Mod 4: Kushana-Age Culture — Ashvaghosha, Nagarjuna and Madhyamaka, Charaka, Mahayana, and the Gandhara and Mathura Schools
Concept
12.7 Scholars of the Kushana age
🏫 School level · NCERT Class 6–12 History (the base for UPSC, BPSC, BSSC and other PSC exams)
Poetry, philosophy and medicine
| Person | Work / idea | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ashvaghosha | Buddhacharita (life of the Buddha), Saundarananda, Shariputra-prakarana (drama) | Taken from Pataliputra by Kanishka (tradition); vice-president of the Fourth Council |
| Nagarjuna | Madhyamaka (Shunyavada); Mulamadhyamakakarika | c. 2nd century CE; linked with a Satavahana king; called “the second Buddha” |
| Vasumitra | President of the Fourth Council; Sarvastivada scholar | — |
| Charaka | Charaka Samhita (Ayurveda — medicine) | Traditionally Kanishka’s court physician |
In the Kushana age Mahayana (“Great Vehicle”) grew: the Buddha was worshipped in image form, Bodhisattvas (beings who delay their own nirvana to help others) became central, and Sanskrit was used for texts. The older school is called Hinayana/Theravada.
- Ashvaghosha: Buddhacharita, Saundarananda; Nagarjuna: Madhyamaka; Charaka: medicine.
- Mahayana: Buddha images, Bodhisattvas, Sanskrit.
- Question: Who wrote Saundarananda? Answer: Ashvaghosha.
MCQs
Answer this question, then use Next.
[School] Buddhacharita was written by:
[BPSC level] Saundarananda, a Sanskrit poem about the Buddha’s half-brother Nanda, is by:
[UPSC level] The Madhyamaka (Shunyavada) school was founded by:
[BPSC level] Nagarjuna’s key philosophical work is the:
[BSSC pattern] Charaka Samhita deals with:
[UPSC level] In Mahayana Buddhism, a Bodhisattva is one who:
[BPSC level] Mahayana texts of the Kushana age were increasingly written in:
One-liners
Write your answer, then submit to see the correct answer.
Who wrote Saundarananda?
Ashvaghosha.Concept
12.8 Art and science in the Kushana age
🏫 School level · NCERT Class 6–12 History (the base for UPSC, BPSC, BSSC and other PSC exams)
Gandhara, Mathura and a myth-check
- Many Bihar GK books say “the Kushana-age Nalanda chemist Nagarjuna invented the beaker”. Exams based on these books expect “beaker”.
- Historians’ view: the Madhyamaka philosopher Nagarjuna (c. 2nd century CE) is usually distinguished from a later alchemist Nagarjuna (author of rasa texts such as Rasaratnakara, c. 7th–10th century).
- Nalanda as a great monastery-university dates from the Gupta period (5th century CE); Tibetan tradition later linked Nagarjuna with Nalanda.
- There is no firm historical evidence for the beaker story — learn it for the exam, but know it is tradition.
- Gandhara: schist, Greco-Roman, Buddhist; Mathura: red sandstone, indigenous, all faiths.
- “Beaker” = exam lore; philosopher vs alchemist Nagarjuna; Nalanda is Gupta-age.
- Question: Which stone did Gandhara artists use? Answer: Grey-blue schist.
MCQs
Answer this question, then use Next.
Question 3: Which laboratory apparatus was invented by the Kushana-era Nalanda chemist Nagarjuna?
[UPSC level] The Gandhara school of art mainly used:
[BPSC level] The Mathura school of art used:
[BSSC pattern] Which art school shows strong Greco-Roman influence?
[UPSC level] The Mathura school produced images of:
[UPSC level] Historians usually distinguish the philosopher Nagarjuna from a later Nagarjuna known as a(n):
[BPSC level] Nalanda became a great monastic university mainly from the:
One-liners
Write your answer, then submit to see the correct answer.
Which stone did Gandhara artists use?
Grey-blue schist.Concept
🎯 UPSC · BPSC · BSSC · State PSC level: PYQs and traps
| Exam | What it asks from this module |
|---|---|
| UPSC | Gandhara vs Mathura; Mahayana; Madhyamaka |
| BPSC | Ashvaghosha’s works; Nagarjuna; “beaker” question |
| BSSC / SSC | Author of Buddhacharita; Charaka |
Which school of art used spotted red sandstone and produced Buddhist, Jain and Hindu images? (a) Gandhara (b) Mathura (c) Amaravati (d) Sarnath
- Mathura’s indigenous school worked in spotted red sandstone for all three faiths; Gandhara used grey schist and was mainly Buddhist.
- Buddhacharita = Ashvaghosha; Mulamadhyamakakarika = Nagarjuna.
- Gandhara = Greco-Roman, schist; Mathura = indigenous, red sandstone.
- Nagarjuna = “second Buddha”; Charaka = Kanishka’s physician (tradition).
- Question: Which school is Nagarjuna linked with? Answer: Madhyamaka (Shunyavada).
MCQs
Answer this question, then use Next.
[BPSC level] Which pair is correctly matched?
[UPSC level] Nagarjuna is often called:
[BSSC pattern] Gandhara art developed mainly in:
[BPSC level] Who was the court physician of Kanishka according to tradition?
[UPSC level] Which feature belongs to Mathura-school Buddha images?
[School] Mahayana means:
One-liners
Write your answer, then submit to see the correct answer.
Which school is Nagarjuna linked with?
Madhyamaka (Shunyavada).