Buddhadatta Thera was a 5th-century

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

Buddhist writer from the town of Uragapura in the Chola kingdom of

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

.Potter, Karl H; Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies: Buddhist philosophy from 350 to 600 A.D. pg 216 He wrote many of his works in the Bhūtamangalagāma monastery and his patron was Accutavikkanta of the Kalamba dynasty (''Kalambhakulavamsa jāte Accutavikkamanāme Colarājini Colarattham samanusāsante''). Buddhadatta traveled to Sri Lanka's Mahāvihāra in

Anurādhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central P ...

to study and translate the commentaries on the Buddha's teachings from

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language prima ...

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist '' Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Bud ...

. He is said to have met Buddhagosa at sea while returning to India, his work unfinished. Buddhadatta asked Buddhagosa to send him his translations and commentaries and used them in the writing of his Abhidhammāvatāra. The Abhidhammāvatāra (Pali: “The Coming of the Abhidhamma”) is one of the earliest and most important Abhidhamma manuals. It is a systematized overview of the doctrines in the Abhidhamma Pitaka, written largely in 24 verse chapters. Buddhadatta's other works include the Vinaya-Vinicchaya (“Analysis of the Vinaya”), the Uttara-Vinicchaya, the Rūpārūpa-Vibhāga.

Works

#Uttaravinicchaya #Vinayavinicchaya - a Vinaya manual #Abhidhammavatara - an Abhidhamma manual #Ruparupavibhaga #Madhuratthavilasini - a commentary on the Buddhavamsa.

References

5th-century Buddhist monks Indian Buddhist monks Theravada Buddhist monks Indian scholars of Buddhism {{India-reli-bio-stub