Dharmakṣema

(धर्मक्षेम, transliterated 曇無讖 , translated 竺法豐 ; 385–433 CE) was an Indian Buddhist monk, missionary and translator, active during the fifth century CE who was responsible for a number of important translation projects while travelling in China.

He had been residing in Dunhuang for several years when that city was captured in 420 by Juqu Mengxun, the king of Northern Liang. Under the patronage of Mengxun, Dharmakṣema took up residence in Guzang, the Northern Liang capital in 421. As well as being a valued political adviser to Mengxun, he went on to become one of the most prolific translators of Buddhist literature into Chinese. The colophons to translated texts attributed to Dharmakṣema indicate that he was one of the few Indian scholar-monks active in China who was sufficiently proficient in spoken Chinese to make the preliminary oral translations of Buddhist texts himself without an interpreter, although the further stages in the production of the translations were done by his team of Chinese assistants. He was assassinated on the orders of his erstwhile patron Mengxun, for quasi-political reasons, on another journey to the West in 433.

Biography

Life in India Based on canonical catalogues and biographies such as Sengyou's Chu Sanzang Jiji (出三藏記集) and the Wei Annals, it has been possible to reconstruct an outline of Dharmakṣema's life and career.

Dharmakṣema originated from a Brahmin family in Central India. This has been identified specifically with the Magadha region in some sources. When he was six years old, Dharmakṣema lost his father. His mother supported the family as a weaver of fine woollen cloth. One day a popular and wealthy monk, Dharmayaśas, was in the area. Impressed by his prosperity, Dharmakṣema's mother had the young boy of ten taken on as a pupil. Throughout his youth, Dharmakṣema studied the Hīnayāna scriptures and showed great promise as he was gifted with considerable powers of memory and eloquence. On the other hand, he seems to have taken an early interest in the use of magic and spells, competing with other boys in challenges. Da banniepan jing (大般涅槃經, the Great Nirvāṇa Sūtra), 36 fascicles, Taisho no. 374. Fangdeng daji jing (方等大集經, the Sūtra of the Vaipulya Great Assembly), 29 or 30 fascicles, Taisho no. 397. Fangdengwang xukongzang jing (方等王虚空藏經, the Sūtra of the King of Vaipulya and the Chamber of Space), 5 fascicles Fangdeng dayun jing (方等大雲經, Skt. Mahāmeghasūtra; the Sūtra of the Vaipulya Great Cloud), 4 fascicles (or Fangdeng wuxiang dayun jing, 方等無想大雲經, 6 fascicles), Taisho no. 387. Beihua jing (悲華經, the Sūtra of Flower with Compassion, Karuṇā-puṇḍarīka-sūtra), 10 fascicles, Taisho no. 157. Jinguangming jing (金光明經, the Golden Light Sūtra), 4 fascicles, Taisho no. 663. Hailongwang jing (海龍王經, the Sūtra of the King of Marine Dragons), 4 fascicles, Taisho no. 598. Pusa dichi jing (菩薩地持經, the Sūtra of Stages of Bodhisattvas], 8 fascicles, Taisho no. 1581. Pusajie ben (菩薩戒本, the Text on Precepts of Bodhisattvas), 1 fascicle (also regarded as a text translated in Dunhuang), Taisho no. 1500. Youposai jie (優婆塞戒, Upasaka’s Precepts), 7 fascicles, Taisho no. 1488. Pusajie jing (菩薩戒經, the Sūtra of Precepts of Bodhisattvas), 8 fascicles. Pusajie youpo jietan wen (菩薩戒優婆戒壇文, Treatise on Precepts of Bodhisattvas and Upasakas), 1 fascicle.