2nd-century Buddhist monks

Nāgārjuna (, ; ) was an Indian philosopher and Mahāyāna Buddhist monk of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. Nāgārjuna is widely considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers. He was the founder of the Madhyamaka school of Buddhist philosophy and a defender of the Mahāyāna movement. His Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (Root Verses on Madhyamaka, MMK) is the most important text on the Madhyamaka philosophy of emptiness. The MMK inspired a large number of commentaries in Sanskrit, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean and Japanese and continues to be studied today.

', also transliterated Ashvaghosha' (, ; lit. "Horse-Cry"; ; ) ( CE), was a Buddhist philosopher, dramatist, poet, musician, and orator from India. He was born in Saketa, today known as Ayodhya.

second century Parthian Buddhist missionary to China

2nd century Indian Buddhist monk