Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v1.c4.8

v1.c4.8

The work in its present form includes, besides other materials, information obtained from the whole of the Tipiṭaka and all the Commentaries thereon. It was my intention, at first, to index the Ṭīkās as well, but after reading through several of them I decided that the additional material to be gleaned from them would not be sufficient recompense for the trouble and inevitable delay involved. There was also the difficulty of obtaining satisfactorily uniform editions of the Ṭīkās, in spite of the great attention apparently devoted to these texts in Burma. Among non-Canonical works, I have included, besides the Milindapañha, the Mahāvamsa, Dīpavamsa, Mahābodhivamsa, Sāsanavamsa, Gandhavamsa, and the Sāsanavamsadīpa. I have also included the Cūlavamsa, chiefly in order to complete the information contained in the Mahāvamsa, and the Mahāvamsa Ṭīkā, because it contains valuable data regarding names occurring in the Mahāvamsa. It was suggested, while the work had made considerable progress, that I should not forget the many short volumes in P.T.S. Journals—e.g., the Jinacarita, Dāṭhāvamsa, etc. References to some of them are already given in the main body of the Dictionary, while others will be given in the Appendix, at the end of the second Volume. I have attempted to give the names of all Suttas and Jātakas and of Pāli works of any literary importance written in India, Burma and Ceylon, prior to about 1700 A.D. With regard to these works it was not my intention to do more than merely mention their names; for further details concerning them reference should be made to Bode's Pāli Literature of Burma and my Pāli Literature of Ceylon, both published by the R.A.S. in their Prize Publication Fund Series. In some cases doubts arose in my own mind as to the exact category of “names.”[¹] Where such doubt existed, I included the name in the Dictionary. It will be seen that I have also included a few articles on what, strictly speaking, are Common and not Proper Names—e.g., Asura, Cakkavatti Deva, Buddha (in addition to Gotama), Mahāpurisa, Māra, etc. My only excuse is that detailed information on these topics is not available elsewhere without reference to numerous texts.