Sanghapala was a famous Khmer monk who traveled to Southern and Northern Dynasties China.
10 Facts About Sanghapala
1.
2.
Sanghapala is one of the only two Cambodian monks whose translations currently figure in the Tripitaka.
3.
Sanghapala was born in Funan in the year 460 AD, in the modern day Kingdom of Cambodia.
4.
Sanghapala became a monk in his teens and traveled to China where he lived in Jiankang, nowadays Nanking, the capital city of Southern Qi dynasty during that time.
5.
Sanghapala was discipled by Gunavrddhi, a certain Indian monk who had travelled to China during the reign of Emperor Wu of Liang who intended to propagate Buddhism to China as King Ashoka had done for India.
6.
Sanghapala acquired the knowledge of many languages including Pali, Sanskrit and classical Chinese.
7.
Sanghapala was then sponsored by the court of Jiankang to translate new works into Chinese as early as 506.
8.
Sanghapala worked as an official translator for 16 years and established offices in five different locations, one of which was now as "The Funan Desk".
9.
Edwin G Pulleyblank suggests that Sanghapala dictated his Chinese translations of the dharani to two of his collaborators known as Fayun and Baochang.
10.
Sanghapala translated the Maha Asoka Sutra, Vimoksa-Marga-sastra, and others, but most notoriously, his Chinese translation is a canonical reference for the Vimuttimagga or Path to Freedom.