Aśvaghoṣa was a brahman from Sāketa in Central India who converted to Sarvāstivāda Buddhism. His mother’s name was Suvarṇākṣī but we know little of his life. He was deeply influenced by the ideas of the Mahāsāṃghikas, much in the same way as another convert brahman from Sāketa, Harivarman (ca. 300 C.E.). It is said that Aśvaghoṣa was a contemporary and possibly an advisor of Kaniṣka (probably second century C.E.) He was a philosopher, dramatist, poet and orator, believed to have been the first Sanskrit dramatist, and is considered one of the greatest Indian poets.
Aśvaghoṣa is most famous for writing an epic life story of the Buddha called Buddhacharita (Acts of the Buddha) in classical Sanskrit.
He also wrote the Saundarananda (‘The Handsome Nanda’), a poem with the theme of conversion of Nanda, the Buddha's half-brother.
Aśvaghoṣa also wrote drama, and a fragment of the Śāriputraprakaraṇa has survived in Sanskrit.