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· INTRODUCTION 14. Dharmakirti :
Dharmakīrti was born in Trimalaya in South'. According to Tibetan tradition Korunanda was his father?; it is also attested by a reference, ‘Kurundārakośi3 Kena tadatsarabhramsat (read as : tadavasarabhramśāt)' in SVT4 At Nālandā, Dharmakirti was the disciple of Dharmapāla; the latter lived upto 642 A.D.; Dharmakirti, probably, was alive upto that period. According to Tārānātha, he was contemporary of a Tibetan king, Srongtsan Gum Po (627-6985 A.D.).
The Chinese pilgrim Yuwan-Chwang toured India from 629 to 645 A.D. His first visit to Nālandā was in 637 A.D. and the second one in 642 A.D6. During his first visit, he was residing in a dwelling to the north of the abode of Dharmapäla Bodhisattva, where he was provided with every sort of charitable offering? He refers to “some celebrated men of Nālandā who had kept up the lustre of the establishment and continued its guiding work. There were Dharmapāla and Chandrapāla who gave a fragrance to Buddha's teachings, Gunamati and Sthiramati of excellent reputation among contemporaries, Prabhāmitra of clear argument, and Jinamitra of elevated conversation, Jõānachandra of model character and perspicacious intellect, and Silabhadra whose perfect excellence was buried in obscurity. All these were men of merit and learning and authors of several treatises widely known and highly valued by contemporaries" ; during his second visit Silabhadra was the head of the Institution. YuwanChwang studied Yoga from him. Obviously, Dharmapāla had retired before 642 A.D.9 From the records of travels, nothing can be known about the time of Dharmapāla's end of life10. However, we know that Sīlabhadra was alive in 642 A.D. i.e. during the time of Yuwan-Chwang's second visit and he might have died after 645 A.D. 11
1 S. C. Vidyabhuşan, History of Indian Logic, (HIL) p. 302. 2 Darśana Digdarśana, p. 741. 3 should be read as Kurunandadārakosi. 4 p. 54. 5 HIL, p. 306, Note 1. 6 On Yuwan-Chwang, vol. II, App. by Vincent Smith, p. 335. ? S. Beal: The Life of Hiuen-Tsiang, p. 109. 8 Thomas Watters: On Yuwan-Chwang, vol. II, p. 165. 9 ibid, p. 168-9. 10 Takakusu conjectures that Dharmapala was not alive in 635 A.D.-vide I-Tsing's
Travels. Intro. p. 26. 11 Yuwan Chwang's letter to Jinaprabha proves the death of Silabhadra, after
Yuwan Chwang's return to China-Bauddha Samskfti, p. 337.
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