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APRIL, 1890.]
BUDDHAGHOSA.
119
without overstepping any Pali idiom, I shall proceed to compose. And as this commentary will, moreover, be explanatory of the meaning of words belonging to the Suttas in conformity with the sense attached to them therein, therefore ought it the more diligently to be studied."
These commentaries cover the whole of the Tripitaka - the Vinaya, the Abhidhamma, and the Sutta Piçakas.103 They are distributed into divisions and subdivisions bearing separate titles; and some of these are virtually if not originally separate works.104 Altogether they are sufficient to occupy seven or eight volumes of ordinary size.106
5. A volume of Parables in the Burmese language is attributed to him. 106
6. He is said to have brought over from Ceylon to Burma a copy of Kachchhîyana's Pali Grammar, and to have translated it into Burmese, and also to have written a commentary upon it.107 It is, however, not mentioned by the great Páli grammarian and lexicographer Moggalana, A.D. 1153 to 1186, nor by the Prákțit grammarians Chanda and Hêmachandra, 108 and must apparently be placed amongst the supposititious works of Buddhaghosa.
7. Hardy mentions a commentary on the Buddhavanasa by him.100 This is probably the Atthakathú called Maduratthaoilásini 110 and if so, Grimblot assigns it not to Buddhaghôsa but to a Buddhist monk living at the mouth of the Kavêri in Southern India. 111
8. Dr. Stevenson sayg113 that he published several works in defence of Buddhism and against the Brahmans in the early part of his career : bat, as already mentioned, that statement is not substantiated.
9. Colonel Sykes, 113 followed in substance by Mr. James Fergusson, 114 attributes the continuation of the Mahavarisa, or its reduction to its present form, to Buddhaghösa : and Professor Horace Hayman Wilson seems to have held a similar opinion, notwithstanding that he rightly distinguishes between the Mahavarisa and the Dipavarsa.116 No authority is cited for these statements: and they were probably made under some misconception.
10. The Burraese law-code of Manu 116 is also said to have been introduced into Burma from Ceylon by Buddhaghsa, 117 but the code itself is silent upon the subject.
v.-The Date of Buddhaghosa. I have stated in my paper on the Vicissitudes of the Buddhist Literature of Ceylon in a former number of this Journal,118 that various dates have been assigned to Buddhagha ranging from B.C. 307 to A.D. 607. I omit a still earlier date, 119 namely B.C. 543, the year of GautamaBuddha's death, because it has no claim to be taken into consideration. I also omit an extreme date on the later side, namely An. Bad. 1809, or A.D. 1266,120 - ("In the time of the said great
16 Jour. As. Soc. Beng., Vol. VI. pp. 504, 509, 520; Vol. VII. p. 690: Jour. As. Soc. Ceylon for 1846, p. 101 : Turnoar's Manuarsa, p. ii.: E. Monach., pp. 1, 167. Oldenberg's Pipaparka, pp. 3, 8.
1 For the names of the principal divisions see Turnour, Introd., p. lxxv. 1 E. Monach., p. 166. The names of some of the subdivisions occur in the passages cited above.
186 E. Monach., p. 167.
106 Rogers, Buddhaghosha's Parables, (1870). See Sacr. Bks. of the E., Vol. X. (1881), p. x. do. Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. II. p. 72Bhandarkar, Jour. As. Soc. Bomb., Vol. XVI. p. 276.
in Tarn. Mahdv., p. XXV.: E. Monach., p. 192: D'Alwis, in Jour. As. Soc. Ceylon, (1850): Muir's Sanskrit Texts, Vol. II. p. 60 and note: Barnell's Aindra Grammar, p. 63: Mason's Pafi Grammar, pp. i., V. 14Dr. Roat, Art. Pali' in Encye. Brit. Vol. XVIII. (1885), p. 185.
108 See Clough's Pali Grammar, p. iv. i Mason's Pali Gram., pp. vii., 16: Fryer's Pali Studies, in Jour. 4.. Soc. Beng., Vol. XLIV. pp. 1 ff.
101 Man. Bud., p. 366. 140 Jour. As. Soc. Deng., Vol. VI. p. 790; Vol. VII. p. 789; Jour. R. Soc., Vol. XV. (N.S.) p. 482. 111 Professor Rhys Davida in Jour. R. A. S., Vol. VII. (N. S.), p. 170. 118 Jour. As. Soc. Bomb., Vol. V. p. 5, quoted above p. 114, note.
n Jour. R. 4. 8., Vol. VI. p. 339. 114 Tree and Serpent Worship, p. 195, note 450.
115 Jour. R. A. 3., Vol. XII. p. 243 ; Vol. XVI. p. 240. 116 Translated by Richardson, Maulmain, 1847 111 Encl. Brit., Vol. IV. p. 553. See Dr. A. Führer's remarks, in Jour, As, Soc. Bomb. Vol. XV. p. 335. 118 Vol. XVII. (1888), p. 124.
11 Calcutta Review, Vol. IV. p. 276. 190 Upham, Vol. I. pp. 311, 345.
