Re: Was Dhammapala as Sinhalese bhikkhu?

  Dear Chanida,
Thanks.
The problem is ''siihaladiipe yeva sangahetvaa,'' which literally means
"included just/too in the Siihala Island" without specifying what
category of the Sihala Island. Perhaps what is intended is that
Dhammapaala can be said to be included among the authors of the Siihala
Island, because he lived in a nearby place, Baddharatittha, in the Cola
country.
The Badaratittha Vihara, originally built by King Asoka, was at the port
of Nagapattana, which is about 80 kilometers north of Jaffna. There was
still a Chinese Buddhist Vihara in Nagapattana in the 15th century.
The booklet /Buddhism in South India /can be downloaded from:
http://www.bps.lk/olib/wh/wh124-u.html
Regards,
                Bh Nyanatusita


> Respected Venerable Nyanatusita,
>
> I think the Pali focuses more on the place than on his nationality. So
> the latter seems closer. But as the Pali passage uses the word
> 'siihala' as synonymous to 'Sri Lanka', I guess the interpreter might
> have followed this by identifying 'Sri Lankan' as 'Sinhalese' without
> considering different nationalities existing on the island.
>
> Yours respectfully,
> Chanida
>
> --- In palistudy@yahoogroups.com <mailto:palistudy%40yahoogroups.com>,
> Nyanatusita <nyanatusita@...> wrote:
> >
> > Dear all,
> >
> > I am reading a booklet on Buddhism in South India. The author quotes
> the
> > Sa-sanavamsa as follows:
> >
> > "A-cariya Dhammapa-la, who compiled a number of commentaries such as
> the
> > one on the Itivuttaka, was a resident of the Badaratittha Viha-ra in
> the
> > Tamil country. Hence he may be considered as a Sinhalese Bhikkhu."
> >
> >
> > I checked the original in the Sa-sanavamsa and can't see how the author
> > can interpret the passage as suggesting that he was a Sinhalese
> Bhikkhu.
> > This is the Pali:
> >
> >
> /Itivuttoda-nacariya-pit.akathera-theri-vima-navatthupetavatthunettiat.t.hakatha-yo
>
> > a-cariyadhammapa-latthero aka-si. So ca a-cariyadhammapa-latthero
> > si-hal.adi-passa sami-pe damilarat.t.he badaratitthamhi niva-sitatta-
> > si-hal.adi-peyeva san.gahetva- vattabbo./
> >
> > My tentative translation of this is:
> >
> >
> > "A-cariya Dhammapa-la Thera made the commentaries on the Itivuttaka,
> > Uda-na, Cariya-pit.aka, Thera- & Theri--ga-tha-, Vima-navatthu,
> > Petavatthu and the Netti. That A-cariya Dhammapa-la Thera, because of
> > residency in Badaratittha in the Tamil country, which is near the
> Island
> > of Sri Lanka, is to be spoken of as having been included in the Island
> > of Sri Lanka."
> >
> >
> > Is this suggesting that Dhammapala was Sinhalese bhikkhu or that he is
> > to be considered as a Sri Lankan author because of living in a place
> > near Sri Lanka?
> >
> > Regards,
> > Bh Nyanatusita
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >
>
>



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