Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism

Sūtrālaṅkāra – 156
Sanskrit we have Buddhacarita which was translated into Chinese
between 414 and 421 by Dharmarakṣa. We have also the Vajrasūcī
which was translated into Chinese between 973 and 981 by Fa-hien.
In passing the Chinese translation describes the Vajrasūcī as a work
of Dharmakīrti. The ascription is not improbable, Dharmakīrti, like
Aśvaghoṣa, had received first his Brahmanic education. The Tibetan
translation has a special interest for Indians in that it has preserved
the memory of the important religious controversy against
Śaṅkarācārya. The Upaniṣad placed under the name of Śaṅkara
marks a phase in this religious struggle. It is possible that
Dharmakīrti published a new edition, revised and completed, of the
treatise originally composed by Aśvaghoṣa. The problem is highly
important for the literary history of India, because Vajrasūcī cites
passages from Manu and the Mahābhārata. We can imagine the
important consequences of discovering, if we can, the authentic text
of Aśvaghoṣa in the original Sanskrit.
Chinese reverence for Sanskrit texts
The works of Aśvaghoṣa, which remain to us both in Chinese and
Tibetan translations, are the Gurupañcaśatika, the
Daśakuśalakarmapaṭanirdeśa and lastly the exceedingly curious
Ghantistotra, which owing most probably to its secret character was
not translated but phonetically transcribed in Chinese charac ters.
[186] The complete Tibetan title of the Gurupañcaśatika indicates
the Tantric character of this work which is evident from its
introductory stanzas. Besides, the whole work is replete with
reference to the mystical symbols and doctrines of Tantra, the Vajra
Maṇḍala, and Abhiśeka. The Chinese version is presented to us as a
simple small compilation by the Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa. In fact, in