Pali Literature and Language c6.s2.t2.2
Pāli Literature and Language c6.s2.t2.2
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c6.s2.t2.2
22. The beginning of the 2nd period is characterised by commentaries which were composed on the Tipiṭaka and which are based on the Ceylonese Aṭṭhakathā. Buddhaghosa is the greatest figure in this commentary literature. He was born in a Brahmin family of Northern India and came to Ceylon during the reign of king Mahānāma (458-480). He studied the Tipiṭaka and the Aṭṭhakathā in the Mahāvihāra of Anurādhapura and afterwards showed a very fruitful literary activity. The details about his life as handed down by tradition are probably nothing but legends.³ The commentaries composed by him on the Tipiṭaka are the following⁴: