Kumarajiva-the transcreator of Buddhist Chinese diction

Author: Nirmala Sharma
Publisher: Niyogi Books
(Pp 180, ISBN 978-81-89738-19-8)

Kumarajiva is the luminescent word of the endless reverie of the Buddhist Sutras and Sastras where the grand cosmology of time and space finds harmony in the symbolic order of life. The book is an effort to outline the life and work of Kumarajiva who gave a new direction to the efflorescence of Sanskrit sutras in a new Chinese edition. In his linguistic creativity, Kumarajiva laid the foundations of deep bonds of friendship between India and China, and thence with Japan, Korea and Vietnam.

The book covers life and works of Kumarajiva, his translation activities, his biography, Sengjui biography and Chinese text of the life of Kumarajiva. The text is accompanied with around 100 beautiful illustrations of murals and scrolls besides breath-taking pictures, which take the readers down the ancient times. Infact, it is the first full-length nation of the extraordinary life, immense literary output, manifold philosophical perspectives and the development of a new translation methodology by him.

The author also discusses his critical texts that became the foundation of sects and philosophical systems in East Asia. Beautifully produced, the book is a feast for the eyes and a wealth of knowledge for all those who wish to know more about Kumarajiva.