Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi
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| Dharmananda D. Kosambi | |
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| Born | October 9, 1876 Sanhkval, Goa |
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| 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]. He was a dissatisfied young man and tried to run away thrice to pursue knowledge, but each time courage failed him and he returned to his family. But after the birth of his first daughter, he ran away for good from wife Balabai, and did not return for another four years. 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 Fergusson College in Pune. 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 in 1929 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].
Dr Ambedkar came in contact with Acharya Kosambi during Indian's fight for independence, and Kosambi's influence on him played a part in Ambedkar's decision to convert to Buddhism when he decided to change his religion.
Besides Buddhist works, Kosambi also studied and translated many Jain works. Later, Kosambi founded Bahujanavihara, a shelter house for Buddhist monks in Bombay. Under the influence of Jainism, he decided to give up life through sallekhana (voluntary fasting). Gandhiji requested that he move to Wardha for naturopathy and reconsider his decision to fast unto death. He moved to Sevagram, near Wardha, but kept his diet to a spoon of karela juice to respect Gandhi's wishes. He wanted to die on Buddha Pournima but lived beyond it for a few days. The end came after 30 days of fasting in June 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 Acharya Kosambi. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
- ^ Buddhism's Revival in India in the 20th Century. Retrieved on 2006-12-07.
[edit] External links
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