UPSC Prelims 2024 Q64: Sanghabhuti and Buddhist Texts in China

Sanghabhuti, an Indian Buddhist monk, who travelled to China at the end of the fourth century AD, was the author of a commentary on:

  1. Prajnaparamita Sutra
  2. Visuddhimagga
  3. Sarvastivada Vinaya
  4. Lalitavistara

Answer: (c) Sarvastivada Vinaya

Statement-wise explanation

  • a: incorrect — The Prajnaparamita ('Perfection of Wisdom') sutras are core Mahayana texts on emptiness (shunyata). The best-known commentary on them is attributed to Nagarjuna, and Kumarajiva translated it into Chinese in the early 5th century AD. Sanghabhuti was not a Mahayana commentator. His field was the monastic rules and scholastic doctrine of the Sarvastivada school.
  • b: incorrect — The Visuddhimagga ('Path of Purification') is not a text that Sanghabhuti commented on. It is a Pali summary of Theravada doctrine, written by Buddhaghosa in Sri Lanka in the 5th century AD, during the reign of King Mahanama. That is later than Sanghabhuti's arrival in China in about 381 AD, and it belongs to a different school and language tradition.
  • c: correct — Sanghabhuti was a monk from Kashmir, a major centre of the Sarvastivada school. He reached Chang'an in China around 381 AD. He specialised in Sarvastivada Abhidharma and Vinaya, and he wrote a commentary on the Sarvastivada Vinaya, the monastic rules of that school. He also helped translate Sarvastivada scholastic works into Chinese.
  • d: incorrect — The Lalitavistara is a Sanskrit biography of the Buddha, written in a Mahayana form and reworked from an older Sarvastivada text. It tells the story of his life up to the first sermon. It is not a rule book, and there is no record of Sanghabhuti writing a commentary on it.

How to eliminate

This question mostly tests one fact: Sanghabhuti wrote a commentary on the Sarvastivada Vinaya. Some reasoning still narrows the options.

  • Rule out the Visuddhimagga on two grounds. It is a Pali Theravada work written in Sri Lanka in the 5th century AD, after the late-4th-century date in the question. It is a treatise, not a basic text that a 4th-century monk would comment on.
  • Use the name. 'Sangha' + 'bhuti' points to the monastic order. A Vinaya, the rules of the Sangha, is the natural match.
  • Use the geography. Monks who went to China in the 4th century mostly came from Kashmir and Central Asia, where the Sarvastivada school was dominant.

The Prajnaparamita and Lalitavistara options cannot be ruled out without knowing the fact. Remember the pairs: Sanghabhuti → Sarvastivada Vinaya; Kumarajiva → Prajnaparamita/Madhyamaka texts; Buddhaghosa → Visuddhimagga.

Know more

Indian monks who carried Buddhism to China

From the 2nd century AD, Indian and Central Asian monks travelled the Silk Road to China. They translated texts and set up the rules that Chinese monasteries followed. Kashmir and Gandhara were the main starting points. In those regions the Sarvastivada school was strongest. Its name comes from sarvam asti, 'everything exists': its followers held that dharmas exist in the past, present and future.

Every Buddhist school kept its own Vinaya, the code of monastic discipline in the first 'basket' of the Tripitaka. China needed a full Vinaya before it could ordain monks properly. Monks such as Sanghabhuti, who came from Kashmir to Chang'an around 381 AD, brought that expertise.

Person Origin Period Known for
Sanghabhuti Kashmir reached China c. 381 AD Commentary on the Sarvastivada Vinaya; Sarvastivada Abhidharma translations
Kumarajiva Kucha (Central Asia) in China c. 401–413 AD Translated the Lotus Sutra, Prajnaparamita and Madhyamaka texts
Buddhaghosa India → Sri Lanka 5th century AD Visuddhimagga; Pali commentaries (Theravada)
Faxian China → India c. 399–414 AD Chinese pilgrim who went looking for Vinaya texts
Bodhidharma India c. 5th–6th century AD Traditionally credited with founding Chan (Zen)

The four texts in the options

  • Prajnaparamita: Mahayana sutras on emptiness.
  • Visuddhimagga: Theravada manual of practice, in Pali.
  • Sarvastivada Vinaya: monastic rules of the Sarvastivada school.
  • Lalitavistara: Mahayana life of the Buddha, in Sanskrit.

The Fourth Buddhist Council, held in Kashmir under Kanishka, is linked to the Sarvastivada tradition and its great Abhidharma commentary, the Mahavibhasha.

NCERT Concepts to Revise

  • Sarvastivada: One option names a text of this early school, which was strong in Kashmir, the region Sanghabhuti came from.
  • Vinaya Pitaka: Explains what a 'Vinaya' is, the monastic rule book named in one of the options.
  • Buddhaghosa: The Visuddhimagga option is tied to this scholar. His date and school help you test that option.
  • Lalitavistara: Says what kind of text the Lalitavistara is, which you need to judge that option.
  • Fourth Buddhist council: This council in Kashmir links Kanishka to the Sarvastivada scholastic tradition that Kashmiri monks took to China.
  • Tipitaka: Shows where the Vinaya sits among the three baskets of the Buddhist canon.

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