Dharmarakṣita (3rd century BCE)
Dharmarakṣita (P. 'Dhammarakkhita), was one of the missionaries sent by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka to proselytize Buddhism. He is described in the Mahavamsa as being of Greek (Pali: Yona, lit. "Ionian") origin.
Greek communities had been present in neighbouring Bactria and in northwestern India since the time of the conquests of Alexander the Great around 323 BCE, and developed into the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Indo-Greek Kingdom until the end of the 1st century BCE. Greeks were generally described in ancient times throughout the Classical world as "Yona", "Yonaka", "Yojanas" or "Yavanas", lit. “Ionians".
A Greek Buddhist missionary
Dharmaraksita is described in two Pali historical texts, the Dīpavaṃsa and the Mahāvaṃsa, as being a Greek Buddhist missionary, charged with propagating the faith to the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The Mahāvamsa states:
- "When the thera Moggaliputta, the illuminator of the religion of the Conqueror, had brought the (third) council to an end (…) he sent forth theras, one here and one there:
The region of "Aparantaka" has been identified as the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, and comprises Northern Gujarat, Kathiawar, Kachch, and Sindh, the area where Greek communities were probably concentrated.
Dharmarashita is said to have preached the Aggikkhandopama Sutra, so that 37,000 people were converted in Aparantaka and that thousands of men and women entered the Order ("pabbajja"):
- "The thera Dhammarakkhita the Yona, being gone to Aparantaka and having preached in the midst of the people the Aggikkhandhopama-sutta gave to drink of the nectar of truth to thirty-seven thousand living beings who had come together there, lie who perfectly understood truth and untruth. A thousand men and yet more women went forth from noble families and received the pabbajja" (Mahavamsa XII, Dipavamsa. VIII.7)
Dharmaraksita and Punabbasukutumbikaputta Tissa Thera
In another Pali reference, a Buddhist monk from Sri Lanka named Punabbasukutumbikaputta Tissa Thera is said to have been to India in order to study with "the Yonaka Dhammarakkhita", whereupon he attained the "patisambhida" (analytical knowledge). (VibhA.389, Sammoha-Vinodaní, Vibhanga Commentary).
The place where Dharmaraksita resides is also said to be around 100 leagues (around 700 miles) from Sri Lanka, putting it somewhere in northern India. (See: [1])
Dharmaraksita and the Milinda Panha
According to the Milinda Panha (I 32-35), the monk Nagasena studied with Dharmaraksita in Pataliputra and became an Arhat under his guidance. Nagasena subsequently engaged in his famous dialog with the Indo-Greek king Milinda (a.k.a Menander I), leading to Milinda's conversion to Buddhism.
See also
References
- "The Edicts of King Asoka: An English Rendering" by Ven. S. Dhammika (The Wheel Publication No. 386/387) ISBN 955-24-0104-6
- "The shape of ancient thought. Comparative studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies" by Thomas McEvilley (Allworth Press, New York, 2002) ISBN 1-58115-203-5
External links
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