Aśvaghoṣa’s Kāvyas: An Ālaṅkārikā Appraisal

“Aśvaghoṣa’s Kāvyas: An Ālaṅkārikā Appraisal” offers a literary critique of the works of Aśvaghoṣa, one of the earliest Sanskrit poets and dramatists. Aśvaghoṣa lived around the 1st–2nd centuries AD and wrote both epic and dramatic poetry. He is credited with four nirvāṇa‑kāvyas: two śrāvaya mahākāvyas—the *Buddhacarita* and the *Saundarananda*—and two dramatic works, the *Śāriputra‑prakaraṇa* and the *Rūkṣṭrapāla‑nāṭaka*. The *Buddhacarita* narrates the Buddha’s life from birth to the division of his relics and focuses on moral narrative. The *Saundarananda* is a kāvya centred on the conversion of Nanda, the Buddha’s half‑brother, and combines lyrical descriptions with didactic teachings. In evaluating Aśvaghoṣa’s style, the article notes his use of epithets, metaphors and other figures of speech; it also discusses his debt to Bharata’s *Nāṭyaśāstra*, Bhāmaha’s *Kāvyālaṃkāra* and Daṇḍin’s *Kāvyādarśa*. The author compares the simplicity of Aśvaghoṣa’s language in the *Buddhacarita* with the more ornate diction of later poets and argues that his poetry bridges the gap between epic narrative and classical kāvya. Special attention is given to the kārikā (aphoristic) verses sprinkled throughout his works, which illustrate Buddhist ethics while conforming to aesthetic conventions. The article concludes that Aśvaghoṣa’s kāvyas are historically significant both for their literary merit and for preserving early Buddhist doctrine in an accessible poetic form.

Summary reviewed by a volunteer editor.