twenty-three successors [付法蔵の二十三人・二十三祖] ( fuhōzō-no-nijūsan-nin or nijūsan-so): Also, twenty-three patriarchs. Those who, after Shakyamuni Buddha’s death, successively inherited the lineage of his teachings and propagated them in India. According to A History of the Buddha’s Successors, they are (1) Mahākāshyapa, (2) Ānanda, (3) Shānavāsa, (4) Upagupta, (5) Dhritaka, (6) Mikkaka, (7) Buddhananda, (8) Buddhamitra, (9) Pārshva, (10) Punyayashas, (11) Ashvaghosha, (12) Kapimala, (13) Nāgārjuna, (14) Āryadeva, (15) Rāhulabhadra (also Rāhulatā), (16) Samghanandi, (17) Samghayashas, (18) Kumārata, (19) Jayata, (20) Vasubandhu, (21) Manorhita, (22) Haklenayashas, and (23) Āryasimha. See also twenty-four successors.