Aśvaghoṣa, a versatile genius - a monk and a missionary, a philosopher and a theologian, a grammarian and a linguist, a rhetorician and a metrician, a musician and an instrumentalist, a Hīnayānist and a Mahāyānist, a scholar and a devotee, a poet and a dramatist, flourished during the age of the great Kushan King Kanishka (78-150 A.D.) at Peshawar. Most scholars agree in assigning Aśvaghoṣa to about 100 A.D. (upper limit-2nd century B.C., lower limit-1st century A.D.)
Ashvaghosha was born a Brahmin. He was an honest critic of Buddhism until, after a heated debate with a noted Buddhist scholar on the relative merits of Hinduism and Buddhism, he accepted the value of Buddhism and became a disciple of his opponent. After his conversion to Buddhism, he devoted himself completely to being a true Buddhist, theoretically as well as practically. He thoroughly followed the Aṣṭāñga-Mārga or the Eight-fold Noble Path of Buddhism. For his sincere efforts, he soon earned full recognition in India as well as outside (Tibet China, etc.,), and rose to be a Puṣa or a Bodhisattva (someone who has achieved perfect enlightenment and is entitled to enter directly into 'Nirvana', but who renounces this in order first to bring salvation to all suffering mankind). Besides Buddhism, Aśvaghoṣa was conversant with other systems of thought, such as early Sāṁkhya-Yoga Metaphysics. However, his reputation as a Buddhist preacher was unparalleled in those days.
Aśvaghoṣa did not want the lofty Buddhist doctrines to be kept confined within himself. So, he rightly selected a universal means, viz. Literature, and made all his works at once poetic and propagandist. It was not a dry, colorless kind of propaganda, but a living and refreshing one, inspiring not only the mind but also touching the heart; bringing serene knowledge and the bliss of the soul. In other words, the poet in Aśvaghoṣa always outshone everything else in him—propagandist, philosopher, philanthropist, etc.
Aśvaghoṣa, as a poet was of a very high caliber, wide vision, broad outlook, deep understanding, and above all, a wonderful novelty, who could express dry biographical facts and even drier philosophical, theological, ethical theories in a beautiful manner. He has been credited with a large number of works, which include mainly (i) Buddha-Carita, (ii) Saundarānanda, and (iii) Sāriputra-Prakaraṇa. The Buddha-Carita is Aśvaghoṣa’s first and by far the best work. Unfortunately, the Sanskrit text of this invaluable work is not complete. It is a poetical composition of a very high order—it's every line, rather every word proves the same beyond doubt. This unique work is also a philosophical work of equally high merit. For, through it, the principal doctrines of Buddhism have been brought forth before all in a manner at once sublime and sweet. The main aim of Aśvaghoṣa was the propagation of Saddharma (Religion of Goodness) and KalyāṇaDharma (Religion of Auspiciousness).
Aśvaghoṣa is honored more as a poet than as a philosopher. His poetic intellect beautifully superseded even his great philosophic power, making his works not merely a handbook or manual of dry Philosophy, but a pure fount of Poesy. As rarely found, these two opposed traits of a poet and a philosopher have been harmonized in such a wonderful manner here that his Poetry's softness and effusiveness never for a moment retard the strictness, firmness and sharpness of his Philosophy. That is why his significant works not only illumine the mind but enter deeply into our innermost soul, inspiring the same in such a unique manner that we do not feel that we are reading Philosophy in Poetry or Poetry in Philosophy but feel only uplifted and satisfied, which only such a perfect synchronization can produce.
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