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Kumārajīva (Sanskrit: कुमारजीव; traditional Chinese: 鳩摩羅什; simplified Chinese: 鸠摩罗什; pinyin: Jiūmóluóshí; Wade–Giles: Chiu 1 mo 2 lo 2 shih 2, 344–413 CE) [1] was a Buddhist monk, scholar, missionary and translator from Kucha (present-day Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang, China).
- Life
- Translation Style
- Legacy
- See Also
- References
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Family and background
Kumārajīva's father Kumārāyana was from the present day Kashmir and his mother was a Kuchan princess who significantly influenced his early studies. His grandfather Ta-to is supposed to have had a great reputation. His father became a monk, left Kashmir, crossed the Pamir Mountains and arrived in Kucha, where he became the royal priest. The sister of the king, Jīva, also known as Jīvaka, married him and they produced Kumārajīva. Jīvaka joined the Tsio-li nunnery, north of Kucha, when Kumārajī...
Childhood and education
When his mother Jīvaka joined the Tsio-li nunnery, Kumārajīva was just seven but is said to have already committed many texts and sutras to memory. He proceeded to learn Abhidharma, and after two years, at the age of nine, he was taken to Kashmir by his mother to be better educated under Bandhudatta. There he studied Dīrgha Āgama, Madhyama Āgama and the Kṣudraka, before returning with his mother three years later. On his return via Tokharestan and Kashgar, an arhat predicted that he had a bri...
Early fame in Kucha
In Turpan his fame spread after beating a Tirthika teacher in debate, and King Po-Shui of Kucha came to Turpan to ask Kumārajīva personally to return with him to Kucha city. Kumārajīva obliged and returned to instruct the king's daughter A-kie-ye-mo-ti, who had become a nun, in the Mahāsannipāta and Avatamsaka Sutras. At age 20, Kumārajīva was fully ordained at the king's palace, and lived in a new monastery built by king Po-Shun. Notably, he received Vimalākṣa who was his preceptor, a Sarvās...
Kumarajiva revolutionized Chinese Buddhism, in clarity and overcoming the previous "geyi" (concept-matching) system of translation through use of Daoist and Confucian terms. His translation style was distinctive, possessing a flowing smoothness that reflects his prioritization on conveying the meaning as opposed to precise literal rendering. Becaus...
Important translations
Among the most important texts translated by Kumārajīva are: 1. Diamond Sutra 2. Amitabha Sutra 3. Lotus Sutra 4. Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra 5. Mūlamadhyamakakārikā 6. Aṣṭasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 7. Mahāprajñāpāramitāupadeśa which was a commentary (attributed to Nagarjuna) on the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra.
Students
Kumarajiva had four main disciples: 1. Daosheng（竺道生）, 2. Sengzhao（釋僧祐）, 3. Daorong(道融), and 4. Sengrui（僧睿）.
Nattier, Jan. The Heart Sutra: A Chinese Apocryphal Text?. Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Vol. 15 (2), 153-223 (1992).Puri, B. N. Buddhism in Central Asia, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1987 (2000 reprint)Lu, Yang (2004). Narrative and Historicity in the Buddhist Biographies of Early Medieval China: The Case of Kumārajīva, Asia Major, Third Series, 17 (2), 1-43Kumarajiva was a Buddhist monk, scholar, translator and philosopher from Kucha Kingdom in China. He translated many Sanskrit texts into Chinese, introduced the Madhyamaka school of Mahayana Buddhism, and influenced the Sanlun school.
Kumarajiva (343/344-413) was a Buddhist scholar and seer who translated Buddhist scriptures from Sanskrit into Chinese. He was influential in disseminating Buddhist ideas in China and founded the Sanlun school of Buddhism based on the Madhyamika tradition.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Kumārajīva was a Kuchean Buddhist monk, scholar, and translator who lived in the 4th and 5th centuries CE. He translated many Buddhist texts from Sanskrit to Chinese, and influenced the development of Chinese Buddhism.
Kumārajīva (350–409 or 413), the most important translator in East Asian Buddhist history, was born to a noble family in Kucha, a center of largely main-stream Buddhist schools on the northern branch of the Silk Road. His native language, now known as Tokharian B, belonged to the Indo-European family.
Kumārajīva (Simplified Chinese: 鸠摩罗什; Traditional Chinese: 鳩摩羅什; Pinyin:Jiūmóluóshí; also Kiu-kiu-lo, Kiu-mo-lo-che, Kiu-mo-to-tche-po, Tang-cheu), (b. 344 C.E. – d. 413 C.E.) was a Kuchean Buddhist monk, scholar , and translator, famed for his encyclopedic knowledge of Indian and Vedantic learning.
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5 days ago · Learn about Kumārajīva, a central Asian Buddhist monk who travelled to China and became one of the ‘four great translators’ of Chinese Buddhist texts. Find out his life story, his translations of key sūtras, and his influence on Buddhist doctrine.
