Buddhacarita

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Nicholas Weeks
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Buddhacarita

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

From the Chinese, the famous life of Buddha by Ashvagosha. Supposedly more prosaic than the lyrical Sansksrit - Numata 2009.

They also have it online, for free, in PDF: https://www.bdkamerica.org/digital/dBET ... a_2009.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by Nicholas Weeks on Sat May 28, 2011 10:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
Nicholas Weeks
Posts: 4209
Joined: Mon Apr 06, 2009 4:21 am
Location: California

Re: Buddhacarita

Post by Nicholas Weeks »

Maybe I am the most (surely not the only) bookish chap here, but if there are others who have studied any of the titles mentioned in the Book Review section, then chime in with your thoughts. Or add a notice of some other titles that have passed your way.

For example, has anyone read the Johnston translation (I think it was) Buddhacarita from the Sanskrit?
May all seek, find & follow the Path of Buddhas.
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Kare
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Location: Norway

Re: Buddhacarita

Post by Kare »

Will wrote:Maybe I am the most (surely not the only) bookish chap here, but if there are others who have studied any of the titles mentioned in the Book Review section, then chime in with your thoughts. Or add a notice of some other titles that have passed your way.

For example, has anyone read the Johnston translation (I think it was) Buddhacarita from the Sanskrit?
I read part of it along with studying the Sanskrit text years ago. But I have not looked at it since, so at the moment I really couldn't say much about it.
Kåre A. Lie
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Astus
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Re: Buddhacarita

Post by Astus »

Not too long ago I've read a partial (some later chapters were missing) Hungarian translation made from the Sanskrit. The whole text is as kitschy and Bollywood-Indian as it can be. It wasn't a pleasure to read. Although the chapter on Kantaka (the Buddha's horse) was so absurd that it was funny. Well, I guess Kantaka is my favourite character in the entire story.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?

2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.

3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.

4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.


1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
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