Buddhist Scholars

Buddhist Scholars
The most important turning point in the expansion of Buddhism in India was the emergence and conversion of Asoka the Great (304–232 BC) He embraced Buddhism after 8 years of his coronation, he became a Buddhist and made it his state religion in 260 BC He convened the third Buddhist council, which was held in Pataliputra in the presidency of Moggaliputta Tissa He launched a vigorous campaign to propagate Buddhism which could be called Asoka’s Dhamma Salient Notes on Some Buddhist Scholars are as follows:
Aśvaghosa
Aśvaghosa is the Greatest Indian Poet Prior to Kalidasa He is known as first Sanskrit Dramatist of the World His epics rivalled the contemporary Ramayana He wrote Buddhist texts in Classical Sanskrit
He was the court writer and religious advisor of Kushana king Kanishka His main works are Buddhacharita, Mahalankara (Book of Glory) and Saundaranandakavya (details the life of Nanda)
Nagarjuna
Nagarjuna founded the Madhyamika school of Mahayan Buddhism He was contemporary of Satavahana King Gautamiputra He was born in a Brahmin family in Nagarjunkonda in modern Andhra Pradesh
Due to his birth in Brahmin family and later conversion in Buddhism, it can be justified that his early work was in Sanskrit and not in Pali or Hybrid Sanskrit
Most important work is Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, which meansFundamental Verses on the Middle Way His theory is also known as Shunyavad “emptiness”