asvaghosha

Updated: May 22, 2025

Firstly the Sanskrit Abhidharma of the Sarvâstivâdins seems to date from his council and secondly a Buddhist drama by Aśvaghosha of about the same time represents the Buddha as speaking in Sanskrit whereas the inferior characters speak Prakrit.

Sir Charles Eliot - Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1

It would be easier to give a precise description of its development if we were sure which of the works ascribed to these worthies are authentic, but it seems that Aśvaghosha represents an ornate and transitional phase of the older schools leading to Mahayanism, whereas Nâgârjuna is connected with the Prajñâ-pâramitâ and the nihilistic philosophy described in the preceding chapter.

Sir Charles Eliot - Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 2

This school was reckoned as Hinayanist and though Aśvaghosha enjoys general fame in the Far East as a Mahayanist doctor, yet his undoubted writings are not Mahayanist in the strict sense of the word . But a more ornate and mythological form of religion was becoming prevalent and perhaps Kanishka's Council arranged some compromise between the old and the new.

Sir Charles Eliot - Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch, Vol. 1