Mahadharmaraksita
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/04/SL_Anuradhapura_asv2020-01_img11_Ruwanwelisaya_Stupa.jpg/300px-SL_Anuradhapura_asv2020-01_img11_Ruwanwelisaya_Stupa.jpg)
Mahadhammarakkhita (Sanskrit: Mahadharmaraksita, literally "Great protector of the Dharma") 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, a key Pali historical text, he is recorded as having travelled 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 lists the congregations that visited Sri Lanka for the dedication of the Maha Thupa, explaining that:
- "From Alasanda the city of the Yonas came the thera (elder) Yona Mahadhammarakkhita with thirty thousand bhikkhus." (Mahavamsa, XXIX)
This reference is seen as having several implications regarding the role of the Greeks in the Buddhist community at that time:[citation needed]
- Alexandria of the Caucasus or Alexandria of the Arachosians, cities under the control of the Greek king Menander, had a Buddhist monk population of possibly as many as 30,000, indicating a flourishing Buddhist culture under the Greeks.
- The head of this Buddhist community was a Greek (Yona) Buddhist elder whose religious name was Mahadhammarakkhita ("Great protector of the Dharma), indicating the direct involvement of Greeks in the development of the faith, in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent.
- They were able to travel unhindered south as far as Sri Lanka, indicating some kind of stable political situation along the west coast of the Indian subcontinent, especially at a time when the Shunga Empire in the east was persecuting Buddhists.
It is also separately established through another text, the Milinda Panha, and archeological evidence that Menander himself ruled a vast empire in northern India, and that he became a Buddhist arhat. [citation needed] According to Buddhist tradition he was a great benefactor of the Buddhist faith, on a par with Ashoka or the Kushan Kanishka.[citation needed]
See also
- Ashoka's policy of Dhamma
- Dharmaraksita
- Greco-Buddhist monasticism
- Edicts of Ashoka
- Greco-Buddhism
- History of Buddhism
References
- “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
- Full text of the Mahavamsa
- Full text of the Milinda Panha
- v
- t
- e
- Four Noble Truths
- Three Jewels
- Noble Eightfold Path
- Nirvana
- Middle Way
- Tathāgata
- Birthday
- Four sights
- Eight Great Events
- Great Renunciation
- Physical characteristics
- Life of Buddha in art
- Footprint
- Relics
- Iconography in Laos and Thailand
- Films
- Miracles
- Family
- Suddhodāna (father)
- Māyā (mother)
- Mahapajapati Gotamī (aunt, adoptive mother)
- Yaśodharā (wife)
- Rāhula (son)
- Ānanda (cousin)
- Devadatta (cousin)
- Places where the Buddha stayed
- Buddha in world religions
- Kaundinya
- Assaji
- Sāriputta
- Mahamoggallāna
- Ānanda
- Mahākassapa
- Aṅgulimāla
- Anuruddha
- Mahākaccana
- Nanda
- Subhūti
- Punna
- Upāli
- Mahapajapati Gotamī
- Khema
- Uppalavanna
- Asita
- Channa
- Yasa
- Avidyā (Ignorance)
- Bardo
- Bodhicitta
- Buddha-nature
- Dhamma theory
- Dharma
- Enlightenment
- Five hindrances
- Indriya
- Karma
- Kleshas
- Mental factors
- Mindstream
- Parinirvana
- Pratītyasamutpāda
- Rebirth
- Saṃsāra
- Saṅkhāra
- Skandha
- Śūnyatā
- Taṇhā (Craving)
- Tathātā
- Ten Fetters
- Three marks of existence
- Two truths doctrine
- Ten spiritual realms
- Six realms
- Deva realm
- Human realm
- Asura realm
- Hungry Ghost realm
- Animal realm
- Naraka
- Three planes of existence
- Bhavana
- Bodhipakkhiyādhammā
- Brahmavihara
- Buddhābhiṣeka
- Dāna
- Devotion
- Deity yoga
- Dhyāna
- Faith
- Five Strengths
- Iddhipada
- Meditation
- Merit
- Mindfulness
- Nekkhamma
- Nianfo
- Pāramitā
- Paritta
- Puja
- Offerings
- Prostration
- Chanting
- Refuge
- Sādhu
- Satya
- Seven Factors of Enlightenment
- Sati
- Dhamma vicaya
- Pīti
- Passaddhi
- Śīla
- Threefold Training
- Vīrya
- Twenty-two vows of Ambedkar
- Gautama Buddha
- Nagasena
- Aśvaghoṣa
- Nagarjuna
- Asanga
- Vasubandhu
- Kumārajīva
- Buddhaghosa
- Buddhapālita
- Dignāga
- Bodhidharma
- Zhiyi
- Emperor Wen of Sui
- Songtsen Gampo
- Xuanzang
- Shandao
- Padmasambhāva
- Saraha
- Atiśa
- Naropa
- Karmapa
- Hōnen
- Shinran
- Dōgen
- Nichiren
- Shamarpa
- Dalai Lama
- Panchen Lama
- Ajahn Mun
- B. R. Ambedkar
- Ajahn Chah
- Thích Nhất Hạnh
- Timeline
- Ashoka
- Kanishka
- Buddhist councils
- History of Buddhism in India
- Great Anti-Buddhist Persecution
- Greco-Buddhism
- Buddhism and the Roman world
- Buddhism in the West
- Silk Road transmission of Buddhism
- Persecution of Buddhists
- Banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal
- Buddhist crisis
- Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism
- Buddhist modernism
- Vipassana movement
- 969 Movement
- Women in Buddhism
- Abhijñā
- Amitābha
- Brahmā
- Dharma talk
- Hinayana
- Kalpa
- Koliya
- Lineage
- Māra
- Ṛddhi
- Siddhi
- Sacred languages
Category
Religion portal