Birkitts Books presents ... Vangisa: An Early Buddhist Poet (The Wheel Publication No. 417/418) ISBN: 9552401615 Author: John D. Ireland Publisher: The Wheel Publication Release Date: 1997 Seller Category: Religion Qty Available: 1 Condition: Used: Good Sku: 240729011 Notes: Minor shelf wear, front cover is soiled, binding tight, pages clean and unmarked. Vangisa Within the original Sangha there was one monk whom the Buddha designated as his foremost disciple in the composition of spontaneous verse. This was the Venerable Vangisa. Tradi-tion reports that Vangisa had been a brahmin who made his living by tapping skulls to discover the rebirth of their owners. The Buddha converted him to the Dhamma and he soon at-tained arahantship. Thereafter he excelled in composing verse and was especially praised by the Buddha for this skill. His poems are recorded in the Theragatha, the Samyutta Nikaya, and the Suttanipata. The present work provides the original Pali text and an English translation of Vangisa's poems, with an appendix that includes selectiohs from his verses outside the Pali Canon. In his introduction the translator attempts to give us a portrait of Vatigisa the man and to set his poems in their historical and literary context. John D. Ireland is an English Buddhist who has been a student of Pali and Buddhist canonical literature for more than thirty-five years. His translations of the the Udana and the Itivuttaka are published by the BPS. Buddhist Publication Society Kandy ? Sri Lanka ISBN 955-24-0161-5 Don't forget to check out other great deals in our Store!!