| The terminus ante quem for Indian Buddhism is commonly held to be the mid-thirteenth century. This study demonstrates that this position is no longer tenable by providing the first detailed examination of the life of the fifteenth century Indian Buddhist monk, Sariputra (1335--1426), through biographical, historical, and material evidence of his travels from India through Nepal and Tibet, and finally to the Ming Imperial court.;This dissertation analyzes Sariputra's Tibetan and Chinese biographies, which portray startlingly different personalities---from the ethically observant abbot of Vajrasana to the transgressive, natha-influenced tantrika. In both roles, he reconstituted Buddhist systems of meaning in India, and garnered royal patronage wherever he traveled. One of the major methodological problems with which this study grapples is the possibility of harvesting historical information from literary sources.;A close consideration of Sariputra's life provides a window into fifteenth century Buddhism in India, Nep al, Tibet, and China, reveals the fascination that Buddhist India still exerted for these countries which had largely stopped traveling there. The site that wielded particular interest for both Indian and non-Indian Buddhists was the locus of the Buddha's Awakening---and the center of the Buddhist world---Vajrasana. In many respects, S ariputra's influence derives from his intimate relationship with Vajrasana.;This study therefore demonstrates not only that Indian Buddhism survived into the fifteenth century and beyond, but also reveals what it looked like to one witness and his many interlocutors. Buddhism was unquestionably on the wane, but this decline was punctuated by moments of revival and reconstitution. With records like those pertaining to Sariputra, new avenues of research are available into Indian Buddhist interactions with their Muslim counterparts, Buddhist exile literature, and more. S ariputra embodies both Buddhism's survival as a normative philosophical tradition as well as its power to innovate and adapt. |
