Aśvaghoṣa in Two Ideas
the essentialsThe Buddha's life as epic
The Buddhacarita tells the Buddha’s life in the high style of court poetry — the palace, the four sights, the great departure, the awakening.
Poetry as medicine
“This poem is written not for pleasure but for peace — like bitter medicine mixed with honey.”
Aśvaghoṣa (c. 80–150 CE) was a Buddhist philosopher, poet and dramatist, born a Brahmin at Sāketa (Ayodhyā) and, by tradition, converted to Buddhism and associated with the court of the Kuṣāṇa emperor Kaniṣka. He is the earliest great poet of classical Sanskrit court poetry (kāvya) whose works survive. His Buddhacarita (“Acts of the Buddha”) is the first full poetic biography of the Gautama Buddha — his birth, the luxury of the palace, the four sights (an old man, a sick man, a corpse and an ascetic) that awaken him to suffering, the women of the harem asleep in disarray, his great departure at night on his horse Kanthaka, his austerities, his victory over Māra and his awakening. His Saundarananda tells how the Buddha converted his half-brother Nanda, who longed for his beautiful wife Sundarī. Fragments of his play Śāriputraprakaraṇa, found at Turfan in Central Asia, are the oldest known Sanskrit drama. Aśvaghoṣa declared that he wrote poetry not for pleasure but to lead readers to peace, “as bitter medicine is mixed with honey”. His style prefigures that of Kālidāsa.
Curiosities
did you know?- Fragments of his drama Śāriputraprakaraṇa found in Central Asia are the oldest surviving Sanskrit plays.
- He was, by tradition, a Brahmin converted to Buddhism, and a spiritual adviser to the Kuṣāṇa emperor Kaniṣka.
Questions to Argue About
debate club →- Can beauty serve truth — or does it distract from it?
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