a pill that is extremely bitter, a bit of sugar may be added to reduce the bitterness. Aśvaghoṣa says in the same manner the glamours have been added to attract people to his work but the main goal is to teach Dharma.
nāśassmṛtīnāṃ ripurindriyāṇāṃ eṣā jarā nāma yayaiṣa bhagnaḥ ॥
The meaning is – “This is jarā” – jarā is old age. rūpasya hantrī – This is the one that kills the beauty irrespective of who the person. It affects everybody including great kings that were once extremely mighty and ferocious. vyasanaṃ balasya - The strength that they once had is all destroyed and is śokasya yoniḥ is the origin of all kinds of sorrow. nidhanaṃ ratīnām nāśassmṛtīnāṃ – all kind of pleasures that one experienced is lost and even all the memories are lost. ripurindriyāṇāṃ – the sense organs refuse to cooperate and have lost all the strength and ripu (enemy) this old age is the greatest enemy to all the organs. On getting this reply the prince immediately asked, eṣā jarā nāma yayaiṣa bhagnaḥ ॥
Why did it happen this way and did he not eat well during his childhood? The charioteer replied that like any other child he also drank milk, grew up to become a strong youth, had a strong robust body and then lost everything as he became old. The charioteer’s reply is given in Sanskrit below.
pītaṃ hyanenāpi payaḥ śiśutve kālena bhūyaḥ parisṛptamurvyām ।
krameṇa bhuktvā ca yuvā vapuṣmān krameṇa tenaiva jarāmupetaḥ ॥
The prince asked the charioteer whether he would also become old and the charioteer that old age is inevitable that led to Prince’s deep thinking on the various facets of life. A few days later he sees a corpse and the charioteer explains that as Bhagavadgītā says “jātasya hi dhruvo mṛtyuḥ” ।– One who is born should die and there are no exceptions.
With respct to Dharma, Aśvaghoṣa’s work is a hand made literature of Dharma. He used litearure as a tool to preach the principles of Buddhism. At the end of Saundarānanda , Aśvaghoṣa says
ityeṣā vypaśāntaye na rataye dharmārthagarbhākṛtiḥ ।
The meaning is – He says that it is written in such a way that it contains Dharma in its womb and in its heart and na rataye means that it is not for entertainment. Buddhacarita in few places has vivid descriptions of rivers, gardens but Aśvaghoṣa opines that tatkāvyadharmāt kṛtam all such descriptions are attract people and make them tread the path of Dharma. And for this he gives the example of pātuṃ tiktamivauṣadham – In order to swallow a pill that is extremely bitter, a bit of sugar may be added to reduce the bitterness. Aśvaghoṣa says in the same manner the glamours have been added to attract people to his work but the main goal is to teach Dharma.
His influence was so great that the Kings of Tibet, China etc wanted his works to be translated into their languages. And, many such works have survived the test of time only because of these translations. His mastery over the language is very evident in both the works and his usage of very special forms of verbs in several places is a great contribution to the language. The non- Pāṇini forms, the ones that are against the rules of Pāṇini is another contribution to Sanskrit literature.
Thus, both this works has brought out the precise elements of existence and the inherent quality of true Dharma.
Thus, both this works has brought out the precise elements of existence and the inherent quality of true Dharma.
1. द्वन्द्वानि सर्वस्य यतः प्रसक्तान्यलाभलाभप्रभृतीनि लोके । अतोऽपि नैकान्तसुखोऽस्ति कश्चिन्नैकान्तदुःखः पुरुषः पृथिव्याम् ॥ [बुद्धचरितम् ११.४३]
dvandvāni sarvasya yataḥ prasaktānyalābhalābhaprabhṛtīni loke ।
ato’pi naikāntasukho’sti kaścinnaikāntaduḥkhaḥ puruṣaḥ pṛthivyām ॥ [buddhacaritam 11.43]
Since the dualities of everything, such as gain and loss, are attached to this world; therefore there is no man on earth who has solitary happiness or solitary pain. Therefore, one should see everything equally.
2. जरा मृत्युश्च व्याधिश्च यदि न स्यादिदं त्रयम् ।
ममाऽपि हि मनोज्ञेषु विषयेषु रतिर्भवेत् ॥ [बुद्धचरितम्]
jarā mṛtyuśca vyādhiśca yadi na syādidaṃ trayam ।
mamā’pi hi manojñeṣu viṣayeṣu ratirbhavet ॥ [buddhacaritam]
If these three things, old age, death, and disease, were not in this world, I would be interested in things that make me happy.
dvandvāni sarvasya yataḥ prasaktānyalābhalābhaprabhṛtīni loke ।
ato’pi naikāntasukho’sti kaścinnaikāntaduḥkhaḥ puruṣaḥ pṛthivyām ॥ [buddhacaritam 11.43]
Since the dualities of everything, such as gain and loss, are attached to this world; therefore there is no man on earth who has solitary happiness or solitary pain. Therefore, one should see everything equally.
2. जरा मृत्युश्च व्याधिश्च यदि न स्यादिदं त्रयम् ।
ममाऽपि हि मनोज्ञेषु विषयेषु रतिर्भवेत् ॥ [बुद्धचरितम्]
jarā mṛtyuśca vyādhiśca yadi na syādidaṃ trayam ।
mamā’pi hi manojñeṣu viṣayeṣu ratirbhavet ॥ [buddhacaritam]
If these three things, old age, death, and disease, were not in this world, I would be interested in things that make me happy.