Agga Maha Pandita Explained

Aggamahāpaṇḍita (Burmese: အဂ္ဂမဟာပဏ္ဍိတ, in Burmese pronounced as /ʔɛʔɡa̰ məhà pàɰ̃dḭta̰/) is an honorific Burmese Buddhist title conferred by the Myanmar government to distinguished Theravada Buddhist monks.

Etymology

Aggamahāpandiṭa, meaning "foremost great and wise one," is derived from the following Pali terms:

Agga, from Aggasāvaka, which was conferred by the Buddha to his foremost disciples, Sariputta and Mahamoggallana.
Mahā, meaning "great."
Paṇḍita, meaning "wise or learned person," and denoting possession of wisdom and knowledge of Tipitaka.^[1]

Qualifications

The title is usually awarded to Buddhist monks who are highly proficient in teaching the Dhamma or those who are believed to be enlightened (arahants). The title is awarded annually in January by the head of the Burmese government, following after rigorous and subtle examination of a monk's wisdom and achievement by the State Sangha Maha Nayaka Committee.

Recipients must meet the following qualifications:^[2]

Possesses the Aggamahāganthavācakapaṇḍita title
Has at least 40 years (vassa) in the monkhood
Is an morally upright person (sīlavanta)
Has passed the Dhammācariya examination
Expert writer of Pali commentaries and Pali texts
Expert teacher of Pali commentaries and Pali texts
Serves as an abbot for a monastic college (ပရိယတ္တိစာသင်တိုက်)
Commands authority and influence among Sangha disciples
Free of accusations and disputes

History

Historically, the Buddha had disciples who held title of Aggasāvaka and Mahāsāvaka who were already enlightened Ariyas and regarded as leaders of the communities of monks known as the Sangha.

From 1915 to 1942, the British colonial government conferred the title Aggamahāpaṇḍita (အဂ္ဂမဟာပဏ္ဍိတ) to 98 monks.^[3] From 1951 through 1953, the Burmese government awarded the Aggamahāpaṇḍita title to 15 monks.

List of recipients

Ledi Sayadaw (1911, Title offered by the Government of India)
Ashin Janakabhivamsa (1948)
Mahasi Sayadaw (1952)
Ambalangoda Polwatte Buddhadatta Thera (1954)
Balangoda Ananda Maitreya Thero (1955)
Sayadaw U Thittila (1956)
Anisakhan Sayadaw U Pandita
Mogok Sayadaw U Vimala (1962)
Mingun Sayadaw U Vicittasarabhivamsa (1979)
Myaungmya Sayadaw U Nyanika (1991)
Birmingham Sayadaw U Rewatadhamma (2000)
Sitagu Sayadaw Ashin Nyanissara (1996)
Sayadaw U Silananda (1993)
Madihe Pannaseeha Thero (1996)
Sayadaw U Pannavamsa (1998)^[4]
Walpola Rahula Thero (1998)^[5]
Yaykyi Mingala Kyaungtaik Sayadaw, Bhaddanta Indobhasa (1991)
Kotugoda Dhammawasa Thero
Thirikunamale Ananda Thero (2022)
Gyanashree Mahathero (2023)

References

Web site: Bala-pandita Sutta: The Fool & the Wise Person. www.accesstoinsight.org. 2016-11-14.
Web site: ဘွဲ့တံဆိပ် ဂုဏ်အင်္ဂါအရည်အချင်းသတ်မှတ်ချက်. 17 June 2015. Department of Religious Affairs. Ministry of Religious Affairs. Burmese.
Web site: ဘွဲ့တံဆိပ်သမိုင်း. Department of Religious Affairs. Ministry of Religious Affairs. Burmese.
Web site: Sayadaw U Pannavamsa. 2010-04-10. https://web.archive.org/web/20120305133203/http://www.bbt.org.sg/Articles/sayadawgyi.htm. 2012-03-05. dead.
Web site: Religious and Cultural Relations . Embassy of Myanmar Sri Lanka . Aggamaha Panditha Awardees . 15 February 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131210071258/http://slembyangon.org/culture.html . 2013-12-10 . dead .