Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi
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| Dharmananda D. Kosambi | |
|---|---|
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| Born | October 9, 1876 Sanhkval, Goa |
| Died | June 24, 1947 Sevagram |
| Occupation | Buddhist scholar and Pāli language expert |
Acharya Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi (October 9, 1876-June 24, 1947) was a prominent Buddhist scholar and a Pāli language expert. He was the father of prominent Marxist historian, Damodar Dharmananda Kosambi.
Kosambi was born in the Sankhval village of Goa in 1876. He got married at the age of sixteen[1]. Later, Kosambi traveled to Varanasi and Nepal, as he wanted to study Buddhism in its original language, Pāli. However, he was unsuccessful and came to Calcutta. He then traveled to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where he was admitted to Vidyodaya University. He studied there for three years. He was ordained as a Buddhist monk in 1902. Later, he went to Burma (Myanmar) and undertook comparative study of Buddhist texts in Burmese language. After spending seven years abroad, Kosambi returned to India.
He started working as a reader at Calcutta University and brought his wife and daughter Manik to Calcutta. His son Damodar was born in 1907. Later, Dharmananda gave up his university job to work as a research fellow in Baroda. Later, he started lecturing all over Western India, and finally shifted to Bombay. In Bombay, he met Dr. James Wood from Harvard University, who was looking for a scholar adept in Sanskrit, Ardhamagadhi, and Pāli. Wood invited Kosambi to Harvard, to help edit and translate Visudalhi Marga into English. At Harvard, Kosambi learned Russian and Marxism. He then went to USSR and taught Pāli at the Leningrad University[1].
When the Indian independence movement was at its peak, Kosambi returned to India and taught at Gujarat University without any remuneration. He also started recruiting volunteers for Salt Satyagraha. He got six years of imprisonment for participating in the Salt Satyagraha[1].
Besides Buddhist works, Kosambi also studied and translated many Jain works. Under the influence of Jainism, he decided to give up life through sallekhana (voluntary fasting). But Mahatma Gandhi prevented him from doing so[1]. Later, Kosambi founded Bahujanavihara, a shelter house for Buddhist monks in Bombay. Fasting led to his death at Sevagram in 1947.
[edit] Works
He authored one of the most popular biographies of Buddha, Bhagwan Buddha (1940) in Marathi.[2]. It was later translated in English and in other Indian languages by Central Sahitya Akademi. Besides Bhagwan Buddha, Kosambi also authored eleven books on Buddhism and Jainism. His autobiography, written in Marathi, is called Nivedan
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d Acharya Kosambi. Retrieved on December 7, 2006.
- ^ Buddhism's Revival in India in the 20th Century. Retrieved on December 7, 2006.
[edit] External Links
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