A History of Indian Literature v1.c7.s5.t2.2

v1.c7.s5.t2.2

1. The most important of the Middle Indian literary languages is *Pāli*, the ecclesiastical language of the Buddhists of Ceylon, Burma and Siam, the language in which the oldest preserved collection of sacred writings of Buddhism is written. The Buddhists themselves tell us that the Buddha did not, like the Brahmans, preach in the learned Sanskrit, but talked to the people in the language of the people. As Buddha first preached in the land of Magadha (Southern Bihar), and there displayed his best activity, therefore the Buddhists tell us that Pāli is the same as Māgadhī, the language of the province of Magadha. However, that cannot be right, as the dialect of Magadha which is otherwise known to us does not agree with Pāli. It is, however, probable that Pāli is a mixed language the foundation of which was Māgadhī.¹ The word Pāli really signifies "row," then "order, regulation, rule," hence also "sacred text" and finally the language of the sacred texts, in contradistinction to the Ancient Sinhalese, the language in which the commentaries to these texts were composed.