Paramārtha
499 CE–569 CE · Ujjayinī (Ujjain)
499–569 CE
Paramārtha (499–569 CE) was an Indian monk-translator, traditionally from Ujjayinī (Ujjain), and one of the most important transmitters of Indian philosophy to China. Working in southern China through a period of political chaos, he translated Yogācāra works and Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośa, and his renderings of 'mind-only' (Yogācāra) thought laid groundwork for the She-lun tradition and influenced later Chinese schools. He ranks with Kumārajīva and Xuanzang among the great translators of the Chinese canon.
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Ujjayinī (Ujjain)
What they did here
TRADITION: remembered as his place of origin in western India before he traveled east.
About Ujjayinī (Ujjain)
Ujjayinī, modern Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, India, was an ancient royal and intellectual city on the Shipra river. It is given as the birthplace of the sixth-century Indian monk Paramārtha (Kulanātha), who travelled to China and became a principal transmitter of the Yogācāra teachings there.
Across the traditions, in Ujjayinī (Ujjain) at the same time
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Paramārtha’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn purely from recorded birth and death years.
Buddhist world
Graeco-Roman world
Christian world
Scientists
Islamic world
Jewish world
Rulers world
- Justinian I· 482 CE–565 CE
- Khosrow I Anushirvan· 512 CE–579 CE
- Bumin Qaghan· –552 CE
- Hormizd IV· –590 CE
- Kavad I· 473 CE–531 CE
- Maurice· 539 CE–602 CE
- Emperor Wen of Sui· 541 CE–604 CE
- Phocas· 547 CE–610 CE
- Justin I· 450 CE–527 CE
- Empress Suiko· 554 CE–628 CE
- Emperor Yang of Sui· 569 CE–618 CE
- Emperor Gaozu of Tang (Li Yuan)· 566 CE–635 CE
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.