30/04/2026
The Demise of Professor Y. Karunadasa
Legacy of a Distinguished Buddhist Scholar and Educator
Out of heart-felt emotion, the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies (PGIPBS) announces the passing away of Professor Y. Karunadasa on the 26th of April, 2026 concluding his long, meaningful life of over 90 years. Professor was a faithful follower of Buddhism and a man of a kind and compassionate heart, apart from being one of the humblest characters irrespective of his local and international reputation. He was a former Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies of the University of Kelaniya, in addition to his career as a senior faculty member, a professor, and Dean of the same university.
Professor Karunadasa's tenure as the Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies was a marked period of the glory of the Institution. During his time, the studies of the Institute were standardized and formalized as he framed the studies into a well-structured system by the preparation of the guidelines in the Students' Prospectus. This was the time that the Institute gained international reputation and also opened the gates for international students to pursue Buddhist education at the Institute. He gave a fillip to the education at PGIPBS by organizing public lectures at the Institute. This newly revitalized education attracted many genius people from other sectors other than Buddhism to PGIPBS. This was also the period when the PGIPBS publication project started. Under that, a number of hitherto unpublished high-standard monographs were published. The Journal of Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies which is the current official academic journal of the institute was also initiated Prof. Karunadasa.
Yakupitiyage Karunadasa is regarded as one of the leading Buddhist scholars with a strong international footing. His scholarship was appreciated by local and foreign scholars alike, and he was considered an authentic interpreter of Pali Buddhism. The academic works of Professor Karunadasa in Buddhist philosophy, particularly Pali Abhidhamma, are recognized as the most reliable scholarly representations of the Theravada Buddhist tradition. Buddhist Analysis of Matter, printed first in 1967 and reprinted in 1989 and 2015, stands as the most revered compilation among other works by him. As noted by Edward Conze, the esteemed Buddhist scholar, in the Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London, “Karunadasa's Buddhist Analysis of Matter is pretty exhaustive and likely to be the last word on the subject for some time to come.” The Theravāda Abhidhamma: Its Inquiry into the Nature of Conditioned Reality (2014) and Early Buddhist Teachings: The Middle Position in Theory and Practice (2013, 2015) are marks of the clarity and acuteness of his erudition into the subject of Pali Buddhism.
Born on the 23rd of 1934 in a family rooted in Buddhist heritage, Y. Karunadasa received his primary and secondary education in Badulla. His formal higher education started in 1954 when he joined the then University of Ceylon. Being enthusiastic in Oriental learning and following such giants of this field of study as G. P. Malalasekara, O. H. de A. Wijesekara, and N. A. Jayawickrama, he studied Pali and Buddhism there. He got through the Honours Degree with First Class Honours, also winning the Woodward Prize for Pali and a Research Scholarship in Oriental Studies. In 1960, he was recruited to the University of Kelaniya, then named Vidyalankara University in Kelaniya. He was the first ever recipient of the Graduate Studentship awarded by the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London. The PhD that he accomplished in 1963, with the submission of a remarkable piece of academic writing, Buddhist Analysis of Matter, which was revered when it was published later, earned him the solid foundation to perform as a reputed academician in the arena of global Buddhist studies. This profundity in training continued as he won a Commonwealth Academic Staff Fellowship to pursue post-doctoral research at the same Institute in London in 1974, eleven years after his completion of the doctorate.
His scholarly contribution to various local and foreign institutions to foster Buddhist education is marked vividly. For a short period of time, he served as Assistant Editor of the Encyclopedia of Buddhism under G. P. Malalasekara. Since 1963, immediately after his graduation from the University of London, he joined Vidyalankara University in Kelaniya. Sometime later, he joined the Colombo Campus of the University of Ceylon. In 1969, he came back to his former place of service, the Vidyalankara University, now named the University of Kelaniya. Later, he was appointed Professor in Pali at the age of thirty-five and Head of the Department. He was a rare person to be elevated to the position of Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, on all occasions selected unanimously. There were many other internal positions held by the Professor during this period at the University of Kelaniya. In 1987, he was invited as a Guest Lecturer for the Research Institute of Otani University of Kyoto, Japan. He delivered lectures in the Universities of Ryukoku and Bukkyo in Kyoto, Kanazawa, the University of Tokyo, and at the Japan Association of Pali Studies in Nagoya. The Professor contributed to the enhancement of Buddhist education in the Buddhist and Pali University from its inception in 1980. He was a Director of Study Programs, a part-time Director of Research from 1984 to 1987, and an Editorial Board Member of the Sri Lanka Journal of Pali and Buddhist Studies published by the Buddhist and Pali University. From 1988, he served as Director of the Postgraduate Institute of Pali and Buddhist Studies for a period of nine years, when he advanced postgraduate research and learning at PGIPBS. He was respected by the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London by inviting him to teach there as Bukkyo Dendo Visiting Professor in Theravada Buddhism in 1993. Towards the end of his career, he joined the Centre of Buddhist Studies of University of Hong Kong where he was not only awarded a respected position of teaching, researching and guiding Doctoral students but also respected by publishing his academic works.
The scholarship of Professor Y. Karunadasa and the contribution to promote Pali and Buddhist studies rendered by him are outstanding. His name will be revered and memorized for many years to come. At the time he has concluded his career and life, PGIPBS remembers his visions, directions and dedication with utmost respect and gratitude.
May Professor Y. Karunadasa attain the ultimate bliss of Nibbana.
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