Re: Was Dhammapala as Sinhalese bhikkhu?

Respected venerable Nyanatusita,

Thank you very much for pointing me to a useful resource as ever. It's the information I'm looking for. :-)

Yours respectfully,
Chanida

--- In palistudy@yahoogroups.com, Nyanatusita <nyanatusita@...> wrote:
>
>   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]
> > >
> >
> >
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>