A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s5.104

v2.c19.s5.104

As far as the dogmatical and philosophical contents of the Visuddhi-Magga and the commentaries are concerned, it is surely an exaggeration to set Buddhaghosa up as a philosopher who cut out new paths and made an original contribution to Buddhistic philosophy.² He was a man of astonishing erudition and of most extensive reading, who to this day enjoys a well-merited reputation among the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma and Siam, but it is going too far to call him "a great teacher of mankind."³ There is difference of opinion as to how far he is reliable in his commentaries as an expounder of the canonical texts. K. E. Neumann says on one occasion: "The moment the Buddhist patres ecclesiæ and doctores profundi try their hand at elucidating profound and obscure passages in the canon, they simply talk moonshine."¹ Nevertheless, I believe that the same thing is true of Buddhaghosa as is true of other Indian commentators. We cannot follow them blindly, and yet, on the other hand, we must admit that they do sometimes help us over difficulties and if we neglected them, we should be depriving ourselves of one of the means of explanation.² I agree with Mrs. *Rhys Davids* when she says: "Buddhaghosa's philology is doubtless crude, and he is apt to leave cruces unexplained, concerning which an Occidental is most in the dark. Nevertheless, to me his work is not only highly suggestive, but also a mine of historic interest. To put it aside is to lose the historical perspective of the course of Buddhist philosophy."³ Even if Buddhaghosa had no original contribution to make, we should yet be indebted to him for his faithful preservation of ancient traditions.