Buddhapāli / Fótuóbōlì 佛陀波利 (Tang, fl. 676–683) — Tang-period North Indian translator-monk, native of Kashmir (罽賓國 Jìbīnguó). His Sanskrit name Buddhapāli (also Buddhapālita) is rendered semantically as Juéhù 覺護 (“Awakening-Protected”).
According to his hagiography in the Sòng Gāosēng-zhuàn and Kāiyuán shìjiào lù, he undertook a famous pilgrimage to Wǔtái-shān 五臺山 in Yífèng 儀鳳 1 = 676 CE in search of Mañjuśrī. He encountered a mysterious old man (presumed to be Mañjuśrī himself) who instructed him to return to India and bring back the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī, which would be of great benefit to the people of China. He returned to India, obtained the Sanskrit manuscript, and returned to Cháng-ān in Yǒngchún 永淳 2 = 683 CE.
The Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī was then translated by Buddhapāli together with the Tang lay-translator Dù Xíngyǐ 杜行顗 (杜行顗) and the Indian translator Divākara (地婆訶羅) — the various Tang Chinese translations of the Uṣṇīṣa-vijaya-dhāraṇī (T967, T968, T969, T970) reflect the multiple translation collaborations involved. His own Chinese translation, the Fódǐng zūnshèng tuóluóní jīng 佛頂尊勝陀羅尼經 (KR6j0144, T19n0967), became one of the canonical recensions.
After completing the translation, hagiographic tradition relates that Buddhapāli returned with the Sanskrit manuscript to Wǔtái-shān and was never seen again — his final disposition unknown, presumed to have been received into the cosmic Mañjuśrī-realm.
Source: DILA Buddhist Person Authority A000438; Sòng Gāosēngzhuàn 宋高僧傳; Kāiyuán shìjiào lù.