Buddhabhadra

There were two Indian Buddhist masters named Buddhabhadra in China during the 5th century CE. This article is about the translator. The other was an abbot who also went by the name of Batuo.

Buddhabhadra (simplified Chinese: 佛陀跋陀罗; traditional Chinese: 佛陀跋陀羅; pinyin: Fótuóbátuóluó) (359-429 CE) was an Indian Buddhist monk known for his prolific translation efforts of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese. He was responsible for the first Chinese translation of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Flower Ornament Scripture) in the 5th century.

Buddhabhadra and his Chinese disciple Xuangao are known to have advocated the twin principles of samadhi (meditative concentration) and prajñā (wisdom). These were later inherited by the Tiantai school of Buddhism, and its patriarchs Nanyue Huisi and Zhiyi. Buddhabhadra's views, in turn, stemmed from those of Buddhasena's dhyāna school in Kashmir and their meditation manual was translated by Buddhabhadra at the behest of Huiyuan, the founder of the Chinese tradition of Pure Land Buddhism. This Indian meditation manual preserved in Taishō Tripiṭaka 618, and is typically called the Yogācārabhūmi Sūtra or the Dharmatrātadhyāna Sutra. This text was later prized by the Chan Buddhism in China, and parts of its lineage to the Buddha became entangled in sectarian conflicts between factions of Chinese Buddhism.

See also

• Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
• Bodhidharma

Further reading

• Hodge, Stephen (2009 & 2012). "The Textual Transmission of the Mahayana Mahaparinirvana-sutra"