Literary History of Sanskrit Buddhism

Description

Sanskrit Buddhist literature embodies many texts which date from an antiquity as respectable as any of the Pali texts. But thought Pali Buddhism is studied vigorously Sanskrit Buddhist literature is looked upon with suspicion. As a result, so systematic history of the Buddhist literature in Sanskrit has appeared. The present book intends to supply the gap in our knowledge of Sanskrit Buddhist literature.

Divided into thirteen chapters, the book elucidates the historical data comprising the works of Asvaghosa, Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Asanga, Vasubandhu and other Buddhist scholars both ancient and mediaeval. Its principal merit consists in a lucid marshalling of every available source, including Tibetan, Chinese and Japanese translations of the Sanskrit texts and their exegetical exposition.