Shikshananda
Shikshananda
[実叉難陀] (652–710) (Skt; Jpn Jisshananda)
A monk from Khotan in Central Asia. He was versed in Hinayana and Mahayana Buddhism as well as non-Buddhist learning. At the request of Empress Wu of T'ang-dynasty China, he brought the Sanskrit text of the Flower Garland Sutra to Lo-yang and began translating the sutra there. Bodhi-ruchi, Iching, and others also joined the project, and in 699 the eighty-volume Chinese translation was completed. Thereafter Shikshananda translated some twenty scriptures, including the Lankavatara Sutra. He also produced a second Chinese translation of The Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana, the first having been done by Paramartha. In 704 he returned to Khotan to look after his elderly mother. He later returned to China and resumed his translation efforts in Ch'ang-an, but died a short time later.
