Buddhaghosa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buddhaghosa offering the Visuddhimagga to the chief monk

Part of a series on Buddhism Image:Lotus-buddha.svg
History
Timeline· Buddhist councils
Foundations
Four Noble Truths Noble Eightfold Path Buddhist Precepts Nirvāṇa · Three Jewels
Key Concepts
Three marks of existence Skandha · Cosmology Saṃsāra · Rebirth · Dharma Dependent Origination · Karma
Major Figures
Gautama Buddha Disciples · Later Buddhists
Practices and Attainment
Buddha (general) · Bodhisattva Four Stages of Enlightenment Paramitas · Meditation · Laity
Regions
Southeast Asia · East Asia India · Nepal · Sri Lanka · Tibet Bhutan · Western Countries
Branches
Theravāda · Mahāyāna Vajrayāna · Early schools Pre-sectarian Buddhism
Texts
Pali Canon · Mahayana Sutras Tibetan Canon
Comparative Studies Culture · List of topics Portal: Buddhism
Image:Dharma wheel.svg This box: view • talk • edit

Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa was a 5th century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. Buddhaghosa means "Voice of the Buddha" in the Pāli language.

1 Writings and translations
2 References

[edit] Writings and translations

He translated extensive Sinhala commentaries on the Pāli Buddhist texts in Pāli. Certain commentaries are also attributed to him, including one on the Vinaya and one on the Dhammapada that includes 305 stories for context. [1]

His Visuddhimagga (Pāli: Path of Purification) is a comprehensive manual of Theravada Buddhism that is still read and studied today. The book is divided into sections on Sīla (ethics), Samādhi (meditation), and Pañña (wisdom). This is a traditional division in Buddhist teachings, which suggest that ethics are essential to meditation, and that meditation is essential to developing wisdom. From the Buddhist point of view this is the "path of purification" because it purifies the mind of the defilements of greed, hatred, and delusion.

Below is a listing of Buddhaghosa's fourteen commentaries (Pāli: atthakatha) on the Pāli Tipitaka:^[1]

Pali Tipitaka			Buddhaghosa's Commentary
from the Vinaya Pitaka	Vinaya (general)		Samantapasadika
from the Vinaya Pitaka	Patimokkha		Kankhavitarani
from the Sutta Pitaka	Digha Nikaya		Sumangalavilasini
	Majjhima Nikaya		Papañcasudani
	Samyutta Nikaya		Saratthappakasini
	Anguttara Nikaya		Manorathapurani
	from the Khuddaka Nikaya	Khuddakapatha	Paramatthajotika (I)
		Dhammapada	Dhammapada-atthakatha
		Sutta Nipata	Paramatthajotika (II), Suttanipata-atthakatha
		Jataka	Jatakatthavannana, Jataka-atthakatha
from the Abhidhamma Pitaka	Dhammasangani		Atthasalini
	Vibhanga		Sammohavinodani
	Dhatukatha		Pañcappakaranatthakatha
	Puggalapaññatti
	Kathavatthu
	Yamaka
	Patthana

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

^ Table based on Bullitt (2002). Bullitt further notes that only six of Buddhaghosa's commentaries have complete English translations: the Dhammapada-atthakatha, the Jatakatthavannana, the Jataka-atthakatha, the Atthasalini, the Sammohavinodani and the Pañcappakaranatthakatha. These English translations are available through the Pali Text Society. (See Bullitt, 2002, for more information about these translations.) Soma (2003) contains a translation of Buddhaghosa's Papañcasudani pertinent to the Satipatthana Sutta.

[edit] Bibliography

Bullitt,John T. (2002). Beyond the Tipitaka: A Field Guide to Post-canonical Pali Literature. Available on-line at: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/bullitt/fieldguide.html.

Soma Thera (trans.) (2003). The Way of Mindfulness. Kandy, Sri Lanka: Buddhist Publication Society. ISBN 955-24-0256-5. Also available on-line in a 1998 version at http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/soma/wayof.html.