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Present Text
Silakkhandhavagga-Abhinavaṭīkā (vol. II)
The Digha Nikaya is an important collection from the perspective of neditation practice. In the first book, the Silakkhandhavagga-pāļi, there is a particular abundance of material related to sila, samādhi and pañña. Various aspects of practice have been elucidated by means of similes drawn from familiar objects and the everyday life of the times.
The Buddha's teachings were simple and endearing. His distinctive style was self-explanatory but, still, in order to make the Dhamma all the more lucid, he ntroduced the use of atthakatha (commentaries), such as the Culaniddesa and the Mahaniddesa. These were recited, along with the discourses of the Buddha, at the First Dhamma Council. In time the other aṭṭhakatha commenting on all his discourses came into being.
When Ven. Mahinda conveyed the words of the Buddha to Sri Lanka he also took the atthakatha with him. The Sinhalese monks preserved these atthakatha in their own language. Later on, when they had been lost in India, Ven. Buddhaghosa was able to translate them back to Pāli.
Ven. Buddhaghosa composed the Sumangalavilasini to clarify the meaning of the Digha Nikaya and Ven. Dhammapala wrote a sub-commentary on Buddhaghosa's work, known as Līnatthappakāsana. Another sub-commentary on Buddhaghosa's work, named Sadhuvilasini (Silakkhandhavagga-Abhinavaṭīkā), was written by Mahathera Ñāṇābhivamsadhammasenapati in the later half of the eighteenth century. It is profound and illustrative, throwing light on various aspects of the Dhamma. This is the book which is presented here.
We sincerely hope that this will provide immense benefit to practitioners of Vipassana as well as research scholars.
Jain Education International
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Vipassana Research Institute, Igatpuri, India.
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