Question

Asvaghosha lived in the ______
A) Vardhana period
B) Kushana period
C) Mauryan period
D) None of these

Answer 1

Hint: The rulers of this period were the center of trade between the Roman empire and China. They initially used Greek as the main language for administration, but later they switched to the Bactrian language. They played the most important role in spreading Buddhism across the Indian subcontinent, before king Ashoka.

Complete answer:
Asvaghosha was a Buddhist poet, orator, philosopher and dramatist from India who is referred to as the greatest, before Kalidasa. He was born in Saketa in North India and lived in the 1st Century. Let us see which other period coincided with his time period.

Let us analyze the given options:
Option A) Vardhana period – This is the period when the Vardhana or the Pushyabhuti Dynasty was in power. The Empire was established in the 6th century and based at Thanesar. The empire collapsed by the 7th century. Thus, this option is incorrect.
Option B) Kushana period – This refers to the time when the Kushana dynasty was in power. The Kushana dynasty was formed by the Yuezhi, in the Bactrian territory during the 1st century A.D. This time period coincides correctly with the time period when Asvaghosha lived. Therefore, this is the correct option.
Option C) Mauryan period – It was the period when the Magadha based Mauryan Empire was in power. It was founded by Chandragupta Maurya, and king Ashoka is remembered as the greatest king from this empire. This period spanned from 4th century B.C. to 2nd century B.C. Therefore, this option is wrong.
Option D) None of these – this option is incorrect as it has already been established that Asvaghosha lived in the Kushana period.

Thus, the correct answer is Option (B) i.e, Asvaghosha lived in the Kushana period.

Note: Asvaghosha is thought to be the author of the Buddhist text ‘Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana’. He also wrote the epic life of Gautama Buddha which is called ‘Buddhacharitra’ meaning ‘Acts of the Buddha’ in Sanskrit. During the invasions from 10th to 12th centuries, half of the original Sanskrit book got lost and has never been found. Presently, only the second half of the book exists, and that too in Chinese and Tibetan translations.