Dear Bhante,
> I might... please tell me what part of the Pali they were responsible for?
I'm glad to hear that -- there's hope for you yet :) But why would the
language used be an issue ? Don't forget that your hero used the old
Singhalese attakathas as the basis of much of his work. Are you implying
that any commentorial material that happens to be written in Pali is
superior to something written in another Prakrit or Sanskrit ? Supposing
Buddhaghosa had chosen to write in Sanskrit (see below) -- would that be a
problem for you. It would not have been strange if the texts he on which
he comments are in Pali with the commentary in Sanskrit. There are
numerous cases in India where a root text is in a Prakrit and the commentary
in Sanskrit.
Moreover, Buddhaghosa hismelf evidently respected the work of Asanga since
it is well-known (to some) that he was familiar with the YBS and utilizes at
least parts of the Bodhisattva-bhuumi in his own work. There have been
studies detailing this, although I don't have the references immediately to
hand. Tangentially this is interesting because it confirms that Buddhaghosa
could read Sanskrit -- not that this is surprising for a person of his
stature.
Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge