The Awakening of Faith: Introduction: Appellations
APPELLATIONS.
The author of the Mahâyânaçraddhotpâdaçâstra (Discourse on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahâyâna) is most commonly known in the Chinese Buddhist literature by the name of Açvaghosha. But according
(i.e., merit-sun; in Sanskrit, Puṇyaditya?). For he was not only a philosopher, but a preacher and an organiser, for "while in North India he widely propagated the doctrine of Buddha, led and benefited the masses, and through good and excellent [missionary] methods perfected the merits of the people." The Record of Buddha and the Patriarchs (Fo tsou t‘ung tsai), where it is stated that his other name was Kung-chang
(Puṇyaçrîka?), can be said almost to agree with the above. While thus no other name or appellation of his is known in China, Târanâtha mentions nine more names: Kâla (Time), Durdarsha (Hard-to-be-seen), Durdarshakâla (Hard-to-be-seen-time), Mâtṛceta (Mother-child), Pitṛceta (Father-child), Çûra (Hero), Dharmika-Subhûti (Virtuous-mighty), and Maticitra (Intelligence-bright). 1
In I-tsing's Correspondence from the South Sea (Nan hai chi kuei ch‘uan, 2 Chap. 32, "On chanting"), the name Mâtṛceta is mentioned, but I-tsing does not identify him with Açvaghosha, though the legend attached to the former closely resembles that of the latter told in Târanâtha. Târanâtha states that when Açvaghosha became a sthavira and advocate of the
Compare the above with this from I-tsing:
"The venerable Mâtṛceṭa (Mother-child) was a man of great intellect, of excellent virtue, eminently standing above all sages in India. A tradition says that when Buddha was taking a walk one time with his kinsmen, disciples, and many other people, a nightingale (?), observing his personal feature as elegant and majestic as a gold mountain, uttered in the wood some pleasant, harmonious notes that sounded like praising the virtues of Buddha. Buddha then turning towards the disciples said: 'The bird overcome by the joy of seeing me utters a pitiful cry. By this merit it will after my death obtain a human form, Mâtṛceṭa
by name, and praise and adore my intrinsic virtues with a number of hymns.' This man first followed the doctrine of a tîrthaka worshipping
At the end of the same Chapter (i.e., Chap. 32) in I-tsing's Correspondence he refers to Açvaghosha and Nâgârjuna both of whom composed some beautiful and popular hymns that were sung by Buddhists throughout India at the time of his pilgrimage. But if the Tibetan statement is reliable, I-tsing may have
21:1 Geschichte des Buddhismus, p. 90. 21:2
22:1 Schiefner notes: Çatapantschâçatika nâma stotra, Tandjur B. I, unter den Stotra's. 22:2 Geschichte des Buddhismus, p. 91. 23:1 Cf. the following statement in Târanâtha, p. 90: "Als er (Açvaghosha) in den Mantra-und Tantra-Formeln und in der Dialektik sehr bewandert wurde, gab ihm Maheçvara selbst Anleitung." 23:2 "Hymn of One Hundred and Fifty Çlokas" (Çatapañacâshadbuddhastotra), translated into Chinese by I-tsing during his stay in the Nâlanda-vihâra, Central India. At the time of the compilation of the Chêng yüan catalogue the original is said to have existed.
by I-tsing
who left China A. D. 671 for a pilgrimage to India and came back A. D. 695. The book is a work on the vinaya as observed by the Sarvâstivâdin, which the pilgrim witnessed in India as well as in Ceylon. An English translation by J. Takakusu, London.
