No. 28. — 1884.] FIRST FIFTY JATAKAS, 



143 



lost, and the present Sinhalese translations date from the 

 reign of Pandita Parakrama Balm (A.D, 1297). 



Translations. — Mr. Dickson has given the popular inter- 

 pretation of the tradition, according to which Buddhaghosha 

 translated " all" the Commentaries ; bat whether the 

 Jataka Commentary was in fact one of those which Buddha- 

 ghosha translated, is a point which has been disputed ; and 

 the question is discussed with great learning by Messrs. 

 Ranesinghe and Sumangala. 



Whether Buddhaghosha did translate the Jataka Commen- 

 tary. The account as given in Mahawamsa. 



The case pro is given fully by Mr. Ranesinghe. 



According to the Mahawamsa, Mahanama began his reign 

 in the year 953 of Buddha's Parinirwana, which is A.D. 410, 

 and reigned 22 years. It was in his reign that Buddha- 

 ghosha landed in Ceylon. He was a Brahman by birth, 

 and was learned in the Vedas. He became a pupil of 

 Revata, and was robed by him. Finding the peculiar apti- 

 tude of his pupil to write Commentaries on the Dharma or 

 Buddhist Scriptures, Nevata informed him that in Ceylon 

 there were good Commentaries on the Dharma in the 

 Sinhalese language, and desired him to proceed thither and 

 translate the Sinhalese Atuvas (Commentaries ) into Pali. 

 He came to Ceylon, studied under Sanhapata, and, having 

 learnt the Atuvas at the Maha Vihara, asked for books to 

 translate into Pali. With a view to try his ability, the 

 monks gave him only two gathas. Taking the two gathas as 

 his text, he wrote the work called Visuddhimagga. The 

 learned monks approved of his work, and gave him the 

 Commentaries and the books of the Tripitakas. He re- 

 mained at Durasankara Grantakara Pirivena, and, it is 

 said, translated all the Sinhalese Atuvas into Pali, and 

 returned to India. 



The words of the Mahawamsa are :— 



" Parivattesi sabbapi sihalattha katha tada 



" Sabbesam mula bhasaya magadhaya niruttiya." 



'He translated according to the grammatical rules of 

 the Magadha, which is the root of all languages, the whole 

 of the Sinhalese Attha Kathas into Pali.' 



In the Saddharma Sangraka, a Pali work written by 

 Dhamma Kitti, pupil of Dhamma Dinna, the time of 



