BUDDHACARITA
The Buddhacarita(Acts of the Buddha) by AS ́VAGHOSA
is a second-century C.E. biography recounting in or-
nate verse the life of the Buddha from his birth to the
distribution of his relics. The epic poem comprises
twenty-eight chapters, only fourteen of which are ex-
tant in the original Sanskrit. The remainder are pre-
served in Tibetan and Chinese translations.
See also:Buddha, Life of the; Sanskrit, Buddhist Lit-
erature in
Bibliography
Beal, Samuel, trans. The Fo-sho-hing-tsan-king: A Life of Bud-
dha,by As ́vaghosha Bodhisattva. Reprint edition, Delhi:
Motilal Banarsidass, 1964.
Johnston, E. H., trans. “The Buddha’s Mission and Last Jour-
ney (Buddhacarita, xv to xxviii).” Acta Orientalia15 (1937):
26–32, 85–111, 231–292.
Johnston, E. H., trans. The Buddhacarita, or, Acts of the Buddha.
Reprint edition, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1972.
JOHNS. STRONGBUDDHADASA
Buddhadasa (Ngeaum Panich, 1906–1993), a Thai
Buddhist monk and scholar, was a prolific commen-
tator on the Pali literature of the THERAVADAschool
and an influential preceptor of ENGAGEDBUDDHISM.
Ordained at the age of twenty-one, Buddhadasa be-
came widely known for his critical intellect, his inter-
est in meditation, and his gifts as a teacher. He founded
Suan Mokh (Garden of Liberation), an important
monastery and international center for engaged Bud-
dhist thought and training in Thailand. In his volu-
minous writings, Buddhadasa developed the ideas of
dhammic socialism, spiritual politics, fellowship of re-
straint (san ̇gamaniyama), and interfaith dialogue
based on Buddhist principles of selflessness, interde-
pendence, and nonattachment.
Bibliography
Jackson, Peter A. Buddhadasa: A Buddhist Thinker for the Mod-
ern World.Bangkok, Thailand: Siam Society, 1988.
Santikaro, Bhikkhu. “Buddhadasa Bhikkhu: Life and Society
through the Natural Eyes of Voidness.” In Engaged Bud-
dhism: Buddhist Liberation Movements in Asia, ed. Christo-
pher S. Queen and Sallie B. King. Albany: State University
of New York Press, 1996.
Swearer, Donald K., ed. Me and Mine: Selected Essays of Bhikkhu
Buddhadasa.Albany: State University of New York Press,
1989.CHRISTOPHERS. QUEENBUDDHAGHOSAThe most famous and prolific of the Pali commenta-
tors and exegetes, Buddhaghosa was active at the be-
ginning of the fifth century C.E. According to the
Mahavamsa(Great Chronicle), he was an Indian brah-
min of considerable scholarly genius who hailed from
the kingdom of Magadha. He was converted to Bud-
dhism by a monk named Revata and went to Sri Lanka
at his teacher’s instigation to study the Sinhalese com-
mentaries at the Mahavihara Monastery. The monks
there tested him by asking him to explicate two
dharma verses. The result was the Visuddhimagga
(Path of Purity), a work that remains the greatest com-
pendium of THERAVADAthought ever written and that
has had a lasting impact on the tradition. In three
parts, the Visuddhimaggathoroughly and systemati-
cally treats all aspects of the topics of morality, medi-
tation, and wisdom.
Buddhaghosa subsequently went on to write com-
mentaries on many works of the Pali CANON. Chief
among them are separate commentaries on the Vina-
yapitaka(Book of the Discipline); on the Dlgha, Ma-
jjhima, Samyutta,and An ̇guttara nikayas(the books of
long, middle, kindred, and gradual sayings); and on
the books of the ABHIDHARMA. In these works, which
contain both exegeses of words and contextual excursi,
Buddhaghosa succeeded in more or less defining the
ways scholars have read the Theravada canonical texts
ever since. Buddhaghosa’s life story may also be found,
greatly embellished, in a late Pali chronicle known as
the Buddhaghosuppatti(The Development of the Career
of Buddhaghosa).Bibliography
Gray, James, ed. and trans. Buddhaghosuppatti or the Historical
Romance of the Rise and Career of Buddhaghosa.London:
Luzac, 1892. Reprinted, 1999.
Law, Bimala Churn. Buddhaghosa.Bombay: Bombay Branch of
the Royal Asiatic Society, 1946.JOHNS. STRONGBUDDHAGHOSA