In a fit of scholarly arrogance, Ashvaghosha issued this challenge to the Buddhist monastery: that they could not ring their bell for prayer according to their tradition—until they accepted his challenge for a scriptural debate. The condition of the debate was that the loser would adopt the winner’s faith. Unable to match Ashvaghosha’s erudition, the monastery stopped ringing the bell in their tradition. But when Paras, a renowned Buddhist guru and expert in the essence of the Dharma, arrived and asked the reason for not ringing the bell, they presented Ashvaghosha’s condition. Upon this, Paras ordered the bell to be rung. Hearing the bell’s sound, Ashvaghosha arrived to issue his challenge for the debate. The Buddhist philosopher Paras accepted the challenge. The debate took place, but Ashvaghosha lost, and Paras won. As per the condition, Ashvaghosha adopted Buddhism. He studied Buddhist philosophy with great sincerity, which resulted in enriching Buddhist literature. As evidence, we can cite his two works: the Buddhacharita, divided into 28 cantos, and Saundarananda.
This story highlights two aspects. First, it underscores Ashvaghosha’s distinctive trait: his intellectual honesty. When he studied Vedic religion, he did so diligently, reaching its pinnacle. And when he lost to the Buddhist guru as per the condition, he embraced Buddhism, ascended to the heights of its philosophy and scriptures, and produced original works related to it. Second, it reminds us of the historical era when the relationship between Vedic religion/Brahmanical faith and Buddhism was far from cordial—it was marked by conflict. Since in the story, Ashvaghosha, as a Vedic scholar, was the one who issued the challenge for the debate and the condition of not ringing the bell, it can be said that this strife-filled, animosity-laden conflict and clash was not initiated from the Buddhist side in the same way as from the Vedic side.