Encyclopedia of Buddhism Volume One A -L Robert E. Buswell

K LONG CHEN PA (LONGCHENPA)
and Romila Thapar, have persuasively argued that
Buddhism developed its concept of cakravartin in the
post-Aśokan era on the basic model provided by
Aśoka’s political career and philosophy. They have
pointed out that at the time of Aśoka the Buddhist ideal
of cakravartin was not yet systematized, otherwise
Aśoka would have demonstrated his affiliation with it
in his inscriptions. V. S. Agrawala also subscribes to
this view, noting in his work The Wheel Flag of India
(1964), that Aśoka’s appellation Priyadarśi and the
name Sudassana, a cakravartin king figuring in the
Mahasudassana-su tta, have the identical meaning of
“good in appearance.” It is also noteworthy that the
career of a cakravartin king in the Buddhist texts
closely parallels the career of Aśoka. Like Aśoka, the
mythical cakravartin kings heed counsel from both
Brahmins and mendicants, work for the happiness of
their subjects, propagate and patronize Buddhism, and
protect the dharma.
Several centuries later, with the rise of powerful
Kushan states whose rulers styled themselves as devaputra
(son of heaven), and the attendant influence of
foreign ideas and institutions, the Buddhist recognition
of the king’s status as god-incarnate became less ambiguous,
as is testified by the SUVARN APRABHA SOTTAMA-
SU TRA, which describes kings as “son of gods” and “born
in the mortal world by the authority of the great gods.”
Several rulers of Southeast Asia invoked and sought
to trace their ancestry to mahasammata, which represented
to them the first Buddhist ruler in history.
Devanampiyatissa (247–207 B.C.E.) of Sri Lanka was
the first known foreign ruler in history to connect himself
to Aśoka and to extend patronage to Buddhism.
Soon thereafter, Dutthagaman (107–77 B.C.E.) placed
a relic of the Buddha on his spear to sacralize his war
against the Tamil invaders. In subsequent centuries
rulers both in the THERAVADA and MAHAYANA traditions
employed the versatile symbolism held out by
Buddhism—rulers as cakravartin and as BODHISATTVAs.
The influential Chinese monk Faguo declared, “Emperor
Taizu is an enlightened ruler and fond of Buddha.
He is the Tathagata of today.” Liang Wudi and
Sui Wendi of sixth-century China, King Chinhŭng (r.
540–576) of Silla, Prince SHO TOKU (574–622) of Japan,
Jayavarman II (r. 802–c. 834) of Angkor, and King
Chakkraphat (r. 1548–1569) of Thailand are some
other famous examples of the close interface between
Buddhism and kingship.
See also: Politics and Buddhism
Bibliography
Agrawala, Vasudeva Sharana. The Wheel Flag of India: Chakra-
Dhvaja, Being a History and Exposition of the Meaning of the
Dharma-Chakra and the Sarnath Lion Capital. Varanasi, India:
Prithivi Prakashan, 1964.
Basham, A. L. The Wonder That Was India: A Study of the Culture
of the Indian Subcontinent before the Coming of the Muslims.
London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1954.
Chakravarti, Uma. The Social Dimensions of Early Buddhism.
Delhi and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Gokhale, B. G. “Early Buddhist Kingship.” Journal of Asian Studies
26, no. 11 (1966–1967): 15–22.
Gokhale, B. G. “The Early Buddhist View of the State.” Journal
of the America Oriental Society 89, no. 4 (1969): 731–738.
Strong, John S. The Legend of King Aśoka: A Study and Translation
of the Aśokavadana. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University
Press, 1983.
Tambiah, Stanley J. World Conqueror and World Renouncer: A
Study of Buddhism and Polity in Thailand against a Historical
Background. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University
Press, 1976.
Tambiah, Stanley J. The Buddhist Conception of Universal King
and Its Manifestations in South and Southeast Asia. Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia: University of Malaya, 1987.
Thapar, Romila. Aśoka and the Decline of the Mauryas, 2nd edition.
Bombay: Oxford University Press, 1973.
PANKAJ N. MOHAN
KIZIL. See Cave Sanctuaries; Central Asia, Buddhist
Art in
KLONG CHEN PA (LONGCHENPA)
Klong chen pa (Longchenpa, 1308–1363) is widely acknowledged
as the greatest writer on the Rdzogs chen
(Great Perfection) teachings of the RNYING MA (NY-
INGMA) school of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in
the Grwa valley in the G.yu ru region of central Tibet.
At the age of twelve he took ordination and was given
the name Tshul khrims blos gros. In this monastic setting,
he received a thorough Buddhist training, exhibiting
a particular talent for composing poetry, a skill
that would continue to shape his later writings.
Klong chen pa had an immeasurable impact on
the development of Rdzogs chen. From the eleventh
through the fourteenth centuries, the snying thig
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