Indian Buddhist missionaries

Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), most commonly known as Ashoka the Great, was Emperor of Magadha from until his death, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynasty. His empire covered a large part of the Indian subcontinent, stretching from present-day Afghanistan in the west to present-day Bangladesh in the east, with its capital at Pataliputra. A patron of Buddhism, he is credited with an important role in the spread of Buddhism across ancient Asia.

Bodhidharma was a semi-legendary Buddhist monk who lived during the 5th or 6th century CE. He is traditionally credited as the transmitter of Chan Buddhism to China, and is regarded as its first Chinese patriarch. He is also popularly regarded as the founder of Shaolin kung fu, an idea popularized in the 20th century, but based on the 17th century Yijin Jing and the Daoist association of daoyin gymnastics with Bodhidharma.

thumb|Rewalsar Lake#Colossus of Padmasambhava|Colossus of Padmasambhava, 123 ft. (37.5 m) high, in mist overlooking [[Rewalsar Lake, Himachal Pradesh, India]]

thumb|King Milinda and Nāgasena. Nāgasena was a Sarvāstivādan Buddhist sage who lived around 150 BC. His answers to questions about Buddhism posed by Menander I (Pali: Milinda), the Greek king in northwestern India, are recorded in the Milindapañhā and the Sanskrit Nāgasenabhiksusūtra. According to Pali accounts, he was born into a Brahmin family in the Himalayas and was well-versed in the Vedas at an early age. However, he later converted to Buddhism.

2nd century Indian Buddhist monk

Vajrabodhi (, , 671–741 CE) was an Indian esoteric Buddhist monk and teacher in Nalanda and later in Tang China. He is one of the eight patriarchs in Shingon Buddhism as well as Zhenyan Buddhism. He is notable for introducing Vajrayana Buddhism in the territories of the Srivijaya Empire which subsequently evolved into a distinct form known as Indonesian Esoteric Buddhism.

Buddhist monk and scholar

Buddhist monk

'''''' (धर्मक्षेम, transliterated 曇無讖 (), translated 竺法豐 (); 385–433 CE) was an Indian Buddhist monk, missionary and translator, active during the fifth century CE who was responsible for a number of important translation projects while travelling in China.

Bodhiruci () was a Buddhist monk from North India (6th century CE) active in the area of Luoyang, China. He was appointed as master translator at Yongning (永寧寺) temple by emperor Xuanwu of the Northern Wei. In his translations, Bodhiruci was assisted by the central Indian monk Ratnamati (勒那摩提).

Śubhakarasiṃha (637–735 CE) () was an eminent Indian Buddhist monk and translator of Esoteric Buddhist texts.

thumb|Virūpa, 16th century. It depicts a famous episode in his hagiography when he stopped the sun in the sky. Virupa (; Tib. bi ru pa or bir wa pa, ), also known as Virupaksa and Tutop Wangchuk, was an 8th–9th century Indian mahasiddha and yogi, and the source of important cycles of teachings in Vajrayana Buddhism.

Bodhisena or Bodaisenna (704–760 CE) was a Buddhist scholar and monk from India known for traveling to Japan and China and establishing the Kegon school, the Japanese transmission of the Huayan school of Chinese Buddhism. He is the first known Indian visitor to Japan.

Indian actor

Dharmaratna, Gobharana, or Zhu Falan (竺法蘭) was an Indian Buddhist monk who is traditionally believed to have first introduced Buddhism to China in the 1st century CE.

Lawapa or Lavapa () was a figure in Tibetan Buddhism who flourished in the 10th century. He was also known as Kambala and Kambalapada (Sanskrit: ). Lawapa, was a mahasiddha, or accomplished yogi, who travelled to Tsari. Lawapa was a progenitor of the Dream Yoga sādhanā and it was from Lawapa that the mahasiddha Tilopa received the Dream Yoga practice lineage.

Malananta (fl. late 4th century) was an Indian Buddhist monk and missionary who brought Buddhism to the southern Korean peninsula in the 4th century. Multiple romanizations of Malananta's name may be found, including Meghananda (मेघानंदा), Malananda, '''Maranant'a and Maalaananda'''. He was among the first to bring Buddhist teaching, or Dharma, to Korea. The Samguk yusa and Samguk yusa record him as the one who brought Buddhism to King Chimnyu of Baekje in 384 CE, along with Sundo in Goguryeo and Ado in Silla. Buddhism, a religion originating in what is now India, was transmitted to Korea via