Pali-A Brief Overview - by S.N. Tandon

The word Pali means: 1. A line; 2. a causeway; 3. a sacred text; 4.
the texts recording the teachings of the Buddha; 5. a passage from

such texts; 6. the language of these texts and its auxiliaries, and
also of early Indian inscriptions.
In the case of the "texts recording the teachings of the Buddha",
this word is generally derived from the root pal, which means "to
preserve", implying thereby the texts which preserve the teachings
of the Buddha.
The Pali Language
Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language of north Indian origin. It is also

known as Magadhi, although it was spoken, or at least well
understood, in almost the whole of Northern India in the Buddha's
time.
One can get on nodding terms with Pali without much struggle. It is
quite easy as compared to Sanskrit, since:
- the number of characters in the alphabet is less;
- its does not use the dual number in its declensions and
conjugations;
- in declensions, the dative has almost lost its separate existence;
- the number of cases with separate terminations stands greatly
reduced;
- two of the tenses (the periphrastic future and the benedictive)
have fallen into disuse; and
- rolling compounds of monstrous length have given way to smaller
ones of reasonable length.
Pali is a reverberating, sweet language. R.C. Childers1 has

compared it to Italian. According to him, "Pali is at once flowing and
sonorous: it is a characteristic of both languages that nearly every
word ends in a vowel, and that all harsh conjunctions are softened
down by assimilation, elision or crasis, while on the other hand both
lend themselves easily to the expression of sublime and vigorous
thought."
Pali Grammar No "Bug-bear"
Unlike Sanskrit grammar, Pali grammar is no "bug-bear". The

standard work on Sanskrit grammar is that of Panini which has
nearly 4,000 aphorisms. The standard work on Pali grammar is that
of Kaccana which has merely 675 aphorisms!
It is not essential that one must possess knowledge of the Sanskrit

language before one embarks on a study of the Pali language,
although prior knowledge of Sanskrit is quite helpful in learning Pali.
It has been estimated that nearly two-fifths of the Pali vocabulary
consists of words identical in form with their Sanskrit equivalents2
and that the bulk of the remaining words are their simplified
cognates3.
Pali Literature
Pali Literature is generally classified under three broad headings: 1.

Tipitaka (containing the words of the Buddha4 and some of his
distinguished disciples); 2. Atthakatha (commentary on the
Tipitaka); and 3. Tika (sub-commentary on the Atthakatha).
Besides these, there is some other literature comprising works on
grammar, metrics, prosody, etymology, rhetoric, logic, astrology,
polity, history, genealogy, medicine, pharmacology, etc.
Barring the Tipitaka and some of the Atthakatha, most of the

remaining literature is not available in India but only in some of its
neighbouring countries such as Burma, Ceylon, Thailand, etc. in
their own scripts. An effort is being made by the Vipassana
Research Institute to locate all such literature, most of which is of
Indian origin5, and publish it initially in the Devanagari script.
The Tipitaka is arranged in three great divisions: 1. Vinaya Pitaka;

2. Sutta Pitaka; and 3. Abhidhamma Pitaka.6 The first one contains
the rules of conduct for the monastic order; the second is a
collection of discourses; the third is a compendium of profound
teachings elucidating the functioning and inter-relationships of
mind, mental factors, matter and the phenomenon transcending all
these.
In the Suttanta discourses, the Buddha teaches in conventional

terms (I, we, he, she, man, woman, cow, tree, etc.), looking to the
intellectual level of the audience. In the Abhidhamma, the teaching
is in terms of the ultimate reality, and everything is expressed in
terms of khandhas, ayatanas, dhatus, indriyas, sacca and so on.
Priceless Legacy
The Buddha's words are his priceless legacy to the world at large.
He expounded the Four Noble Truths: 1. There is suffering; 2. There
is origin of suffering; 3. There is cessation of suffering; 4. There is a
path leading to the cessation of suffering. This path, which the
people had forgotten over the ages, was rediscovered by him as the
Noble Eightfold Path, comprised of sila (morality), samadhi
(concentration of mind) and panna (insight). These three taken
together constitute the practice of Vipassana, which is an unfailing
instrument for the total liberation of a human being from all
suffering. When liberated, enlightened persons have been found to
acclaim exultantly:
"Birth is finished; the higher, sublime life has been fulfilled; what
had to be done has been done; there is nothing more left to do."
The Buddha's sermons have only one flavour: the flavour of

liberation (vimutti). His manner of teaching Dhamma-the universal
Laws of Nature-was unique. He made use of parables and similes
drawn from ordinary life which anybody could understand,
appreciate and imbibe. For instance:
- He expressed the difference between an impure mind and a pure

mind by citing the example of a dirty cloth and a clean cloth. Only
the clean cloth will absorb the dye; so also only the pure mind will
retain the Dhamma.
- Just as the footprint of all animals can be contained within the

footprint of an elephant, all wholesome dhammas are included in
the Four Noble Truths.
- Sila is like the bark of a tree; samadhi like its wood; and panna
like the inner pith.
- Following a wrong path is a wasteful effort like trying to get oil out
of sand, squeezing the horns of a cow to get milk; churning water
to make butter; or rubbing two pieces of wet green wood to light
fire.
- One who has lost the status of a bhikkhu for transgression of any
of the major Vinaya rules is like: 1. a person whose head has been
cut off from his body-he cannot become alive even if the head is
fixed on the body; 2. leaves which have fallen off the twigs of the
tree-they will not become green again even if they are attached
back to the leaf-stalks; 3. a flat rock which has been split-it cannot
be made whole again; 4. a palm tree which has been cut off from
its stem-it will never, never grow again.
The Commentarial Literature
This literature is a big aid in the interpretation of the Tipitaka and is

very useful for studying ancient Indian polity, history, geography,
and social and economic life. It also deals extensively with usage in
grammar and derivation of words. A large number of edifying tales
lend special charm to this literature.
The most important Pali commentators are Buddhadatta,

Buddhaghosa, Dhammapala, Upasena and Mahanama. Out of these,
Buddhaghosa is by far the most celebrated one. He is credited with
writing a large number of commentaries in a very lucid style and
also producing a number of other works of exceptional merit. His
maiden production was the Visuddhimagga (The Path of
Purification) which is a concise but complete encyclopaedia of
Buddha's teaching. About this work, James Gray opined: "If he had
written nothing else, it alone would have secured him undying
fame." 7
This literature is also full of inspirational material. A reference has

been made, for example, to three monks who decide to sit in a
closed campus for three months for intensive meditation. Observing
Noble Silence, they work very hard. After three months they end
their silence and exchange greetings. Then they enquire how far
each one allowed the mind to wander. Their individual replies were:
"Not beyond our campus"; "Not beyond my residential hut"; "Not
beyond the frame of my body". The last one drew applause from
the other two.
What Light from Outside?
In short, Pali is a repository of supreme knowledge because it is

concerned mostly with the words of an Enlightened Person or
detailed explanation of his teachings in the form of commentaries
and subcommentaries and kindred literature. The content is so
inspiring that even a Western scholar Neumann had to admit:
"He who knows Pali needs no light from outside."
Notes
1. The author of "Dictionary of the Pali language."
2. E.g., anga, kamala, citta, nadi, megha, yuddha, etc.
3. E.g., gaha (for grha), thana (for sthana), digha (for dirgha),
nigrodha (for nyagrodha), savaka (for shravaka), rassa (for
hrasva), and so on.
4. The earlier division of the Buddha's words was nine-fold: i.e.,

sutta (discourses), geyya (mixed prose), veyyakarana (exegesis),
gatha (verses), udana (solemn utterances), itivuttaka (sayings of
the Buddha), jataka (birth stories), abbhutadhamma (extraordinary
things), and vedalla (analysis).
5. In a text known as Gandhavamsa, which is a modern catalogue

of Pali books and authors, written in Pali in Burmese script, there is
given a list of authors who wrote Pali books in India. These books
are extant in Burma where the Catalogue was drawn up.
6. The main titles of books under these divisions are:

(1) Vinaya Pitaka: Parajika-khandha, Pacittiya, Mahavagga, Cula-
vagga, Parivara.
(2) Sutta Pitaka: Digha Nikaya, Majjhima Nikaya, Samyutta Nikaya,
Anguttara Nikaya, Khuddaka Nikaya (comprising Khuddaka-patha,
Dhammapada, Udana, Itivuttaka, Sutta-nipata, Vimana-vatthu,
Petavatthu, Theragatha, Therigatha, Apadana, Buddhavamsa,
Cariya-pitaka, Jataka, Maha-niddesa, Cula-niddesa, Patisambhida-
magga).
(3) Abhidhamma Pitaka: Dhamma-sangani, Vibhanga, Dhatukatha,
Puggala-pannatti, Kathavatthu, Yamaka, Patthana.
Three other works-Nettipakarana, Petakopadesa and Milinda-panha-
are also treated as part of Tipitaka, on account of their importance.
7. Besides Visuddhimagga, there are several other works which are

of a monumental nature. These are: Abhidhammattha-sangaha,
Nama-rupa-pariccheda, Mahavamsa, Sasanavamsa and
Gandhavamsa. The first one among these contains the quintessence
of the Abhidhamma. ¦

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The word Pali means: 1. A line; 2. a causeway; 3. a sacred text; 4.

the texts recording the teachings of the Buddha; 5. a passage from

The Pali Language

Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language of north Indian origin. It is also

Pali is a reverberating, sweet language. R.C. Childers1 has

Pali Grammar No "Bug-bear"

Unlike Sanskrit grammar, Pali grammar is no "bug-bear". The

It is not essential that one must possess knowledge of the Sanskrit

Pali Literature is generally classified under three broad headings: 1.

Barring the Tipitaka and some of the Atthakatha, most of the

The Tipitaka is arranged in three great divisions: 1. Vinaya Pitaka;

In the Suttanta discourses, the Buddha teaches in conventional

The Buddha's sermons have only one flavour: the flavour of

- He expressed the difference between an impure mind and a pure

- Just as the footprint of all animals can be contained within the

The Commentarial Literature

This literature is a big aid in the interpretation of the Tipitaka and is

The most important Pali commentators are Buddhadatta,

This literature is also full of inspirational material. A reference has

What Light from Outside?

In short, Pali is a repository of supreme knowledge because it is

1. The author of "Dictionary of the Pali language."

2. E.g., anga, kamala, citta, nadi, megha, yuddha, etc.

4. The earlier division of the Buddha's words was nine-fold: i.e.,

5. In a text known as Gandhavamsa, which is a modern catalogue

6. The main titles of books under these divisions are:

7. Besides Visuddhimagga, there are several other works which are

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