Buddhaghosa
Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa was an important scholar and commentator of Theravada - Buddhism . It was the end of the 4th century, the son of a Brahmin near Bodhgaya ( India born). The name Buddhaghosa is Pali and means "voice of the Buddha".
After Buddhaghosa came into contact with the Buddha's teaching , the Dharma , he took the threefold refuge , i.e. that is, he became a practicing Buddhist and traveled to Sri Lanka to study Theravada. He translated and compared the Sinhala commentaries of today's Pali canon and made them accessible to many people. This is how the Maha Atthakatha ("Great Commentary") came into being. Some other comments are attributed to him, including a comment from the Vinaya .
He stayed for some time in Mahavihara Monastery ("Great Monastery") in Anuradhapura , which was founded by King Devanampiya Tissa (307–247 BC) as the first Buddhist monastery in Sri Lanka. A branch of the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha, according to tradition , had reached Bodhi ( Sanskrit for "awakening") was kept there at that time .
Buddhaghosa's main work is the Visuddhimagga ("Path of Purity"), a revision and extension of the Vimutti Magga ("Path to Salvation") by Upatissa Thera. The Visuddhimagga is a systematic summary of the practice of original Buddhism as it was documented in the various monasteries of its time. The Visuddhimagga is today a standard work of Theravada Buddhism.
literature
- Rogers, Henry Thomas (trans.): Buddhaghosha's Parables / translated from Burmese. With an Introduction, containing Buddha's Dhammapada, or "Path of Virtue" / transl. from Pâli by F. Max Müller, London: Trübner, 1870 digitized
- Bimala Charan Law: The life and work of Buddhaghosa, Calcutta, Thacker, Spink 1923. Digitized
- Pe Maung Tin: The path of purity; being a translation of Buddhaghosa's Visuddhimagg. London, Published for the Pali Text Society by Oxford University Press 1922. Digitized
- Bhikkhu Nyanamoli (trans.), The Path of Purification, Visuddhimagga , Buddhist Publication Society, Kandy 2010, ISBN 955-24-0023-6 . PDF ( Memento from October 8, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- Strong, John, "Buddhaghosa," in Buswell, Jr., Robert E., Macmillan Encyclopedia of Buddhism, USA: Macmillan Reference USA 2004, p. 75, ISBN 0-02-865910-4
Web links
- Literature by and about Buddhaghosa in the catalog of the German National Library
- Visuddhi Magga, The Path to Purity , translation by Bhikkhu Nyanatiloka
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Buddhaghosa |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bhadantācariya Buddhaghosa (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Theravada Buddhist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 400 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | near Bodh-Gaya , India |
| DATE OF DEATH | 5th century |