Buddhaghosa
Topic: Buddhism, Jainism and Heterodox Traditions · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
Buddhaghosa was a Buddhist scholar of the c. fifth century CE. He came from India and worked in Sri Lanka. He wrote the Visuddhimagga ("Path of Purification"), a guide to the whole Theravāda path. He also wrote Pali commentaries that explain the texts of the Tipitaka. He is seen as the greatest commentator of the Theravāda tradition, and his works shaped how Buddhism was understood in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.
Example
Working at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka in the c. fifth century CE, Buddhaghosa put older Sinhala commentaries into Pali. This made them readable for Buddhists across Asia.
Don't confuse with
- Fa Xian and Xuan Zang: these were Chinese pilgrims who travelled to India to find Buddhist texts and took them back to China. Buddhaghosa wrote commentaries on the texts.
Related concepts
- Tipitaka
- Vinaya Pitaka
- Sutta Pitaka
- Abhidhamma Pitaka
- Abhidhamma Divas
- Pali
- Pali classical language
- Buddhist councils
- First Buddhist council
- Second Buddhist council