Dharmananda Damodar Kosambi (9 October 1876 – 4 June 1947) was a Portuguese Buddhist scholar and Pāli language expert.

However, he was rather disappointed with the dismal state of Buddhism there and instead continued on to Calcutta and then to Ceylon (Sri Lanka), where he enrolled himself in the Vidyodaya College.

In Bombay he met Dr. James Woods from Harvard University, who was seeking a scholar adept in Sanskrit, Ardhamāgadhı̄, and Pāli.

Woods invited Kosambi to Harvard, to complete the task of compiling a critical edition of Visuddhimagga, a book on Buddhist philosophy.

[1] When the Indian independence movement was at its peak, Kosambi returned to India and taught at Gujarat Vidyapith without remuneration.

Later, Kosambi founded Bahujanavihara, a shelter house for Buddhist monks in Bombay, which exists to this day.

He moved to Sevagram, near Wardha, but kept his diet to a spoon of bitter gourd (karela) juice in order to respect Gandhi's wishes.

He also wrote a play titled "Bodhisatva" in Marathi which sketches the life of Gautama Buddha in story form.