Abstract
The Sārasaṅgaha is a Pāli text of XIIth–XIIIth century by the Sinhalese monk Siddhattha Thera. Its themes include the aspiration to become a Buddha, shrines, meditation, theories on rain, wind, gender and more. The main body consists of citations from the Nikāyas, the Jātakas, the Visuddhimagga and above all, from commentarial literature. By analysing the way the Sārasaṅgaha refers to and establishes a dialogue with the quoted works, this paper promotes a new assessment of the cultural and textual tendencies that influenced the development of Buddhist literature especially in the Middle Ages. In particular, the analysis of this text and the quotations of which it is composed reveals the importance of commentarial literature, a literary genre that only recently has attracted the attention of Pāli scholars.
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Abbreviations
- A:
-
Aṅguttaranikāya
- Abh:
-
Abhidhānappadīpikā
- Abhv:
-
Abhidhammattha-vibhāvanī
- Abhidh-av:
-
Abhidhammāvatāra
- Abhs:
-
Abhiadhammattha-saṅgaha
- AbhsS:
-
Abhiadhammattha-saṅgaha-sanne
- Ap:
-
Apadāna
- As:
-
Aṭṭhasālinī
- BEFEO:
-
Bulletin de l’École Française d’Extrême Orient
- Bv:
-
Buddhavaṃsa
- Bv-a:
-
Madhuratthavilāsinī (Buddhavaṃsa-aṭṭhakathā)
- Cp:
-
Cariyāpiṭaka
- Cp-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī
- CSCD:
-
Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD-ROM (version 3) Vipassanā Research Institute
- D:
-
Dīghanikāya
- Dhp:
-
Dhammapada
- Dhp-a:
-
Dhammapada-aṭṭhakathā
- Dhs:
-
Dhammasaṅgaṇī
- Dīp:
-
Dīpavaṃsa
- It:
-
Itivuttaka
- It-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī (Itivuttaka-aṭṭhakathā)
- Ja:
-
Jātaka
- JIP:
-
Journal of Indian Philosophy
- JPTS:
-
Journal of Pāli Text Society
- Khp:
-
Khuddakapāṭha
- Khp-a:
-
Khuddakapāṭha-aṭṭhakathā
- Kv:
-
Kathāvatthu
- Kv-a:
-
Kathāvatthu-aṭṭhakathā
- M:
-
Majjhimanikāya
- Mhv:
-
Mahavaṃsa
- Mil:
-
Milindapañho
- Mp:
-
Manorathapūraṇī (Aṅguttaranikāya-aṭṭhakathā)
- Mvu:
-
Mahāvastu
- Nett:
-
Nettipakaraṇa
- Paṭis:
-
Paṭisambhidāmagga
- Paṭis - a:
-
Paṭisambhidāmagga-aṭṭhakathā
- Pj:
-
Pajjamadhu
- Pj I:
-
Paramatthajotikā I (Khuddakapāṭha-aṭṭhakathā)
- Pj II:
-
Paramatthajotikā II (Suttanipāta-aṭṭhakathā)
- Pm:
-
Paramatthamañjūsā
- Pp:
-
Puggalapaññatti
- Ppk-a:
-
Pañcappakaraṇa-aṭṭhakathā
- PTS:
-
Pali Text Society
- Pv:
-
Petavatthu
- Pv-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī (Petavatthu-aṭṭhakathā)
- Ps:
-
Papañcasūdanī (Majjhimanikāya-aṭṭhakathā)
- S:
-
Saṃyuttanikāya
- Sn:
-
Suttanipāta
- S.o.a.s:
-
School of Oriental and African Studies
- Sp:
-
Samantapāsādikā (Vinaya-aṭṭhakathā)
- Spk:
-
Sāratthappakāsinī (Saṃyuttanikāya-aṭṭhakathā)
- Spk-ṭ:
-
Līnatthappakāsinī
- Sp-ṭ:
-
Sāratthadīpanī
- Ss:
-
Sārasaṅgaha
- Su:
-
Suttasaṅgaha-aṭṭhakathā
- Sv:
-
Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (Dīghanikāya-aṭṭhakathā)
- Sv-pṭ:
-
Dīghanikāya-aṭṭhakathā-ṭīkā
- Th, Thī:
-
Theragāthā and Therīgāthā
- Th-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī (Theragāthā-aṭṭhakathā)
- Thī-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī (Therīgāthā-aṭṭhakathā)
- Thūp:
-
Thūpavaṃsa
- Ud:
-
Udāna
- Ud-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī (Udāna-aṭṭhakathā)
- Udāna-v:
-
Udānavarga
- Uj:
-
Upāsakajanālaṅkāra
- Vibh:
-
Vibhaṅga
- Vibh-a:
-
Sammohavinodanī
- Vin:
-
Vinayapiṭaka
- Vism:
-
Visuddhimagga
- Vjb:
-
Vajirabuddhiṭīkā (ṭīkā of the Sp)
- Vv:
-
Vimānavatthu
- Vv-a:
-
Paramatthadīpanī (Vimānavatthu-aṭṭhakathā)
Bibliography
Pāli Texts
Pajjamadhu (Buddhappiya) ed. by E. R. Goonaratne, JPTS, London, 1:1–6, 1887.
Sārasaṅgaha (Siddhattha) ed. by Y. Samananda, Vidyasagara Press, Colombo, 1898.
Sārasaṅgaha (Siddhattha) ed. by H. Smith, Royal Danish Academy, Copenhagen, 1961.
Sārasaṅgaha (Siddhattha) ed. by G. H. Sasaki, PTS, 1992.
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Neri, C. The Case of the Sārasaṅgaha: Reflections on the Reuse of Texts in Medieval Sinhalese Pāli Literature. J Indian Philos 43, 335–388 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9241-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9241-8