''Abhidhammavatara'' (Pali, also ''Abhidhammāvatāra''), according to Encyclopædia Britannica is "the earliest effort at systematizing, in the form of a manual, the doctrines dealt with in the

Abhidhamma The Theravada Abhidhamma tradition, also known as the Abhidhamma Method, refers to a scholastic systematization of the Theravāda school's understanding of the highest Buddhist teachings ( Abhidhamma). These teachings are traditionally believed ...

(scholastic) section of the

Theravada ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' (anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or ''Dharma (Buddhi ...

Buddhist canon. According to Rupert Gethin, the Abhidhammāvatāra (‘Introduction to Abhidharma’) was "written in the fifth century by Buddhadatta, a contemporary of

Buddhaghosa Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Sinhalese Theravādin Buddhist commentator, translator, and philosopher. He worked in the great monastery (''mahāvihāra'') at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajyavāda schoo ...

." Buddhadatta was a poet and scholar in the region of the

Kaveri River The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari and Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin is estimated to be and encompasses the states o ...

, in southern India". He was patronised by Accutavikkante of the Kalamba family (''Accut Accutavikkante Kalambakulanandane mahin samanusāsante āraddho ca samāpito''-verse 3179 of ''Nigamanagātha'', ''Vinayavinicchaya''). Buddhadatta used this work to sum up and give original systematization to other commentaries dealing with ''

.'' It is written in a chapter, verse format, with 24 chapters. The

Abhidhammattha-sangaha The ''Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha'' (English: The Compendium of Things contained in the Abhidhamma; ) is a Pali Buddhist instructional manual or compendium of the Abhidhamma of the Theravāda tradition. It was written by the Sri Lankan monk Ācari ...

has, in essence, superseded it.

References

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External Links

Abhidhammavatara Project
5th-century literature Pali Buddhist texts Abhidharma Theravada Buddhist texts