1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Buddhaghosa |←Buddha||1911
Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 4 |See also Buddhaghosa on
Wikipedia, and our 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica disclaimer.|
BUDDHAGHOSA, a celebrated Buddhist writer. He was a Brahmin by
birth and was born near the great Bodhi tree at Budh Gayā; in
north India about A.D. 390, his father's name being Kesī. His
teacher, Revata, induced him to go to Ceylon, where the
commentaries on the scriptures had been preserved in the
Sinhalese language, with the object of translating them into
Pāli. He went accordingly to Anuradhapura, studied there under
Sanghapāla, and asked leave of the fraternity there to translate
the commentaries. With their consent he then did so, having
first shown his ability by writing the work Visuddhi Magga (the
Path of Purity, a kind of summary of Buddhist doctrine). When he
had completed his many years' labours he returned to the
neighbourhood of the Bodhi tree in north India. Before he came
to Ceylon he had already written a book entitled N