[800] Acâriyaparamparâ. There is a list of such teachers in Mahâvaṃsa, V. 95 ff., Dîpavaṃsa, IV. 27 ff. and V. 69.
[802] The succession of Patriarchs is the subject of several works comprised in the Chinese Tripitaka. Of these the Fu-fa-tsang-yin-yüan-ching (Nanjio, 1340) is the most important, because it professes to be translated (A.D. 472) from an Indian work, which, however, is not in the Tibetan Canon and is not known in Sanskrit. The Chinese text, as we have it, is probably not a translation from the Sanskrit, but a compilation made in the sixth century which, however, acquired considerable authority. See Maspéro in Mélanges d'Indianisme: Sylvain Lévi, pp. 129-149, and B.E.F.E.O.1911, pp. 344-348. Other works are the Fo-tsu-t'ung-chi (Nanjio, 1661), of Chih P'an (c. 1270), belonging to the T'ien-t'ai school, and the Ching-tê-ch'uan-têng-lu together with the Tsung-mên-t'ung-yao-hsü-chi (Nanjio, 1524, 1526) both belonging to the school of Bodhidharma. See also Nanjio, 1528, 1529. The common list of Patriarchs is as follows: 1. Mahâkâśyapa; 2. Ananda; 3. Śanavâsa or Śanakavâsa; 4. Upagupta; 5. Dhṛitaka; 6. Micchaka. Here the name of Vasumitra is inserted by some but omitted by others; 7. Buddhanandi; 8. Buddhamitra; 9. Pârśva; 10. Punyayasas; 11. Aśvaghosha; 12. Kapimala; 13. Nâgârjuna; 14. Deva (Kâṇadeva); 15. Râhulata; 16. Sanghanandi; 17. Sanghayaśas; 18. Kumârata; 19. Jayata; 20. Vasubandhu; 21. Manura; 22. Haklena or Padmaratna; 23. Simha Bhikshu; 24. Basiasita; 25. Putṇomita or Punyamitra; 26. Prajnâtara; 27 (or 28, if Vasumitra is reckoned) Bodhidharma. Many of these names are odd and are only conjectural restorations made from the Chinese transcription, for which see Nanjio, 1340. Other lists of Patriarchs vary from that given above, partly because they represent the traditions of other schools. It is not strange, for instance, if the Sarvâstivâdins did not recognize Nâgârjuna as a Patriarch. Two of their lists have been preserved by Sêng-yu (Nanjio, 1476) who wrote about 520. Some notes on the Patriarchs and reproductions of Chinese pictures representing them will be found in Doré, pp. 244 ff. It is extremely curious that Aśvaghosha is represented as a woman.
[803] It is found, for instance, in the lists of the Jain Tirthankaras and in some accounts of the Buddhas and of the Avatâras of Vishnu.
[804] See Watters, Yüan Chwang, p. 290. But the dates offer some difficulty, for Mihirakula, the celebrated Hun chieftain, is usually supposed to have reigned about 510-540 A.D. Târanâtha (Schiefner, p. 95) speaks of a martyr called Mâlikabuddhi. See, too, ib. p. 306.