The sub-commentaries (

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 ...

: ''ṭīkā'') are primarily commentaries on the commentaries (Pali: ''aṭṭhakathā'') on the

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During th ...

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' ...

Buddhism, written in

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 ...

. This literature continues the commentaries' development of the traditional interpretation of the scriptures. (Note that some commentaries are apparently also named with the term ''ṭīkā''.) These sub-commentaries were begun during the reign of

Parākramabāhu I Parākramabāhu I ( Sinhala: මහා පරාක්‍රමබාහු, 1123–1186), or Parakramabahu the Great, was the king of Polonnaruwa from 1153 to 1186. He oversaw the expansion and beautification of his capital, constructed extensiv ...

(1123–1186) under prominent Sri Lankan scholars such as Sāriputta Thera, Mahākassapa Thera of Dimbulagala Vihāra and Moggallāna Thera.

Burmese collection

The official Burmese collected edition contains the following texts: * '' Paramatthamañjusā'', ṭīkā by

Dhammapāla Dhammapāla was the name of two or more great Theravada Buddhist commentators. The earlier, born in Kanchipuram, is known to us from both the '' Gandhavamsa'' and to have lived at Badara Tittha Vihara south of modern Chennai, and to have wri ...

Buddhaghosa Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Indian Theravada Buddhist commentator, translator and philosopher. He worked in the Great Monastery (''Mahāvihāra'') at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajjavāda school and in t ...

's ''

Visuddhimagga The ''Visuddhimagga'' (Pali; English: ''The Path of Purification''), is the 'great treatise' on Buddhist practice and Theravāda Abhidhamma written by Buddhaghosa approximately in the 5th century in Sri Lanka. It is a manual condensing and syst ...

''; scholars have not yet settled which Dhammapāla this is * Three ṭīkāyo on the ''Samantapāsādikā'', commentary on the ''

Vinaya Piṭaka The ' (Sanskrit, Pali; ) is a Buddhist scripture, one of the three parts that make up the Tipiṭaka (lit. ''Three Baskets''). The other two parts of the Tipiṭaka are the Sutta Piṭaka and Abhidhamma Piṭaka. Its primary subject matter i ...

'': ** Ṭīkā by Vajirabuddhi ** '' Sāratthadīpanī'' by

Sāriputta Thera Sāriputta Thera was a 12th century Sri Lankan scholar monk of Theravada Buddhism. He was the first leader (''Mahasvami'') of the Sri Lankan Buddhist Sangha after Parakramabahu I's reforms and one of Theravada's greatest exegetes. He was the stud ...

(12th century) ** '' Vimativinodanī'' by Mahākassapa Thera (13th century) * Two ṭīkāyo on the '' Kankhavitarani'', commentary on the ''

Pāṭimokkha In Theravada Buddhism, the Pāṭimokkha is the basic code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for fully ordained monks (bhikkhus) and 311 for nuns ( bhikkhuṇīs). It is contained in the Suttavibhaṅga, a division of the Vinaya P ...

'' * Ṭīkāyo by

's '' Sumangalavilasinī'', '' Papancasudanī'' and '' Saratthapakasini'', commentaries on the Dīgha, Majjhima and

Saṃyutta Nikāya The Saṃyukta Nikāya/Samyutta Nikaya (''Saṃyukta'' ''Nikāya/'' SN, "Connected Discourses" or "Kindred Sayings") is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three basket ...

; it is generally considered by scholars that this is a different Dhammapāla from the one who wrote commentaries. * '' Visuddha(jana)vilasini'' by Nanabhivamsa, head of the Burmese sangha, about 1800; a new partial tika on the '' Sumangalavilasini'', covering only the first volume of the ''

Digha Nikāya Digha is a seaside resort town in the state of West Bengal, India. It lies in Purba Medinipur district and at the northern end of the Bay of Bengal. It has a low gradient with a shallow sand beach. It is a popular sea resort in West Bengal. Hi ...

'' * '' Saratthamanjusa'' by

's '' Manorathapurani'' on the ''

Aṅguttara Nikāya The Anguttara Nikaya ('; , also translated "Gradual Collection" or "Numerical Discourses") is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali ...

'' * '' Nettitīkā'' on

's commentary on the ''

Nettipakaraṇa The Nettipakaraṇa (Pali, also called Nettippakarana, abbreviated Netti) is a mythological Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of Theravada Buddhism's Pali Canon. The main theme of this text is Buddhist Hermeneutics thro ...

'' * '' Nettivibhavini'' by a 16th-century

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

author whose name is given in different manuscripts as Saddhamma-, Samanta- or Sambandha-pala; this is not a new tika on the '' Netti'' commentary, but a new commentary on the ''Netti'' itself * '' Mūlatīkā'' by

Ānanda Ānanda (5th4th century BCE) was the primary attendant of the Buddha and one of his ten principal disciples. Among the Buddha's many disciples, Ānanda stood out for having the best memory. Most of the texts of the early Buddhist '' Sutta-Pi� ...

on the commentaries on the ''

Abhidhamma Piṭaka The ''Abhidhamma Piṭaka'' (Pali; Sanskrit: ''Abhidharma Piṭaka''; English: ''Basket of Higher Doctrine'') is a collection of canonical texts in the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Together with the Vinaya Piṭaka and the Sutta Piṭaka it com ...

'' * '' Anutīkā'' on the '' Mūlatīkā'' There are other tikas without this official recognition, some printed, some surviving in manuscript, some apparently lost. The name tika is also applied to commentaries on all non-canonical works, such as the ''

Mahāvaṃsa The ''Mahāvaṃsa'' (, Sinhala: මහාවංශය, Pali: ''මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa)'' – written in the 5th century CE) is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of Sri Lanka written in the style of an epic poem written in t ...

''. There are also some sub-commentaries in vernacular languages. Extracts from some of these works have been translated, usually along with translations of commentaries.

References

{{Buddhism topics Pali Buddhist texts Theravada literature Buddhist commentaries