In the annals of early Buddhist history, two rulers are celebrated for the growth of Buddhism beyond the Indian heartland and across Eurasia. We have already discussed the first monarch, Aśoka the Great (304–232 BC) of the Maurya dynasty. But another, the Kushan king Kaniṣka (r. c. 127–50 AD), was even more cosmopolitan. Under the “Pax Kushana,” Buddhism entered a new era marked by significant developments in philosophical development, literary propagation, doctrinal evolution, the the spread of new Buddhist artistic traditions. The Kushan Empire (c. 30–c. 375 AD), extended from Bactria to Pāṭaliputra (present-day north India). His vast kingdom spanned Central and South Asia, controlling a strategic portion of what we call the silk routes today. Kanishka’s territory was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (present-day Peshawar, Pakistan) and Mathura (present-day northern India).
Under Kaniṣka, significant Buddhist sites, such as the four locations of the Buddha’s life, were identified as holy places of pilgrimage. At each location, stūpas were constructed to honor the Buddha. Kaniṣka’s art and statues were heavily influenced by the Hellenistic style. Numismatists are fascinated by Kaniṣka because he produced the Buddha image on his coins, alongside other gods and deities. A coin found in a Buddhist stūpa (near Jalalabad in present-day Pakistan) revealed Kaniṣka’s Buddhist sympathies. On one side of the coin, Kaniṣka’s face appears with an inscription, “King of the Kings, Kaniṣka of Kushana.” On the reverse side is an image of the Buddha wearing a long robe. His right hand forms the mudrā of fearlessness.
Kaniṣka was a patron of Buddhist scholars and monks. During his reign, prominent Buddhist scholars, such as Aśvaghoṣa, Vasumitra, Ghoşaka, Dharmatrāta, Nāgārjūna and Pārśva, preached the Buddha’s teachings throughout the region. Kaniṣka frequently sought advice and support about the Dharma from the saṅgha. Among them, distinguished Buddhist poet Aśvaghoṣa (80–150 AD) had a close association with Kaniṣka. When Kaniṣka invaded northwest India, he requested Aśvaghoṣa to bring the Buddha’s begging bowl from Vesālī to his capital, Purushapura, which Aśvaghoṣa managed to do.
The Fourth Buddhist Council and the Sarvāstivāda school
Kaniṣka also admired Elder Pārśva, a representative from the Sarvāstivāda School. Following Pārśva’s advice and guidance and four centuries after the Buddha’s Mahāparinirvāṇa, Kaniṣka convened the Fourth Buddhist Council in Kaśmīr, in around 100 AD. Under the leadership of Vasumitra and Aśvaghoṣa, five hundred monks were selected to attend the assembly.
During the council, an extended compendium and reference source called the Mahāvibhāṣā (Great Exegesis) was compiled. This commentary was based on the Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma text Jñanaprasthana (Foundation of Knowledge). Important commentary and criticism of the Mahāvibhāşa were referenced and quoted by four Sarvāstivādin scholars: Ghoşaka, Dharmatrāta, Vasumitra and Buddhadeva. The commentary became known as “The Four Critics of the Vibhāşā” (according to the Abhidharmakośabhāşya).
According to the Sarvāstivāda treatise, Samayabedoparacanacakra, Vasumitra noted that the Sarvāstivāda school originated 116 years after the Buddha’s demise. With support from Kaniṣka, the Sarvāstivāda school flourished. Sarvāstivāda was recognized as the school of Abhidharma. In ancient India, the Abhidharma school was established on the basis of the notion of dharmas (not Dharma), which are sub-atomic, worldly entities (dravyantara) that have their own specific nature (svabhāva) or a sub-character (svalaksana).
The Sarvāstivāda school was established with the concept of “sarvaṃ asti” or “all that exists.” The term relates to the dharmas that exist in three periods of time: past, present and future. The dharmas exist in their intrinsic nature (svabhāva). Within the school, there were four prominent Sarvāstivāda scholars (ācārya) who interpreted it in different ways:
Venerable Dhamatrāta: There is a change in mode of being (bhāva-anyathātva). Dharmas of the future modes of existence are based on the present modes of existence. Despite the dharmas changing their mode, there is no change in their intrinsic nature (svabhāva). For example, a broken gold vessel may be transformed into another object. While there may be a change in shape in both objects, the intrinsic nature of the object, such as its color (varṇa-rūpa), remains the same. Ultimately, gold remains gold. From this example, pure gold refers to one’s intrinsic nature (svabhāva), and the change of shape relates to one’s mode of being (bhāva-anyathātva).
Venerable Ghoṣaka: The characteristics of an object are changeable (laksana-anyathātva). When dharmas operate in time, it changes the characteristics (laksana) of an object. There is no change in substance; however, the dharmas in each of the temporal periods have worldly characteristics. Although dharmas arise together, either the past, present or future temporal state becomes dominant. There is no change in their intrinsic nature. For example, one may be particularly fond of a specific type of chocolate, such as dark chocolate. While there may be an attachment to a particular chocolate, one can still desire other types of chocolates. Here, dark chocolate refers to its intrinsic nature (svabhāva), and different flavors of chocolate refers to the characteristics of an object that are changeable (laksana-anyathātva).
Venerable Vasumitra: There is a change in the state (avastha-anyathātva) of dharmas based on activity (kārita). When dharmas operate in time, it changes its state (avasthā) according to its condition. There is no change in substance. For example, water can take on different forms based on conditions. During sub-freezing conditions, water transforms into ice. On the other hand, when a pot of water is placed on a gas stove, the boiling water creates steam. On the basis of activity, the nature of water remains unchanged (svabhāva), but the condition of the activity alters its form (avastha-anyathātva).
Venerable Buddhadeva: There is a change, relative (anyathā-anyathātva), to dharmas. When dharmas operate in time based on the past, present or future, the outcome will be different. There is no change of substance, but a change of relative status. For example, when a seed is planted, it grows over time into a sapling. As the years pass, the sapling matures into a tree. When the proper condition occurs, the tree produces fruits. Even the seed does not foresee its future as a tree that will produce fruit. Relative to time (anyathā-anyathātva), the tree will experience different stages of growth.
The five hundred monks at the Fourth Buddhist Council accepted Sarvāstivādin Abhidharma as the orthodox position. After the Council’s conclusion, the Sarvāstivāda School flourished in Kaśmīr, Gandhāra, and ancient southern India. The Sarvāstivāda remained the most powerful and influential Buddhist School in northwestern India for centuries. Initially, it consolidated in Mathurā and expanded in the north, where Kaśmīr became its center.
Dharma transmission and the silk routes
The Fourth Buddhist Council had a profound impact on the development of the Abhidharma School throughout ancient India and beyond. But Pax Kushana brought further developments. Buddhism reached its popularity in the regions of Kaśmīr, Gāndhāra, and Bactria, which were connected through what we today call the silk routes. Kaniṣka dispatched his armies to gain territory from northern India to western China, and also reached further into south India. The entire Kushan Empire became a zone for trade and commerce. Connecting east with west, the Kushans welcomed the exchange of culture, arts, literature and philosophy.
During the Kushan period, not only were the silk routes major conduits for merchants and commerce, but they also served to propagate the Dharma. Influenced by local languages along the routes, the Buddha’s teachings were conveyed through Gāndhārī, Kharoṣṭhī and hybrid Sanskrit. Gāndhārī was the daily language of the Kushans. From Gandhāra, the scriptures spread to the east and north of Central Asia. Gāndhārī Buddhist texts from the Kushan Empire were the first Buddhist literature that reached China during the first and second centuries AD. Evidence from a Kharoṣṭhī Buddhist inscription in Luoyang reveals that the active transmission of the Dharma reached China through the silk routes.
Khotan was another prevalent trade route between northwest India and China. The Tibetans frequently used Khotan as a passage of trade and communication through Central Asia. Kharoṣṭhī inscriptions reveal that Buddhist teachings reached Khotan from the west via the Pamirs in the second and third centuries CE. Kucha was populated by people of Indo-European origin. It was considered an oasis on the Northern Silk Road and the Tarim Basin. There were Buddhists in Kucha by the third century CE. With the Kucha’s deepening interest in the Dharma, they constructed Buddhist monasteries and stūpas throughout the region. Traders and travellers were impressed by the expansion of monasteries and stūpas, which had been established by the Kucheans.
The Buddha instructed the saṅgha to go forth for the sake of many. Iterant monks often traveled from northern India to outlying regions. As monastics traveled along the trade routes, they were frequently assisted and protected by merchants. As foreign traders came into contact with the saṅgha, they exchanged information about culture, language, and religious beliefs. Monks, along with traders, frequently traveled along the silk routes from the northwestern region of ancient India to the western region and further into Central Asia. The saṅgha would have offered teachings to the merchants while traveling, and numerous monasteries, stūpas, and caves were built across these routes.
Kaniṣka and his successors played an influential role in the establishment of the Dharma throughout Asia. Today, visitors to the Buddhist ruins along the ancient Silk Routes will see remnants of caves, Buddha images, paintings, and Buddhist inscriptions: the vestiges of Pax Kushana.
References
Chowdhury, Sanjoy Barua. 2019. “Buddhist Transmission along the Silk Road: The Propagation of the Sarvāstivāda School in China.” In The Journal of International Buddhist Studies College, 4 (1), 1–8. Retrieved 3 Nov. 2025 from https://so03.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ibsc/article/view/208948.
Dhammajoti, K. L.. 2020. “Sarvāstivāda Abhidharma.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. Retrieved 3 Nov. 2025 from https://oxfordre.com/religion/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e-682.
Rezakhani, K.. 2017. “The Kushans and the Sasanians.” In ReOrienting the Sasanians: East Iran in Late Antiquity. Chapter, Edinburgh University Press, 46–71.
Charles Willemen. 2008. “Kumārajīva’s ‘Explanatory Discourse’ about Abhidharmic Literature.” In Journal of the International College for Postgraduate Buddhist Studies 12.
Related features from BDG
The Legacy of Emperor Aśoka the Great: The Spread of Buddhism Beyond India
The Story of the Buddha’s Mahāparinibbāṇa, the Saṅgha’s Schism, and the First Two Buddhist Councils
Sri Lankan Buddhism’s Rich Heritage of Pāli Commentaries and Theravāda Traditions
