Many, and indeed perhaps most, religions rely on a text that is associated with the founder of that religion. Either because of the reverence due to the founder himself or herself or because the founder or prophet is believed to been inspired to write the text because he or she was divinely inspired (or both), it is extremely important to the adherents of that religion that the original text not be "corrupted". As understandable as this desire is, it is also difficult if not impossible to achieve. In cultures in which knowledge (including knowledge of religious issues) is passed down from one generation to the next by word of mouth, the possibilities for reinterpretation, change and mistakes are myriad. Even in cultures in which religious knowledge is transmitted through writing, there are still numerous possibilities for mistakes to creep in and change the original meaning of the text. This is especially true when the original text is translated into another language.
Of course, people are not unaware of these possibilities for mistake and misinterpretation and try to correct the mistakes that enter into later versions of religious texts. This paper examines one of the most important of these "revisionist" scholars in the history of Buddhism. Kumarajiva (343-413), was an early Buddhist monk and scholar, who was known in his own time (and continues to be celebrated) for his translations of sutras from Sanskrit into Chinese and for correcting mistakes that had crept into original Buddhist texts.
Kumarajiva himself had an intriguing past. As a young child he traveled across India and Kashmir with his mother, who herself was a scholar of Theravada Buddhism and would become a Buddhist nun. When she did so Kumarajiva would become a young monk. Despite his early immersion in Theravada Buddhism, Kumarajiva himself would become, when he was older, a convert to Mahayana Buddhism.
One of the most important events in his own life, and i...