He was a Kashmiri monk, dating to 367-431. He visited Java from where he was invited to China, arriving there in 431. See Charles Holcombe, Trade-Buddhism: Maritime Trade, Immigration and the Buddhist Landfall in Early Japan, Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 119, no. 2 (1999), pp. 280-292 at p. 285.
Name of a ruler of Kapisha in 424 CE, mentioned in Chinese sources.
Valentina Stache-Rosen, Guṇavarman (367-431): A Comparative Analysis of the Biographies found in the Chinese Tripiṭaka, Bulletin of Tibetology, vol. 10, no. 1 (1973), pp. 5-54.
Himansu Bhusan Sarkar, The Philosophical Matrix and Content of the Vajrayāna System as Practiced by the Śailendra-Rulers of Central Java (c. 775-856 A.D.): A Search for Its Origin (A Literary and Inscriptional Approach), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vols. 58-59 (1977-78), pp. 921-938 at p. 925.
Pachow, VBM, pp. 9-12. It is said that he converted the Javanese king Vadhaka (? P'o-to-chia), and therefore the Javanese people, to Buddhism.
Mookerji, Ancient, p. 604. He sailed from Java in around 424 on a ship of an Indian named Nandi (Nan Ti) and landed at Canton. He arrived at the invitation of the Emperor at Nanking in 431 CE. "He is known as the founder of the Saṃgha for Buddhist nuns. He died in China at [age] 67."
EoB, vol. 5, pp. 393-395 (entry by W. Pachow); vol. 6, p. 586.
