Buddhaghosha (flourished early 5th century ce) is undoubtedly the most prolific and important writer in the Pali language. There is little agreement about his birthplace, but it is known that he stayed at Bodh Gaya, in eastern India, for a long time. There he most likely met Sinhalese monks, because the vihara (Pali and Sanskrit: monastery) at Bodh Gaya had been built with the permission of Emperor Samudra Gupta (c. 330–380 ce) for Sinhalese pilgrims. Relocating to Sri Lanka, Buddhaghosha stayed at the Mahavihara (“Great Monastery”) in Anuradhapura, which possessed a rich collection of commentarial literature, most likely in Old Sinhalese. Buddhaghosha’s first work probably was the Visuddhimagga (Pali: “The Path of Purification”), a greatly revered compendium of Theravada teaching. He also wrote commentaries on the Vinaya (Pali), the first four nikayas (Pali and Sanskrit), and the seven books of the Abhidhamma Pitaka, though the exact chronology of their composition cannot be determined.
Although a number of other works traditionally have been attributed to Buddhaghosha—including the Suttanipata" class="md-crosslink">Suttanipata (Pali: “Group of Suttas”), the Khuddaka-patha (Pali: “Collection on Little Readings”), the Dhammapada" class="md-crosslink">Dhammapada (Pali: “Verses on the Dhamma”), and the Jatakas" class="md-crosslink">Jatakas (Pali and Sanskrit: “Births”)—modern scholarship indicates that he was not their author. The introduction to commentary on the Jatakas includes the most famous “biography” of the Buddha in Pali; it begins with the hero’s vow, made in a previous life, to become a buddha and concludes with his purported stay at the Jetavana monastery, where he told the 547 stories that follow. These stories, ranging from very brief narratives to full-scale romances, recount events in the Buddha’s previous lives (for example, the story of the Buddha’s last life before his birth as Siddhartha, during which he perfected the virtue of sacrificial giving). In countries where the Theravada school is prominent, these narratives and romances have exerted a tremendous influence on everything from the fine arts to law.
Mrga (“deer”) Jataka showing the bodhisattva (“buddha-to-be”) as a deer, stone bas-relief from Barhut, 2nd century bce; in the Indian Museum, Kolkata.Courtesy of Indian Museum, Kolkata
Buddhadatta, a contemporary of Buddhaghosha, was a native of Uragapura, near modern Tiruchchirappalli, in southern India. Like Buddhaghosha, he went to Sri Lanka to study at the Mahavihara in Anuradhapura, and upon his return he wrote his works in a monastery on the banks of the Kaveri River. His Abhidhammavatara" class="md-crosslink">Abhidhammavatara (Pali: “The Coming of the Abhidhamma”), though a summary of the older works on the Abhidhamma Pitaka, is one of the most important commentaries on the “basket.” While Buddhadatta’s ideas were similar to those of Buddhaghosha, he did not follow Buddhaghosha blindly. Instead, he reduced Buddhaghosha’s five metaphysical ultimates (form, feeling, sensations, motivations, and perception) to four (mind, mental events, forms, and nirvana). This creative classification, similar to that of the Sarvastivadins (a Buddhist sectarian group that emerged in the mid-3rd century bce and that affirmed ontological realism), makes Buddhadatta a philosopher in his own right rather than a commentator who merely restates matters in new terms.
Dhammapala, who probably came from southern India, is credited with the writing of numerous commentaries, including the Paramattha dipani (Pali: “Elucidation of the True Meaning”), a commentary on several books of the Khuddaka nikaya" class="md-crosslink">Khuddaka nikaya. In the Paramattha manjusa (Pali: “Jewel Box of the True Meaning”), a commentary on Buddhaghosha’s Visuddhimagga, Dhammapala quotes a verse from the Hindu scripture Bhagavadgita and frequently mentions the views of other schools and teachers. As a result, this work provides valuable information about intellectual activity in traditional circles.
At the close of the 4th century ce, an even older work existed in Sri Lanka. This chronicle of the history of the island from its legendary beginning onward probably was part of the Maha-atthakatha, the commentarial literature that formed the basis of the works by Buddhaghosha and others. The accounts it contains are reflected in the Dipavamsa (Pali: “History of the Island”), which appears to be a poor redaction in Pali of an earlier Old Sinhalese version. The Mahavamsa" class="md-crosslink">Mahavamsa (Pali: “Great Chronicle”), compiled by Mahanama in the 5th or 6th century, and its continuation in the Chulavamsa (“Little Chronicle”), compiled from the 13th to the 18th century, show much greater skill in the use of the Pali language and make liberal use of other material. These artistic compositions contain rich mythic, legendary, and historical material. The vamsa tradition continued in Sri Lanka (where it remains alive) and other countries where the Theravada school was prominent. Later Theravada literature
During and after the “revival” and spread of the Theravada in the early centuries of the 2nd millennium ce, a new corpus of Theravada literature came into being. This corpus includes commentaries and other works written in Pali in Sri Lanka and the Theravada countries of Southeast Asia, as well as many important texts written in Sinhalese, Burmese, Thai, Laotian, and Khmer. One of the important Pali texts is the Mangala dipani, a highly respected commentary on the Mangala-sutta that was written in northern Thailand in the 16th century. Important vernacular texts include the 14th-century Traibhumikatha (“Three Worlds According to King Ruang”), which is the oldest-known full-length text written in Thai, and the Buddhadhamma, a 20th-century work by the Thai monk Prayudh Payutto. Mahayana
Mahayana Buddhism is both a system of metaphysics dealing with the basic structure and principles of reality and, primarily, a theoretical propaedeutic to the achievement of a desired state. Arising in India in the 1st century ce, it spread to Central Asia, China, Japan, mainland Southeast Asia, Java, Sumatra, and even Sri Lanka. Its teachings involved basic shifts in doctrine and approach, though there were precedents in earlier schools. It taught that neither the self nor the dharmas exist. Moreover, for the elite arhat ideal, it substituted the bodhisattva, one who vows to become a buddha and delays entry into nirvana to help others. In Mahayana, love for creatures is exalted to the highest; a bodhisattva is encouraged to offer the merit he derives from good deeds for the good of others. The tension between morality and mysticism that agitated India also influenced the Mahayana. Basic teachings The Buddha: divinization and multiplicity