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Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā

A Dictionary of Buddhism | 2004 | 700+ words | Copyright

Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā A commentary on the Jātaka, the tenth book of the Khuddaka Nikāya of the Pāli Canon. The Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā is a translation into Pāli of a Sinhalese work handed down in Sri Lanka and controversially attributed to Buddhaghoṣa (5th c. ce). This work comprises all the verses of the Jātaka and gives also, in prose, the stories connected with the verses. Each such story is preceded by an introduction, determining the circumstances in which it was told, and each story has at the end the identification of the main characters mentioned with the Buddha and his contemporaries in some previous birth. The collection is also prefaced by a long introduction separately known by the title of Nidānakathā giving the story of the Buddha before his birth as Siddhartha, and also during his last life, up to the time of the enlightenment (bodhi).

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DAMIEN KEOWN. "Jātaka-aṭṭhakathā." A Dictionary of Buddhism. 2004. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O108-Jtakaahakath.html

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