In the Chinese Tripitaka there are two texts giving legendary accounts of the life of King Ashoka, the third Maurya ruler of Magadha. The first is the Biography of King Ashoka. The second text is Samghapala's Chinese translation of the Sutra of King Ashoka in ten fascicles, upon which the present English translation is based.

This biographical work gives accounts of the major events in the life of King Ashoka that are historically verifiable through comparative studies of reliable written records and archeological findings. Although the exact date of the original text is...

The Tripitaka Master Xuanzang (A.D. 600-64), whose deeds and career as a Buddhist monk are described in this biography, was a prominent figure not only in the history of Buddhist learning but also in other fields of culture. He played a role in the establishment of friendly contacts between China and the countries through which he traveled in search of more knowledge of Buddhism and incidentally but not insignificantly provided posterity with data of historical value in his detailed records about regions in central Asia and particularly in ancient India. He is thus respected not only by...

Lives of Great Monks and Nuns is a collection of five translated texts on the lives of prominent monks and nuns. A brief description of each text follows.

The Life of Asvaghosa Bodhisattva gives a brief account of how Asvaghosa was converted from Brahmanism to Buddhism by Parsva. In the history of the development of Buddhism, Asvaghosa is considered one of the founders of Mahayana Buddhism. Besides being a Buddhist theorist with significant influence on the development of Mahayana Buddhism, he was also the initiator of Buddhist chanting and hymn singing.

The Life of Nagarjuna...