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A History of Indian Literature v2.c22: Appendix II. What Is Pāli?

A History of Indian Literature v2.c22

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Appendix II. What Is Pāli?

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*Wilhelm Geiger*, Pāli Literatur und Sprache, p. 5, does not explain the words *anujānāmi bhikkhave sakāya niruttiyā buddhavacanaṃ pariyāpuṇituṃ* (Culla-Vagga V, 33) like the translators in SBE, Vol. 20, p. 150f., "I allow you, O brethren, to learn the word of the Buddhas each in his own dialect,"

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but according to the commentary of Buddhaghosa: "I order you to learn the word of the Buddha in *his* own language" (*i.e.* in Māgadhī, the language spoken by the Buddha). Consequently, *Geiger* regards Pāli as an attempt to reconstruct the word of the Buddha in Buddha's own language. According to this the Pāli Canon would be identical with the Canon of Pāṭaliputra not only in content, but also in language. I do not think, however, that *Geiger's* explanation of Culla-Vagga V, 33 is tenable. *Geiger* is of opinion that, in the translation "I allow you" etc., we would expect a *vo* after *anujānāmi*, to which *sakāya* would refer However, this *vo* can, I think, be supplied easily enough from the vocative *bhikkhave*, especially when we remember that the expression *anujānāmi bhikkhave* occurs on almost every page of the Vinaya-Piṭaka, and has become stereotyped. If *Geiger's* explanation were correct, we should also expect that not only the translation into Sanskrit, but also the learning of the word of Buddha in the dialects of the monks of various districts, would have been forbidden. Then again, the stern words attributed to Buddha, in which he rejects the suggestion that the word of Buddha should be translated into the language of the Veda or set in verse after the manner of the Veda, because that would not contribute to the conversion of the unconverted nor increase the number of the converted, are additional evidence that the chief concern was to propagate the word of Buddha as widely as possible, which is only possible if the monks in various districts preach the word of Buddha in the languages of those districts.[^1)

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E. J. *Thomas* (The Life of Buddha, p. 253 f.) explains this passage differently. He translates *nirutti* by "grammar"

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[^1): *Geiger's*, *i.e.*, Buddhaghosa's explanation of the passage is also rejected by Friedrich Weller in ZB, N. F. 1, 1922, p. 211ff. (to which Geiger replies in the same publication, p 218f.) and by A. B. *Keith* in Ind. Hist. Qu. 1, 1925,'p. 501.

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and *chando* by "metre," and makes Buddha say: "I order you, monks, to master the word of Buddha (Buddhavacanam) in its own grammar." He does not think it possible that *sakāya niruttiyā* can mean "each in his own dialect," and believes that the passage in question only contains a prohibition to versify the Canon. Even if this explanation be accepted, it is difficult to see why a versification of the word of Buddha should be detrimental to the propagation of the doctrine. Moreover, *nirutti* does not mean "grammar," but "linguistic expression."¹ *Chandas* may mean "metre" just as well as "Veda." *Chandas* has the latter meaning in *Sāvitthī chandaso mukhaṃ* too (Vinaya-Piṭaka, Mahā-Vagga VI, 35, 8 and Sutta-Nipāta 568). Oldenberg and Rhys Davids have taken it in the sense of "Veda dialect," and refer to the use of "*chandasi*" by Pāṇini. Buddhaghosa, too says: *chandaso āropemā ti vedaṃ viya sakkaṭa-bhāsāya vācanāmaggam āropema.*² The translation: "I allow you, O monks, to learn the word of the Buddha each in his own language" also accords well with Majjhima-Nikāya 139 (III, pp. 234f., 237) wherein it is said that the "middle way" which leads to rest, is for a man not to insist unduly on his own provincial dialect (janapadanirutti) and at the same time not to diverge from general linguistic usage.³

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¹ *Cf.* Dīgha I, 202; Saṃyutta III, 71; *Childers*, Dictionary of the Pali Language s.v. nirutti: "use or expression of a language." PTS. Dic. s.v.: "way of speaking, expression."

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² The form chandaso from the neuter chando is difficult to explain.

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³ It is said here that, for instance, a different word is used for "bowl": pātī patta, vittha, sarāva, dhāropa, poṇa, pisīla, and that each one considers his word as the only correct one, but that in the interests of peace it is best for each one to use the word which is current in his land.

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The commentaries frequently use the word "Pāli" in the sense of "canonical text" in contrast to the Attha-Kathā, sometimes also in the sense of "language of the canonical texts;" in the Jātaka commentary "Pāli" often means the Jātaka-Gāthās. Curiously enough the term "Pāli" is used at the present day by the country people of Eastern Bengal to denote the verse portions in their prose narratives (Rūpa-Kathās and Gīta-Kathās).¹

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¹ *Cf.* Ind. Hist. Qu. 4, 1928, 6ff., and Dineshchandra *Sen*, Eastern Bengal Ballads, Vol. III, part 1, Calcutta, 1928, p. lxv ff.

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Phonetic peculiarities of the Māgadhī dialect in Pāli have already been indicated by *E. Kuhn*, Beiträge zur Pāli-Grammatik, Berlin, 1875, p. 9, *E. Müller*, Grammar of the Pali Language, London, 1884, and *R. Pischel*, SBA 1904, p. 807. *E. Windisch* (OC XIV, 1906, p. 252ff.) endeavoured to prove that Māgadhī forms the foundation of Pāli. *S. Lévi* (JA 1912, s. 10, t. XX, p. 495ff.) attempted to trace remnants of an earlier Māgadhī Canon. According to *Lüders* (Bruchstücke buddhistischer Dramen, p. 41) it would be more correct to speak of "Old Ardha-Māgadhī" as the foundation of Pāli. "This dialect agrees in essentials with the Māgadhī of the Aśoka Inscriptions, but in part it already represents a more advanced stage of development" (*Lüders* in SBA 1927, p. 123). The demonstration by *P. V. Bapat* (Ind. Hist. Qu. 4, 1928, 23ff.) that Pāli cannot be derived from Ardha-Māgadhī, as the last-named shows a later stage of development of Prākrit than Pāli, refers only to Jaina Ardha-Māgadhī. Paiśācī elements in Pāli have been pointed out by *Konow* (ZDMG 64, 1910, 114ff.), *Grierson* (Bhandarkar Comm. Vol., p. 117ff.) and *Nalinaksha Dutt* (Early History of the Spread of Buddhism, p. 249ff.). *Konow* localises Pāli and Paiśācī in the district of the Vindhya hills. This leads us to the district of Ujjein, where Pāli had already been localised by *Westergaard*, *E. Kuhn* and *R. O. Franke* (Pali und Sanskrit, Strassburg 1902, 127ff.). *Grierson* regards Paiśācī as the local dialect of Kekaya and Eastern Gandhāra. Kekaya, especially Takṣaśilā was at the time of the Buddha famous for learning. *Grierson* concludes from this that Pāli is the literary form of the Māgadhī language, which was in those days used in India as *Koiné*, and was in particular utilised in Takṣaśilā as the language of instruction. *Cf.* also *Eliot* I, 282ff.

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According to S. K. *Chatterji* (Origin and Development of the Bengali Language, 1926, I, 55ff.) the phonetics and morphology of Pāli show most resemblance to Śaurasenī, but have adopted archaic forms from north-western and other Aryan dialects.

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*Oldenberg* (Vinaya Piṭaka I, Introduction, p. 1 ff.) held the view that Buddhism was not introduced to Ceylon by Mahinda, as related in the Singhalese chronicles, but spread gradually over the Island from the neighbouring Kaliṅga land, and that Pāli is the language of the Kaliṅga land. There are, however, no proofs for this.

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T. W. *Rhys Davids* (PTS Dic., Foreword) is of opinion that Pāli is based upon the dialect of Kosala, as it was spoken in the 6th and 7th centuries B. C. But what do we know of the dialects of these centuries ?

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Max *Walleser* (Sprache und Heimat des Palikanons, Heidelberg 1924, and ZB VII, 1926, 56ff.) made an unfortunate attempt to explain Pāli as the "language of Pāṭaliputra" even by way of etymology.¹

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¹ E. J. *Thomas* (Ind. Hist. Qu. 4, 1928, 778 ff.) also rejects this hypothesis.

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There is nothing to support the assumption that Pāli originated in Ceylon. Though Singhalese has much in common with Pāli, we should rather assume that it is the Pāli which influenced Singhalese. *Cf.* W. *Geiger*, Literatur und Sprache der Singhalesen (Grundriss I, 10), p. 91.

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*Cf. Geiger*, Pali Literatur und Sprache, pp. 1-5; *H. Reichelt* in Festschrift für Wilhelm Streitberg, 1924, p. 244 ff.; A. B. *Keith* in Ind. Hist. Qu. I, 1925, 501ff. ; W. *Wüst*, Indisch (Grundriss der indogermanischen Sprach-und Altertumskunde II, 4, 1), p. 44 f. and Mrs. *Rhys Davids*, Sakya or Buddhist Origins, p. 429ff.

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