THE CONCEPT OF WISDOM (PAÑÑĀ) IN THE VISUDDHIMAGGA: BUDDHAGHOSA’S HERMENEUTICAL APPROACH
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31392/cult.alm.2026.2.18Keywords:
Buddhist philosophy, hermeneutics, epistemology, Buddhaghosa, Visuddhimagga, wisdom (paññā), commentarial traditionAbstract
This article examines the treatment of the concept of wisdom (paññā) in Buddhaghosa’s Visuddhimagga from a philosophical and epistemological perspective. It focuses not only on the meaning of this concept, but above all on the hermeneutic way in which Buddhaghosa works with canonical material and gives canonical statements a more definite, coherent, and practically oriented form. The study argues that the Visuddhimagga should not be viewed only as a systematization of canonical doctrine. It is equally important to identify the analytical and interpretive strategies through which canonical concepts are organized in the treatise Using the concept of wisdom as a case study, the article shows that Buddhaghosa does not simply explain an individual term, but consistently clarifies its meaning, distinguishes it from related cognitive factors, and connects it with the broader context of spiritual cultivation. As a result, wisdom appears not as a general intellectual capacity, but as a specialized form of cognition linked to right understanding, discernment, and practical application. The treatment of the concept of wisdom reveals especially clearly the nature of Buddhaghosa’s commentarial work. In the Visuddhimagga, canonical material is not only interpreted, but also conceptually ordered, harmonized, and oriented toward correct understanding and practice. This makes it possible to understand the Visuddhimagga more precisely as a text in which commentary functions not as an auxiliary supplement to the Pali canon, but as a means of its disciplined and ordered reading
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