Aggamahāpaṇḍita ( my, အဂ္ဂမဟာပဏ္ဍိတ, ) is an honorific Burmese Buddhist title conferred by the Myanmar government to distinguished

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhist monks.

Etymology

Aggamahāpandiṭa, meaning "foremost great and wise one," is derived from the following Pali terms: *''Agga'', from ''Aggasāvaka'' (), which was conferred by the Buddha to his foremost disciples, Sariputta and Mahamoggallana. *''Mahā'', meaning "great." *''Paṇḍita'', meaning "wise or learned person," and denoting possession of wisdom and knowledge of Tipitaka.

Qualifications

The title is usually awarded to Buddhist monks who are highly proficient in teaching the

Dhamma Dharma (; sa, धर्म, dharma, ; pi, dhamma, italic=yes) is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. Although there is no direct single-word translation for ' ...

or those who are believed to be enlightened (''arahants''). The title is awarded annually in January by the head of the Burmese government, following after rigorous and subtle examination of a monk's wisdom and achievement by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee. Recipients must meet the following qualifications: * Possesses the Aggamahāganthavācakapaṇḍita title * Has at least 40 years (

vassa The ''Vassa'' ( pi, vassa-, script=Latn, sa, varṣa-, script=Latn, both "rain") is the three-month annual retreat observed by Theravada practitioners. Taking place during the wet season, Vassa lasts for three lunar months, usually from Jul ...

) in the monkhood * Is an morally upright person (sīlavanta) * Has passed the Dhammācariya examination * Expert writer of Pali commentaries and Pali texts * Expert teacher of Pali commentaries and Pali texts * Serves as an abbot for a monastic college (ပရိယတ္တိစာသင်တိုက်) * Commands authority and influence among Sangha disciples * Free of accusations and disputes

History

Historically, the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in ...

had disciples who held title of ''Aggasāvaka'' and ''Mahāsāvaka'' who were already enlightened Ariyas and regarded as leaders of the communities of monks known as the

Sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

. From 1915 to 1942, the British colonial government conferred the title Aggamahāpaṇḍita (အဂ္ဂမဟာပဏ္ဍိတ) to 98 monks. From 1951 through 1953, the Burmese government awarded the Aggamahāpaṇḍita title to 15 monks.

List of recipients

* Ledi Sayadaw (1911, Title offered by the Government of India) *Ashin Janakabhivamsa (1948) * Mahasi Sayadaw (1952) *Ambalangoda

Polwatte Buddhadatta Thera The Venerable Ambalangoda Polwatte Buddhadatta Mahanayake Thera (A. P. Buddhadatta) (1887–1962) was a Theravada Buddhist monk and a professor of Buddhist philosophy at Vidyalankara University. During 1928 he travelled to Switzerland to teach Pā ...

(1954) *

Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero ( si, අග්ග මහා පණ්ඩිත බලංගොඩ ආනන්ද මෛත්‍රෙය මහා නා හිමි;23 August 1896 – 18 July 1998; was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk who was one ...

(1955) * Sayadaw U Thittila (1956) *Anisakhan Sayadaw U Pandita *Mogok Sayadaw U Vimala (1962) *Mingun Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa (1979) *Myaungmya Sayadaw U Nyanika (1991) *Birmingham Sayadaw U Rewatadhamma *Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Nyanissara *Sayadaw U Silananda (1993) * Madihe Pannaseeha Thero (1996) *Sayadaw U Pannavamsa (1998) * Walpola Rahula Thero (1998) *Yaykyi Mingala Kyaungtaik Sayadaw, Bhaddanta Indobhasa *

Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thero Agga Maha Pandita Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thero ( si, කො‍ටුගොඩ ධම්මාවාස හිමි, Koṭugoḍa Dhammāvāsa Himi; lay name: Sirimevan Rodrigo; 23 January 1933 – 22 March 2021) was an eminent Sri Lankan Buddhist ...

*Thirikunamale Ananda Thero (2022)

References

External links