Dhammapāla was the name of two or more great

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 Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

commentators. The earlier, born in

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

, is known to us from both the '' Gandhavamsa'' and to have lived at Badara Tittha Vihara south of modern

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, and to have written the commentaries on seven of the shorter canonical books (consisting almost entirely of verses) and also the commentary on the Netti, perhaps the oldest

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...

work outside the canon. Extracts from the latter work, and the whole of three out of the seven others, have been published in Pali by the

Pali Text Society The Pali Text Society is a text publication society founded in 1881 by Thomas William Rhys Davids "to foster and promote the study of Pāli texts". Pāli is the language in which the texts of the Theravada school of Buddhism are preserved. The Pā ...

. These works show great learning, exegetical skill and sound judgment. But as to the meaning of words, or to discussions of the ethical import of his texts, very little can be gathered from his writings of value for the social history of his time. Though in all probability a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

by birth, he declares, in the opening lines of those of his works that have been edited, that he followed the tradition of the Great Monastery ( Maha Vihara) at

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

, and the works themselves confirm this in every respect. Another writer, probably also called ''Dhammapala'', since he was supposed by the 12th century to be the same, though scholars do not accept this, wrote subcommentaries on the commentaries on the ''Digha'', ''Majjhima'' and ''Samyutta Nikayas''. A third ''Dhammapala'' wrote '' Saccasankhepa'', a handbook of abhidhamma.

Sources

* Edmund Hardy in ''Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft'' (1898), pp. 97 foll. * ''Netti-ppakaranam: The guide, according to Kaccana Thera'' (ed. E. Hardy, London,

, 1902, ASIN B0000CLJ95), especially the Introduction, ''passim'' *''Theri Gatha Commentary'', ''Peta Vatthu Commentary'', and ''Vimna Vutthu Commentary'', all three published by the Pali Text Society. * K.R. Norman, ''Pali Literature'', Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden, 1983 * Oskar von Hinüber, ''Handbook of Pali Literature'', Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1996

References

{{reflist 5th-century Buddhist monks Indian scholars of Buddhism Buddhism amongst Tamils