I can imagine no scholar in this country or elsewhere, who could produce a better rendition of Dhammapadam than Dr. Harischandra Kaviratna. Early in life he acquired a knowledge of Sanskrit, Prakrit, Magadhi, Hindi, English, German, Latin, and other languages and arts. Dr. Kaviratna has contributed immensely to our Sinhala literature on a multiplicity of subjects such as Yoga, Indian philosophy, Mahayana, Theravada, Zen, Tantrikism, Peruvian and Mayan cultures, pre-Christian European cultures, and Egyptology. The present version of Dhammapadam is a verbatim translation which has carefully preserved the true spirit of Buddha's very word. This anthology may be regarded as a Buddhist encyclopaedia in miniature. — Rt. Ven. G. Punnasara Maha Thero, Spiritual Instructor, Government Central College, Madamba, Sri Lanka.
Harischandra Kaviratna