Aryadeva biography of williams county

The earliest biographical sources on Aryadeva state that he was a Buddhist monk who became a student of Nagarjuna and was skilled in debate. The earliest information we have about the life of Aryadeva occurs in the hagiography translated into Chinese by the Central Asian monk Kumarajiva — c. It tells us that he was born into a Brahmin family in south India and became the spiritual son of Nagarjuna.

Aryadeva became so skilled in debate that he could defeat all his opponents and convert them to Buddhism. The dying Aryadeva forgave him and converted him to Buddhism with an eloquent discourse on suffering.

Nalanda university history wikipedia

Lang also discusses Xuanzang's 7th century writings which mention Aryadeva:. He reports that Aryadeva came to south India from the island of Simhala because of his compassion for the ignorant people of India. He met the aging Nagarjuna at his residence on Black Bee Mountain, located southwest of the Satavahana capital, and became his most gifted student.

Nagarjuna helped Aryadeva prepare for debate against Brahmanical teachers who had defeated Buddhist monks in the northeastern city of Vaisali for the previous twelve years. Aryadeva went to Vaisali and defeated all his opponents in less than an hour. It is available in fragmentary Sanskrit, in Xuanzang's Chinese translation of the second part only, and in a full Tibetan translation.