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Brahmin Buddhists have been several in number and have been well known in scriptures and history for their contribution to Buddhism from the time of the Buddha. Some like Sariputra and Maudgalyayana were the Buddha's disciples, while some like Bodhidharma were missionaries spreading Buddhism beyond India. Others like Asvaghosa were poets; others like Chandragomin were grammarians. Both Sramanas and Brahmanas (whether Sramana or not) are important in terms of spirituality. ==Noted Brahmin Buddhists== Many of the best-known Buddhists were Brahmins. They include Vasubandhu and his key disciples Sariputra and Mahakasyapa (founders of Mahayana Buddhism); Nagarjuna〔Campbell, W. L. Ed. and trans. 1919. The Tree of Wisdom: Being the Tibetan text with English translation of Nagarjuna's gnomic verse treatise called the Prajñadanda. Calcutta University. Reprint: Sonam T. Kazi, Gangtok. 1975.〕 and Asvaghosa,〔()〕 the reformer of Theravada Buddhism; Buddhaghosa (founder of Vajrayana Buddhism; Padmasambhava, founder of Tibetan Buddhism; Shantideva, author of The Way of the Bodhisattva; Bodhidharma, founder of Zen Buddhism and Kung Fu and Kumarajiva, both of whom brought Buddhism to China and beyond; Nagasena, the debater of Milinda Panha; Manjushri, mentor of Ashoka and Radhaswamy, the person who brought Ashoka to Buddhism, and scholars of Nalanda such as Aryadeva and Shantarakshita, who taught Buddhism and new doctrines. People born in Brahmin families feature extensively in Buddhist Tripitakas, and are found among the Buddha's chief disciples. The Brahmana Varga (section on Brahmins) in the Dhammapada lists the Buddha's views on Brahmins.〔(Brahmanavagga - The Holy Man )〕 Peter Masefield writes, "The canonical texts show the early Buddhists seeking their sustenance mostly from brahmin families, and the dhamma-cakkhu (the insight into the Four Truths) that led to liberation was given almost exclusively to men of brahmin descent."〔''Divine Revelation in Pali Buddhism'' by Peter Masefield〕 Gurmukh Ram Madan states, "Also brahmans appear to have been taken up; but they were the distinguished representatives of a cultured laity - a secular strata of nobles who formed the majority of Buddha's disciples".〔Western sociologists on Indian society: Marx, Spencer, Weber, Durkheim, Pareto By Gurmukh Ram Madan〕 A Buddhist layman, Jayadeva of Bihar, was imprisoned when the Odantapuri Buddhist learning centre was attacked; he advised a group of monks in Nalanda of the Muslim threat, and helped them flee to safety.〔P. 563 Encyclopaedia of Buddhism, Volume 4 By Front Cover Buddhist Council of Ceylon, Ceylon. Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Sri Lanka. Bauddha Ka?ayutu Departamentuva〕 Scholar Asim Chatterjee adds, 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Brahmana Buddhist」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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