DHAMMAPALA, the name of one of the early disciples of the Buddha, and therefore constantly chosen as their name in religion by Buddhist novices on their entering the brotherhood. The most famous of the Bhikshus so named, probably a Tamil, was the great commentator who lived in the latter half of the 5th century A.D. To him we owe the commentaries on seven of the shorter canonical books, consisting almost entirely of verses, and also the commentary on the Netti, perhaps the oldest Pali work outside the canon. Dhammapala confines himself rigidly to questions of the meaning of words, and to discussions of the ethical import of his texts. Other unpublished works, besides those mentioned above, have been ascribed to Dhammapala.
BIBLIOGRAPHY.-T. Watters, On Yuan Chwang (ed. Rhys Davids Bibliography.-T. Watters, On Yuan Chwang (ed. Rhys Davids and Bushell, London, 19os), ii. 169, 228; Edmund Hardy in Zeitschrift der deutschen morgenlandischen Gesellschaft (1898), pp. 97 foll.; Netti (ed. E. Hardy, London, Pali Text Society, 1902), especially the Intro duction, passim; Theri Gathii Commentary, Peta Vatthu Commentary, and Vimdna Vatthu Commentary, all three published by the Pali Text Society.