Dharmasvamin


Dharmasvamin was a Tibetan monk and pilgrim who travelled to India between 1234 and 1236. His biography by Upasaka Chos-dar provides an eyewitness account of the times.

India visit

The objective of Dharmasvamin's tour of India was to visit Bodh Gaya and to study the Buddhist texts with the Indian scholars. However, by the time he reached India, the Buddhist sites in eastern India had declined.
According to Dharmasvamin's biography, when he visited Uddandapura, it was the residence of a Turushka military commander. The Vikramashila had been completely destroyed by the Turushka army. At Nalanda, there were 80 small viharas, which had been abandoned after being damaged by the Turushkas, and only two of the viharas were functional. Less than hundred monks resided there, and a local king named Buddhasena financially supported the Nalanda's 90-year abbot Rahula Shribhadra.
Rahula Shribhadra accepted Dharmasvamin as a student, and the two men translated Sanskrit Buddhist texts into Tibetan. Dharmasvamin had mastered Sanskrit while in Tibet, using knowledge from his uncle and the 9th century dictionary Mahāvyutpatti: his command over Sanskrit was so strong, that he was mistaken to be an Indian when he visited Bodh Gaya.