Buddhabhadra

Buddhabhadra (359-429 CE) (बुद्धभद्र) was an Indian Buddhist monk, with the title of śramaṇa. He is most known for his prolific translation efforts of Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese, and was responsible for the first Chinese translation of the Avataṃsaka Sūtra (Flower Ornament Scripture) in the 5th century CE.

Buddha-bhadra and his Chinese disciple Xuangao are known to have advocated the twin principles of samadhi (meditative concentration) and prajna (transcendent wisdom). These were later inherited by the Tiantai school of Buddhism, and its patriarchs Huisi and Zhiyi. Buddhabhadra's views in turn stemmed from those of Buddhasena's Dhyāna school in Kashmir, and their meditation manual was translated by Buddhabhadra at behest of Huiyuan, the founder of the Chinese tradition of Pure Land Buddhism. This Indian meditation manual preserved in Taisho Tripitaka 618, and is typically called the Yogacarabhumi Sutra or the Dharmatrata Dhyana Sutra. This text was later prized by the Chan school in China, and parts of its lineage to the Buddha became entangled in sectarian conflicts between factions of Chinese Buddhism.

James Legge writes that It is said in the end that after Faxian's return to China, he went to the capital (evidently Nanking), and there, along with the Indian Sramana Buddha-bhadra, executed translations of some of the works which he had obtained in India.