W.S. Karunaratne
| Wijesinghe Sugathadasa ඩබ්ලිව්.එස්.කරුණාරත්න |
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| Born |
24 December 1928 Kandy, Sri Lanka |
| Died | 1986 Colombo |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Citizenship | Sri Lanka |
| Education | University of London |
| Alma mater | Ananda College, University of Peradeniya, University of London |
| Occupation | Academic, diplomat |
| Known for | Scholarly works of Buddhist philosophy and comparative religion |
| Notable work | Theory of Causality |
| Title | Professor, Ambassador |
| Spouse(s) | Indumathi Gunathilaka |
| Children | Shantarakshita, Kamalaseeli, Chandrakeerthi, Harsha |
| Parent(s) | Don Charles Karunaratne and Donna Charlinton Dissanayake |
Wijesinghe Sugathadasa Karunaratne (Sinhala:ඩබ්ලිව්.එස්.කරුණාරත්න) (24 December 1928 – 1986) was a well known Buddhist scholar and a fiercely independent thinker. He was affectionately known by the Sri Lankan masses as "W.S." and as "The Don" by the academia. Karunaratne was born in Katugastota, a small village in the Kandy district, Sri Lanka.
Coming from a family of nine siblings, Karunaratne grew up in a very poor home. The household moved as his police constable father was transferred around the country during the British colonial rule of Sri Lanka. The Karunaratne family lived a meager life in dilapidated police barracks, which usually consisted of one room and kitchen unit without any other living space, running water or electricity. The children studied at night with the help of faint kerosene lamps.
Karunaratne initially attended Dharmaraja College, but had to move to different schools as his father was transferred. Karunaratne's father eventually pawned his wedding ring to pay for Karunaratne's first month at a premier boarding school in Colombo. When Karunaratne sat for the university entrance exam while attending Ananda College (the Buddhist school founded by Col. Henry Steel Olcott), he scored the highest grade nationally and won the prestigious Moulana Prize. (The prize was shared by another student who came in a close second, Felix Dias Bandaranaike the son of a wealthy, land-owning family who attended the prestigious Royal College.) This fully paid scholarship allowed Karunaratne to pursue higher education without further burdening his family.
Karunaratne entered the University of Ceylon in 1948. When his father died at a young age, the burden of supporting the family fell on Karunaratne as the second-oldest male child. While pursuing his education, Karunaratne worked part-time and managed to feed the family and keep the children in school. He won numerous scholarships and obtained a Bachelor of Arts with first class honours in 1952. Karunaratne's father had wanted him to join the Ceylon Civil Service, but his professors persuaded him to become an assistant lecturer at the university's Peradeniya Campus (which became the University of Peradeniya in 1978) in the Department of Pali and Buddhist Civilization. In 1954, Karunaratne married one of his students, Indumathi Gunatillake, who eventually became an expert in Tibetan Buddhism and joined the Sri Lanka Encyclopedia of Buddhism as an assistant editor. Soon after their wedding, Karunaratne and his wife moved to London, England where, at age 28, Karunaratne obtained his doctorate from the University of London for his thesis on "The Theory of Causality in Early Buddhism". In the same year, Karunaratne was chosen as the F. L. Woodward prizeman of the School of Oriental and African Studies.
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