PHILOSOPHER

Buddhaghosa

401 - 500

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Buddhaghosa was a 5th-century Sinhalese Theravādin Buddhist commentator, translator, and philosopher. He worked in the great monastery (mahāvihāra) at Anurādhapura, Sri Lanka and saw himself as being part of the Vibhajyavāda school and in the lineage of the Sinhalese mahāvihāra. His best-known work is the Visuddhimagga ("Path of Purification"), a comprehensive summary of older Sinhala commentaries on the scriptural canon of the Theravāda school. According to Sarah Shaw, in Theravāda Buddhism this systematic work is "the principal text on the subject of meditation." The interpretations provided by Buddhaghosa have generally constituted the orthodox understanding of Theravādin scriptures since at least the 12th century CE. Buddhaghosa is generally recognized by both Western scholars and Theravādin Buddhists as the most important philosopher and commentator of the Theravāda school. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Buddhaghosa is the 150th most popular philosopher (up from 413th in 2019), the 42nd most popular biography from India (up from 123rd in 2019) and the 6th most popular Indian Philosopher.

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Among PHILOSOPHERS

Among philosophers, Buddhaghosa ranks 150 out of 1,267. Before him are Wilhelm Dilthey, Edith Stein, Chrysippus, Alexander Gottlieb Baumgarten, Isocrates, and Proclus. After him are Emanuel Swedenborg, John Venn, Han Fei, Louis Althusser, Friedrich Schleiermacher, and György Lukács.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 401, Buddhaghosa ranks 3. Before him are Leo I the Thracian, and Theodosius II. After him are Aelia Eudocia, Emperor Ankō, Stobaeus, Barsanuphius, Palladius, Mamertus, Hermias, Solomon, and Hilary of Arles. Among people deceased in 500, Buddhaghosa ranks 1. After him are Nonnus, Zu Chongzhi, Vātsyāyana, Chandragupta II, Hierocles of Alexandria, Hesychius of Alexandria, Rutilius Claudius Namatianus, Aedesia, Anthemius, Charaton, and Asclepigenia.

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In India

Among people born in India, Buddhaghosa ranks 42 out of 1,861. Before him are Zakir Husain (1897), Amir Khusrow (1253), Ramaswamy Venkataraman (1910), Venkatraman Ramakrishnan (1952), Chandragupta Maurya (-340), and Valmiki (-80). After him are Subhas Chandra Bose (1897), Adi Shankara (788), Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895), Aryabhata (476), Sathya Sai Baba (1926), and Jaggi Vasudev (1957).

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Among PHILOSOPHERS In India

Among philosophers born in India, Buddhaghosa ranks 6. Before him are Rajneesh (1931), Swami Vivekananda (1863), Ramakrishna (1836), Nagarjuna (150), and Padmasambhava (717). After him are Adi Shankara (788), Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895), Ram Mohan Roy (1772), Kabir (1440), Paramahansa Yogananda (1893), and Aśvaghoṣa (80).

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