Kumārajīva (Chinese: 鳩摩羅什; Jiumoluoshi; also Kiu-kiu-lo, Kiu-mo-lo-che, Kiu-mo-to-tche-po, Tang-cheu) was a Kuchean Buddhist monk and scholar whose father was originally from an Indian noble family, and whose mother was a princess. He first studied teachings of the Sarvastivada schools, later studied under Buddhasvāmin, and finally became a Mahayāna adherent, studying the Madhyamika doctrine of Nagarjuna. He is mostly remembered for the prolific translation of Buddhist texts in to Chinese he carried out during his later life. Kucha (Modern Chinese Simplified: 库车, Traditional: 庫車, pinyin KùchÄ“, also romanized Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu. ... A replica of an ancient statue of Gautama Buddha, found in Sarnath, near Varanasi. ... The Sarvastivada (roughly, Proclaiming that all exist) --a reference to one of the distinguishing doctrines of the school, the existence of dharmas in all of the three times (past, present, and future). ... Buddhasvāmin was a Kuchean Sarvastivadan Buddhist monk and great scholar who presided over all of Kuchas Buddhist temples and nunneries during part of the fourth century. ... Relief image of the bodhisattva Kuan Yin from Mt. ... Madhyamaka is a Buddhist philosophical tradition that asserts that all phenomena are empty of self-nature or essence (Sanskrit: Svabhāva), that they have no intrinsic, independent reality apart from the causes and conditions from which they arise. ... A statue depicting Nagarjuna at the Samye Ling Monastery, Dumfriesshire, Scotland Nāgārjuna (నాగార్జున in Telugu, 龍樹 in Chinese) (c. ...

Forebearance

Kumārajīva's father Kumārāyana (also Kiu-mo-yen) was an intelligent man from a noble family in India, while his grandfather Ta-to is supposed to have had a great reputation. His father became a monk, left India, crossed the Pamirs and arrived in Kucha where he became the royal priest. The sister of the king, Jīva, married him and they produced Kumārajīva. Jīva joined the Tsio-li nunnery, north of Kucha, when Kumārajīva was just seven. Kumārāyana (also Kiu-mo-yen) was an intelligent man from a noble family in India, whose grandfather Ta-to was supposed to have had a great reputation. ... Located in Central Asia, the Pamir Mountains are formed by the junction of the worlds greatest mountain ranges, a geologic structural knot from which the great Tian Shan, Karakoram, Kunlun, and Hindu Kush mountain systems radiate. ... Jīva was a the sister of a king of Kucha, and later a Buddhist nun. ...

Childhood and Education

When his mother Jīva 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 Dīrghāgama and Madhyāgama, before returning with his mother three years later. On his return via Tokharestan and Kashgar an arhat predicted that he had a bright future and would introduce many people to Buddhism. Kumārajīva stayed in Kashgar for a year, ordaining the two princely sons of Tsan-kiun (himself the son of the king of Yarkand) and studying the Abhidharmapiṭaka under the Kashmirian Buddhayaśa, as well as the four Vedas, five sciences, Bhahmanical sacred texts, astronomy, the Śataśāstra, Mādhyamakaśāstra, etc. Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... Tokharistan is a name which was given to Bactria, following its settlement by various Central Asian people in the 2nd century BCE. The first literary mentions of Tokharistan appear at the end of the 4th century CE in Chinese Buddhist sources (the Vibhasa-sastra). ... Location of Kashgar Kashgars Sunday market Kashgar (also spelled Cascar[citation needed]; Uyghur: قەشقەر/; Chinese: ; pinyin: Kāshí, ), is an oasis city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Yarkand or Yecheng (modern Chinese name 叶城, pinyin: Yèchéng, also Chokkuka, anciently Suoju 莎車, also written Shache and Suoche; alt. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ...

Kumārajīva left Kashgar with Jīva at age 12, and traveled to Turfan, the north-eastern limit of the kingdom of Kucha, which was home to more than 10,000 monks. In Turfan his fame spread after besting a Taoist teacher in debate, and King Po-Shui of Kucha came to Turfan 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 Mahāvaipulya sūtras. position in China Street of Turfan View of the Flaming mountains Emin minaret, Turfan Turfan (Uyghur: تۇرپان; Uyghur latin: Turpan; Modern Chinese 吐魯番, Pinyin: TÇ”lÇ”fán; ) is an oasis city in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Kucha (Modern Chinese Simplified: 库车, Traditional: 庫車, pinyin KùchÄ“, also romanized Chiu-tzu, Kiu-che, Kuei-tzu. ... For other uses of the words tao and dao, see Dao (disambiguation). ...

At age 20, Kumārajīva was fully ordained at the king's palace, and lived in a new monastery built by king Po-Shun. Kumārajīva proceeded to study the Pañcaviṁśati-sāhasrikā sūtra, one of the longer Perfection of Wisdom texts, relatively obscure at the time. He is known to have engaged in debates, and to have encouraged dialogue with foreign monks. Notably, he received Vimalākṣa, a Sarvāstivādan monk from Kashmir, and was instructed by him in the Sarvāstivādan Vinayapiṭaka. Jīva is thought to have moved to Kashmir. Perfection of Wisdom is a translation of the Sanskrit term prajñā pāramitā (Hanzi. ... The Sarvastivada (roughly, Proclaiming that all exist) --a reference to one of the distinguishing doctrines of the school, the existence of dharmas in all of the three times (past, present, and future). ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ... There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. ... Kashmir (or Cashmere) may refer to: Kashmir region, the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent India, Kashmir conflict, the territorial dispute between India, Pakistan, and the China over the Kashmir region. ...

China

He traveled to Chang'an (now Xi'an), the capital of China, in 401 at the request of its ruler, Yao Xing of the Later Qin. With the aid of numerous collaborators and assistants, Kumarajiva became one of the most prolific translators of Buddhist texts in history, rendering some seventy-two texts into Chinese. Changan ▶(?) (Simplified Chinese: 长安; Traditional Chinese: 長安; pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Chang-an) is the ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in China. ... Xian (Chinese: ; Pinyin: Xīān; Wade-Giles: Hsi-An; Postal System Pinyin: Sian), is the capital of Shaanxi province in China and a sub-provincial city. ... // Events Pope Innocent I succeeds Pope Anastasius I. The Vandals start their westward trek from Dacia and Hungary (or 400). ... Yao Xing (姚興) (366-416), courtesy name Zilue (子略), formally Emperor Wenhuan of (Later) Qin ((後)秦文桓帝), was an emperor of the Chinese/Qiang state Later Qin. ... The Later Qin (Simplified Chinese character: 后秦, Traditional Chinese character: 後秦, pinyin Hòuqín) (384-417) was a state of Qiang ethnicity of the Sixteen Kingdoms during the Jin Dynasty (265-420) in China. ...

Legacy

Among the most important texts translated by Kumārajīva are the Diamond Sutra, Amitabha Sutra, Lotus Sutra, the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra, Mūlamadhyamakakārikā and the Mahaprajñāpāramitā Sastra. His translation was distinctive, possessing a flowing smoothness that reflects his prioritization on conveying the meaning as opposed to precise literal rendering. Because of this, his renderings of seminal Mahayana texts have often remained more popular than later, more exact translations. The Diamond Sutra (Vajracchedika-prajñāpāramitā-sÅ«tra), The Perfection of Wisdom Sutra that Cuts like a Thunderbolt, is a short Mahayana sutra of the Perfection of Wisdom genre, which teaches the practice of the avoidance of abiding in extremes of mental attachment. ... The Amitabha Sutra, or Shorter Sukhavativyuha Sutra, is a Mahayana Buddhist text associated with Pure Land Buddhism. ... The Lotus Sutra or Sutra on the White Lotus of the Sublime Dharma (Sanskrit: SaddharmapundarÄ«ka-sÅ«tra; 妙法蓮華經 Cn: MiàofÇŽ Liánhuā JÄ«ng; Jp: Myōhō Renge Kyō; Kr: Myobeop Yeonhwa Kyong) is one of the most popular and influential Mahāyāna sutras in East Asia and... There are a great variety of Buddhist texts. ... Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, or Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, is a key text by Nagarjuna, one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. ...

His translation of the Heart Sutra (Prajna Paramita Hrdaya Sutra), composed around AD 400, contains a line that is one of the most famous of his renderings. It is 色不異空，空不異色，色即是空，空即是色．受想行識，亦復如是 (What is seen does not differ from what is empty, what is empty does not differ from what is seen. Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. It is the same for feeling, perception, intention and consciousness). The Heart of Perfect Wisdom Sutra or Heart Sutra or Essence of Wisdom Sutra (Sanskrit: प्रज्ञापारमिताहृदयसूत्र Prajñāpāramitā Hridaya SÅ«tra; Chinese: 般若波羅蜜多心經, BōrÄ›bōluómìduō XÄ«njÄ«ng; Japanese: 般若心経, Hannya Shingyō; Korean: Pannya Shimgyŏng) is a well-known Mahāyāna Buddhist sutra that is extremely...

Kumarajiva had four main disciples: 道生 Daosheng, 僧肇 Sengzhao, 道融 Daorong, and 僧叡 Sengrui. Sengrui (371-438AD) was born in what is now Henan. ...

References

Puri, B. N. Buddhism in Central Asia, Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1987. (2000 reprint)

• The Heart Sutra of Prajna Paramita