Gurulugomi

Gurulugomi (Sinhala: ගුරුළුගෝමි) was a Buddhist commentator and philosopher who lived in the 12th century in Sri Lanka. He is known for his works Amavatura and Dharmapradipika (Suriyahetti, 1975). He is sometimes styled Mahakavi , the great poet. There is no much information about Gurulugomi except the mention of his name in the Rajaratnakara, the Sidath Sangarawa, the Nikaya Sangrahaya, and the Mayura Sandeshaya (Suriyahetti, 1975). Of them, the latter two mention his name as Guruludami (Suriyahetti, 1975). The term Dami can be taken as the equivalent of Gomi which means the Buddhist lay follower. Although the time of Gurulugomi is unclear, there is a clue in Rajaratnakara where it has mentioned his name with other scholars who lived between the 5th century A.D. to the 13th century A.D. (Wikramasinghe, 1900). Therefore, Gurulugumi must have lived before or about the year 1267 A.D. (Wikramasinghe, 1900). From the time of Buddhaghosa (410 A.D.) up to the present year (1809 A.B. expired, i.…