Ašvaghosa (?80-?150 CE) was an Indian philosopher-poet, born in Saketa in Central India. He is believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered the greatest Indian poet before Kalidasa. He was first a student of non-Buddhist teaching, but upon losing an argument with Parshva converted to Buddhism. He became a religious adviser to the Kushan king Kanishka. He is said to be the author of the influential Buddhist text Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana. He also wrote a life of the Buddha called Buddhac ...

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Asvaghosa:

(1)         2nd century CE author of the Life of Buddha (Buddhacarita);

(2)         5th century CE author of the Awakening of Faith (Sraddhotpada-sastra).

 (See also: Asvaghosa , Eastern Philosophy, Body Mind and Soul)

The native name with which these people referred to themselves as a linguistic community, or as an ethnic unity of related tribes cannot be reconstructed with certainty. It may have been *aryo- (c. f. "Aryan race"). There is evidence for sacral kingship, suggesting the tribal king at the same time assumed the role of high priest. Many Indo-European societies know a threefold division of a clerical class, a warrior class and a class of farmers or husbandmen. Such a division was ...

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Proto-Indo-European society, Proto-Indo-European society - Societal Structure, Proto-Indo-European society - Names, Proto-Indo-European society - Ritual and Sacrifice, Proto-Indo-European society - Poetry, Proto-Indo-European society - Philosophy, Proto-Indo-European society - Subsistence, Proto-Indo-European society - Technology

Read more here: » Proto-Indo-European society: Encyclopedia II - Proto-Indo-European society - Societal Structure

Proto-Indo-European society depended on animal husbandry. Cattle (*gwous) were the most important animals to them, and a man's wealth would be measured by the number of cows he owned. Sheep and goats were also kept, presumably by the less wealthy. Agriculture and fishing were also practiced. The domestication of the horse (see Tarpan) may have been an innovation of this people and is sometimes ...

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Proto-Indo-European society, Proto-Indo-European society - Societal Structure, Proto-Indo-European society - Names, Proto-Indo-European society - Ritual and Sacrifice, Proto-Indo-European society - Poetry, Proto-Indo-European society - Philosophy, Proto-Indo-European society - Subsistence, Proto-Indo-European society - Technology

Read more here: » Proto-Indo-European society: Encyclopedia II - Proto-Indo-European society - Subsistence

See also Proto-Indo-European religion. They practiced a polytheistic religion centered on sacrificial rites, probably administered by a class of priests or shamans. Animals were slaughtered and dedicated to the gods in the hope of winning their favour. The king as the high priest would have been the central figure in establishing favourable relations with the other world. The Kurgan hypothesis suggests burials in barrows or tomb chambers. Important leaders would have been buried with their belongings, and possibly al ...

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Proto-Indo-European society, Proto-Indo-European society - Societal Structure, Proto-Indo-European society - Names, Proto-Indo-European society - Ritual and Sacrifice, Proto-Indo-European society - Poetry, Proto-Indo-European society - Philosophy, Proto-Indo-European society - Subsistence, Proto-Indo-European society - Technology

Read more here: » Proto-Indo-European society: Encyclopedia II - Proto-Indo-European society - Ritual and Sacrifice

The use of two-word compound words for personal names, typically but not always ascribing some noble or heroic feat to their bearer, is so common in Indo-European languages that it seems certainly inherited. These names are often of the class of compound words that in Sanskrit are called bahuvrihi compounds. They are found in the Celtic region (Dumnorix: "king of the world"; Kennedy: "ugly head"), in Indo-Aryan languages (Asvaghosa: "tamer of horses"); in Greek (Socrates: "good ruler"); Cleopatra< ...

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Proto-Indo-European society, Proto-Indo-European society - Societal Structure, Proto-Indo-European society - Names, Proto-Indo-European society - Ritual and Sacrifice, Proto-Indo-European society - Poetry, Proto-Indo-European society - Philosophy, Proto-Indo-European society - Subsistence, Proto-Indo-European society - Technology

Read more here: » Proto-Indo-European society: Encyclopedia II - Proto-Indo-European society - Names

Only small fragments of Proto-Indo-European poetry may be recovered. What survives of their poetry are stock phrases of two or three words, like undying fame and immortal gods, that are found in diverse ancient sources. These seem to have been standard building blocks for song lyrics. Inferring mainly from the Vedas, there would have been sacrificial hymns, creation myths (such as myths of a world tree), and hero tales (the sla ...

See also:

Proto-Indo-European society, Proto-Indo-European society - Societal Structure, Proto-Indo-European society - Names, Proto-Indo-European society - Ritual and Sacrifice, Proto-Indo-European society - Poetry, Proto-Indo-European society - Philosophy, Proto-Indo-European society - Subsistence, Proto-Indo-European society - Technology

Read more here: » Proto-Indo-European society: Encyclopedia II - Proto-Indo-European society - Poetry