Buddhaghosa, His Sources, and the Buddhist Others:

Authority and Heterodoxy in Early Mahavihara Commentaries
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-86977-268-4
Verlag: Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg

Buch, Englisch, 345 Seiten, Format (B × H): 165 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 700 g

Reihe: Studia Indologica Universitatis Halensis

Through the lens of Pali commentarial literature, this book illustrates how Mahavihara exegetes shaped their tradition’s doctrinal identity. At the heart of this tradition stands Buddhaghosa, whose commentaries remain central to understanding the intellectual practices of this sole survivor among the ancient Sri Lankan Theriya schools. No mere compiler, Buddhaghosa emerges in this study as a discerning and methodical interpreter, working with multiple recensions of the Buddhist canon and drawing upon early commentaries now lost to time. His exegetical strategies are subtle yet systematic, often imperceptibly reshaping inherited material to affirm the Mahavihara perspective as authoritative. Though he rarely voices personal opinions, he guides his readers into a refined, and at times previously unattested, doctrinal vision. The book also sheds new light on key controversies between Mahavihara exegetes and their critics—frequently derided as sophists (Vita??avadins)—particularly with regard to the ontological status of nibbana . It reveals the literary finesse and hermeneutical creativity with which Buddhaghosa and other major exegetes (including Dhammapala and Buddhadatta) defended their positions, providing a compelling, original take on early Mahavihara textual and doctrinal interpretation.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Gamage, Aruna