| Part of a series on |
| Theravāda Buddhism |
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| Buddhism |
| Visuddhimagga | |
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| Type | Commentary |
| Commentary on | Digha Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Anguttara Nikaya |
| Composition | 5th Century CE |
| Attribution | Buddhaghosa |
| Commentary | Visuddhimaggamahātīkā |
| Abbreviation | Vism |
| Pāli literature | |
The Visuddhimagga (Pali; English: The Path of Purification), is the 'great treatise' on Buddhist practice and Theravāda Abhidhamma written by Buddhaghosa approximately in the 5th century in Sri Lanka. It is a manual condensing and systematizing the 5th century understanding and interpretation of the Buddhist path as maintained by the elders of the Mahavihara Monastery in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
It is considered the most important Theravada text outside the Tipitaka canon of scriptures,[1] and is described as "the hub of a complete and coherent method of exegesis of the Tipitaka."[2]
- ^ See, for instance, Kheminda Thera, in Ehara et al. 1995 p. xliii: "The Visuddhimagga is a household word in all Theravāda lands. No scholar of Buddhism whether of Theravāda or of Mahāyāna is unacquainted with it."
- ^ Nyanamoli 2011, p. xxvii.