Mahadharmaraksita
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Mahadharmaraksita (P. Mahadhammarakkhita; literally "Great protector of the Dharma"). According to tradition, he was a Greek (in Pali:"Yona", lit. "Ionian") Buddhist master, who lived during the 2nd century BCE during the reign of the Indo-Greek king Menander.
In the Mahavamsa, he is recorded as having traveled from “Alasandra” (thought to be Alexandria of the Caucasus, around 150 kilometers north of today's Kabul, or possibly Alexandria of the Arachosians), with 30,000 monks for the dedication ceremony of the Maha Thupa ("Great stupa") at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka, when it was completed shortly after the death of the Sri Lankan king Dutthagamani Abhaya (r. 161 - 137 BCE).
The Mahamvasa states:
- "From Alasanda the city of the Yonas came the thera (elder) Yona Mahadhammarakkhita with thirty thousand bhikkhus." (Mahavamsa, XXIX)
Further reading
- The Shape of Ancient Thought. Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies, by Thomas Mc Evilly (Allworth Press, New York 2002) ISBN 1-58115-203-5
External links
Mahadharmaraksita, Wikipedia
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