Sanskrit Buddhist literature

Buddhist adoption of Sanskrit

While the earliest Buddhist texts were orally composed and transmitted in Middle Indo-Aryan languages called Prakrits; Sanskrit gradually became the main language of Buddhist scriptures and scholasticism in India mirroring its rise as political and literary lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent. This process began with the north-western Indian Buddhists of the Kushan empire (CE 30-375). The Sarvastivadin school wrote most of their Abhidharma texts in Sanskrit and many Mahayana sutras such as the Prajnaparamita sutra were composed in Mixed Sanskrit. The use of pure classical Sanskrit began with Asvaghosa (c. 100 CE), author of the Buddhacarita and one of the earliest Sanskrit dramatists. Major Buddhist thinkers like Nagarjuna, Dharmakirti and Vasubandhu also wrote in Sanskrit.

Johannes Bronkhorst argues that the main reason for the Buddhist adoption of Sanskrit was that the language had become associated with political prestige and power which was sought after by Buddhist viharas. The increase wealth and size of Buddhist monasteries such as Nalanda meant that they required elite patronage, and knowledge of Sanskrit was a way to cater to and communicate with the more educated upper classes and royal courts of Indian rulers. Later Buddhists, like their Hindu counterparts, began to believe that Sanskrit was the one original holy language. The decline of Buddhism in India saw the loss of a large number of Sanskrit Buddhist texts. The use of Sanskrit as a sacred language survives in the Newar Buddhism of Nepal and thus the vast majority of Sanskrit Buddhist manuscripts were preserved by this tradition.

Partial list Buddhist texts extant in Sanskrit

Early sutra and Agamas
There is no complete Sanskrit copy of any of the Agamas, many fragments have been found, especially in the Tarim Basin and the city of Turfan.

Prajnaparamita (perfection of wisdom) sutras

Avatamsaka (flower ornament) sutras

Ratnakuta sutras (Heap of Jewels)

Other Mahayana sutras

Vinaya (discipline, monastic regulations)

Abhidharma

Dharani - several collections from Nepal

Avadana

Jataka

Stotra

Shastra (treatise or commentary)

Tantra

Other (practice manuals, philosophical treatises, etc.)

Mahakavya - Epic Poetry

Sanskrit Drama