Subcommentaries, Theravada
Encyclopedia
The subcommentaries are commentaries on the commentaries
on the Pali Canon
of Theravada
Buddhism. They continue the commentaries' development of the traditional interpretation of the scriptures. The official Burmese collected edition contains the following texts:
There are other tikas without this official recognition, some printed, some surviving in manuscript, some apparently lost. The name tika is also applied to commentaries on all non-canonical works, such as the Mahavamsa
. There are also some subcommentaries in vernacular languages.
Extracts from some of these works have been translated, usually along with translations of commentaries.
Atthakatha
Atthakatha refers to Pali-language Theravadin Buddhist commentaries to the canonical Theravadin Tipitaka. These commentaries give the traditional interpretations of the scriptures. The major commentaries were based on earlier ones, now lost, in Old Sinhalese, which were written down at the same...
on the Pali Canon
Pāli Canon
The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the only completely surviving early Buddhist canon, and one of the first to be written down...
of Theravada
Theravada
Theravada ; literally, "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching", is the oldest surviving Buddhist school. It was founded in India...
Buddhism. They continue the commentaries' development of the traditional interpretation of the scriptures. The official Burmese collected edition contains the following texts:
- Paramatthamanjusa, tika by Dhammapala on BuddhaghosaBuddhaghosaBhadantācariya Buddhaghoṣa（Chinese: 覺音）was a 5th-century Indian Theravadin Buddhist commentator and scholar. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga, or Path of Purification, a comprehensive summary and analysis of the Theravada understanding of the Buddha's path to liberation...
's VisuddhimaggaVisuddhimaggaThe Visuddhimagga , is the 'great treatise' on Theravada Buddhist doctrine written by Buddhaghosa approximately in 430 CE in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive manual condensing the theoretical and practical teaching of the Buddha, it is considered the most important Theravada text outside of the Tipitaka...
; scholars have not yet settled which Dhammapala this is - Three tikas on the Samantapasadika, commentary on the Vinaya PitakaVinaya PitakaThe ' is a Buddhist scripture, one of the three parts that make up the Tripitaka. Its primary subject matter is the monastic rules for monks and nuns...
:- Tika by Vajirabuddhi
- Saratthadipani by Sariputta (12th century)
- Vimativinodani by Kassapa (13th century)
- Two tikas on the Kankhavitarani, commentary on the PatimokkhaPatimokkhaIn Buddhism, the Patimokkha is the basic Theravada code of monastic discipline, consisting of 227 rules for fully ordained monks and 311 for nuns . It is contained in the Suttavibhanga, a division of the Vinaya Pitaka.- Parajika :...
- Tikas by Dhammapala on Buddhaghosa's Sumangalavilasini, Papancasudani and Saratthapakasini, commentaries on the DighaDigha NikayaThe Digha Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the first of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
, MajjhimaMajjhima NikayaThe Majjhima Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the second of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
and Samyutta NikayaSamyutta NikayaThe Samyutta Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the third of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that compose the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism. Because of the abbreviated way parts of the text are written, the total number of suttas is...
s; it is generally considered by scholars that this is a different Dhammapala from the one who wrote commentaries - Visuddha(jana)vilasini by Nanabhivamsa, head of the Burmese sangha, about 1800; a new partial tika on the Sumangalavilasini, covering only the first volume of the Digha
- Saratthamanjusa by Sariputta on Buddhaghosa's Manorathapurani on the Anguttara NikayaAnguttara NikayaThe Anguttara Nikaya is a Buddhist scripture, the fourth of the five nikayas, or collections, in the Sutta Pitaka, which is one of the "three baskets" that comprise the Pali Tipitaka of Theravada Buddhism...
- Nettitika on Dhammapala's commentary on the NettiNettipakaranaThe Nettipakarana is a Buddhist scripture, sometimes included in the Khuddaka Nikaya of Theravada Buddhism's Pali Canon....
- Nettivibhavini by a 16th century Burmese author whose name is given in different manuscripts as Saddhamma-, Samanta- or Sambandha-pala; this is not a new tika on the Netti commentary, but a new commentary on the Netti itself
- Mulatika by Ananda on the commentaries on the Abhidhamma PitakaAbhidhamma PitakaThe Abhidhamma Pitaka is the last of the three pitakas constituting the Pali Canon, the scriptures of Theravāda Buddhism....
- Anutika on the Mulatika
There are other tikas without this official recognition, some printed, some surviving in manuscript, some apparently lost. The name tika is also applied to commentaries on all non-canonical works, such as the Mahavamsa
Mahavamsa
The Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka...
. There are also some subcommentaries in vernacular languages.
Extracts from some of these works have been translated, usually along with translations of commentaries.