Karandavyuha Sutra
by Mithun Howladar | 2018 | 73,554 words
This page relates “Literary compositions of Buddhist poets in pure Sanskrit” of the Karandavyuha Sutra (analytical study): an important 4th century Sutra extolling the virtues and powers of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara. The Karandavyuhasutra also introduces the mantra “Om mani padme hum” into the Buddhist Sutra tradition.
Part 5 - Literary compositions of Buddhist poets in pure Sanskrit
The poetic compositions of following poets are worth mentioning:
- Aśvaghoṣa,
- Kumāralatā,
- Mātracetā,
- Āryasura.
A) Poet Aśvaghoṣa composed following compositions:
1) Buddhacaritam [in 27 cantos, in flawless Sanskrit, Created by a real poet, biography of the Buddha from his birth till his lost nower].
2) The Saundarnanda-Kāvya.
3) The Vajra-suci or "Biomend Needle".
4) The Gandistotra-Gāthā.
B) Kumaralatā:
Kumaralatā, a junior contemporary of Aśvaghoṣa, composed "Kalpanamanditika, which is a collection of holy legends after the manner of the Jātakas and the Avadānas. These stories are narrated in prose and verse in the style of ornate poetry".
C) Mātracetā:
Mātracetā, a contemporary to Aśvaghoṣa, composed:
1) Catuh-śataka stotra or "the hymn of four hundred verses" and
2) The Śatapañcaśatika-stotra or "The Hymn of one hundred and fifty verses" (Fragments of both of these have come down to us in simple and unadorned, but beautiful language).
D) Āryasura:
Ārya-sura composed "Jātakamāla" or the "garland of Jātakas" containing 34 Jātaka tales. These stories are composed in ornate and elegant Sanskrit language and are intended to illustrate the perfections or pāramitās of a Bodhisattva. The boundless compassion of the Bodhisattva in also glorified in most of the tales.