No. 28.— 1884.] first fifty jAtakas, 



145 



(4.) The old Glossary asserts it — In the ganthi or 

 glossary to the Pali Jatakattha Kathas, written to explain 

 the difficult Pali words of the book in a very old Sinhalese 

 style, it is said that Baddhaghosha wrote the above 

 adoration at the beginning of his Jatakarthasarhvarnana 

 to ward off evil from the work he had begun. These are 

 the words : — " Sarva vadibha simha kumbha vidalana 

 samarthasesa vid vajjana cakra cudamani Buddhaghosha 

 caryapadayo tamanvisin prarabdha granthayage" avighnayen 

 parisamaptiya pinisa jatakarthasamvarnnanadiyehi ishta 

 devata namaskara dakwannahu jatikoti sahassehi yanadi 

 kiha." 



Another piece of evidence in support of the general belief 

 that Buddhaghosha wrote the Jatakattha Kath a is that the 

 Suttaraipata Attha Katha, which is admittedly the work of 

 Buddhaghosha, the Nidana Katha is omitted, and the reader 

 is referred to the Nidana Katha of the J ataka Commentary 

 for it. 



So that the evidence in support of the general belief that 

 Buddhaghosha wrote the Jatakatthakatha seems to be 

 complete. The Mahavamsa and Saddharma Sangraha state 

 this generally. The author of the glossary mentions 

 Buddhaghosha by name as the author of the work ; and the 

 reference in the Sutta Nipata Commentary also favours this 

 belief. 



Difficulties admitted : (1.) There are confessedly exceptions 

 to the "all" — But it is also admitted that Dharmapala, a 

 learned monk, wrote some of the Attha Kathas : namely, 

 the Theragatha and the Therigatha Attha Kathas of this 

 very Khuddaka Nikaya. This naturally raises a suspicion 

 in the mind. Kor do we know who the author of the 

 glossary (a fragment of which is only extant) was, when 

 and where he lived, and what his authority or sources of 

 knowledge were to make the statement that Buddhaghosha 

 himself wrote this commentary. 



(2.) Buddhaghosha, while alluding to Jdtaka Commentary, 

 does not say he wrote it. — In the reference, too, in the Sutta 

 Nipata Attha Katha to the Nidana of the Jataka Com- 

 mentary, Buddhaghosha does not say that he himself 

 wrote the Nidana, So that we are compelled to sift the 

 internal evidence, and to ask what that says. 



