Jinalankara

Jinālankāra is a Pali literary work composed in verse, written to praise the greatness of the Buddha. This text has long been recognized by scholars for its literary merit. It is admired for its refined and elegant language, concise yet powerful poetic style, and harmonious rhythm. It is regarded as one of the finest examples of Pali verse literature devoted to describing the virtues of the Buddha.^[1]

Authorship

There are two main traditions regarding the authorship of this text. One holds that it was composed by the Venerable Buddhaghosa, while the other attributes it to the Venerable Buddhadatta. Phra Khantasārāphivong, the translator of the 2009 Thai edition of the Jinālankāra, identified the author as the Venerable Buddhaghosa of Rohana in Sri Lanka, who is believed to have written it in the 17th Buddhist century (12th century CE). He based this on verses 273–275 of the text, which explicitly name Buddhaghosa as the author.^[2]

However, Kenneth Roy Norman argued that the author was likely the Venerable Buddhadatta, citing evidence from the Gandhavamsa, which states that the Jinālankāra was composed by Buddhadatta at the request of the Venerable Saṅghapāla Thera. The same source also notes that the commentary (ṭīkā) on the Jinālankāra, bearing the same title, was written by Buddhaghosa, while the newer version (Navaṭīkā) was composed by an anonymous Sinhalese monk.^[3]

Nevertheless, the Saddhammasaṅgaha identifies Buddhaghosa as the author of the Jinālankāra around 1157 CE (BE 1700). Kenneth Roy Norman further notes that this attribution was repeated in the Jinākālamālī and that there are references to a Jinālankāra-vaṇṇanā. Based on this evidence, Norman concluded that Buddhadatta most likely composed the Jinālankāra, while Buddhaghosa authored the commentary Jinālankāra-vaṇṇanā or Chinālankāra-ṭīkā.^[4]

A further issue concerns which Buddhadatta authored the work — whether it was the Buddhadatta who composed concise treatises on the Vinaya and Abhidhamma, or Buddhadatta of the Chola Kingdom in South India, who wrote the Madhuratthavilāsinī. Most scholars lean toward the latter view.^[5][6]

Content

The title Jinālankāra translates as “The Ornament of the Conqueror,” referring to the Buddha. The poem praises the Buddha’s greatness, beginning with his cultivation of the thirty perfections (pāramī) after receiving the prediction of Buddhahood during his life as the ascetic Sumedha in the era of the Buddha Dīpaṅkara. It then recounts the key episodes of his final life — his birth, renunciation, enlightenment, teaching of the Dhamma, and final passing into Parinibbāna.^[7]

The text also interweaves doctrinal teachings related to the Buddha’s life and virtues, emphasizing remembrance of the Buddha (Buddhānussati) as an example for practitioners striving to overcome unwholesome roots through mindfulness and devotion.

Literary Style

The Jinālankāra is composed entirely in verse and employs intricate poetic structures (gadya and chandas) similar to classical Sanskrit poetry by renowned poets such as Kālidāsa, Bhāravi, and Māgha from the 5th–7th centuries CE. This suggests that the author may have been influenced by Sanskrit literary traditions.^[8]

Its notable literary features include:

• use of internal rhyme (padāsatti),
• repetition of sounds (anup-pāsa),
• word repetition (yamaka),
• reversible verses that can be read the same forward or backward (paṭiloma-yamaka),
• repeated consonants,
• verses where the second half mirrors the sound of the first (paṭiloma-ka),
• and phonetic symmetry (samattā) through repeated use of letters with similar articulations.

Additionally, the text employs extended compounds and rhythmic alliteration, demonstrating the author’s exceptional command of Pali poetic art.^[9]