Madhuratthavilāsinī

The commentary on the Buddhavaṃsa, the chronicle of the twenty-four Buddhas, known today as the Madhuratthavilāsinī.

Both the author's name and the title are less secure than they look, and the reason is worth following. The opening verses name the monk who asked for the work, Saddhammaratana Buddhasīha, and the closing verses place the author in a monastery built by one Kaṇhadāsa at Kāveripaṭṭana — but the title those closing verses give is Madhuratthappakāsinī. The author's name, Buddhadatta, and the title we now use appear only in the colophon. Hinüber therefore suspects the colophon is secondary, pointing out that in the Vinayavinicchaya Buddhadatta names an initiator Buddhasīha and a monastery built by Veṇhudāsa — near enough to look like a template, not a coincidence.

If the ascription stands, the date follows the tradition that makes Buddhadatta a contemporary of Buddhaghosa, which is 400–450 CE; if it does not, the work has no date at all. The Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana text ends Iti madhuratthavilāsinī nāma Buddhavaṃsa-aṭṭhakathā niṭṭhitā.