An Introduction to Kachchỳana's Grammar of the Pāli Language |
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Common terms and phrases
Abhidharma affix ahosi Ajjatanė akkhara ancient appellation Asiatic Asoka Atha Attanopada attha Atthakatha authority Avanti Bālavatāra Berkeley Bhagavā bhante bhavissanti bhikkhus bhû Brah Brahmans Buddha Buddhist Buddhist era Burnouf CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Ceylon deva dhamma dialect doctrines elided evan existence expressed fact forms gachchhati Gāthā Gotama Grammarians Hindu hoti India inferred Kachchāyana Katyayana king krit language letter literature Magadha Māgadhė Mahā Mahā Kachchāyana Mahavansa Majjhima mark the exception Max Muller nāma Nepal nirvana nouns original Pāli Pali Grammar Pali language pana Panini Parassapada Parokkhā Patanjali Prakrit priests Professor radical rājā ratanan reign remarks rendered root rule Sanskrit says sense shew Sinhalese substituted Suttan tassa tato tenses terminations thera thou tion UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Upāli Vararuchi Vedas Vedic verb vichinati vowel Vutti Wherefore optionally words writers Yavanas ඉච්චෙතස්ස ධාතුස්ස ඉච්චෙතෙ කිමත්ථං ති තෙ ධාතු වාතිකිමත්ථං හොති හොන්ති
Popular passages
Page ii - Hardy states that the high state of cultivation to which the Pali language was carried, and the great attention that has been paid to it in Ceylon, may be inferred from the fact that a list of works in the possession of the Singhalese, which he found during his residence in this Island, included thirty-five works on Pali Grammar, some of them being of considerable extent.
Page 60 - Scriptures comprise a fourth digest, which he ' regards as the crude composition of writers to whom the Sanskrit was no longer familiar, and who endeavoured to write in a learned language they ill understood, with the freedom which is imparted by the habitual use of a popular but imperfectly determined dialect.
Page cxxi - The language of the Vedas is an older dialect, varying very considerably, both in its grammatical and lexical character, from the classical Sanskrit. Its grammatical peculiarities run through all departments : euphonic rules, wordformation and composition, declension, conjugation, syntax.
Page v - All the theras and achariyas held this compilation in the same estimation as the text (of the ' Pitakattaya '). Thereafter, the objects of his mission having been fulfilled, he returned to G'ambudipa, to worship at the bo-tree (at Uruvelaya, or Uruvilva, in Magadha).
Page xix - Kachchayano ? (I answer), It is he who was selected for the important office (of compiling the first Pali Grammar, by Buddho himself; who said on that occasion): ' Bhikkhus from amongst my sanctified disciples, who are capable of elucidating in detail, that which is expressed in the abstract, the most eminent is this Mahakachchayano.
Page 68 - Panvaran annotations, six books of the Abhidamma, the Patisambida, the Niddesa^ and a portion of the Jatakas, without replacing anything in their stead. They, moreover, disregarded the nature of nouns, their gender, and other accidents, as well as the various requirements of style ; and corrupted them in various ways. The above passage clearly indicates that there was a code different from the orthodox version of the sacred writings, which were authenticated at three different convocations, and that...
Page lxi - ... philosophical and impersonal god. And however indefinite this god Brahman may be, it is nevertheless, to the mind of the Brahmanic Hindu, an entity. The final salvation of a Buddhist is entire non-entity. The various expressions for eternal bliss in the Brahmanic creed, like apavarga, moksha, mukti, nihsreyasa, all mean either ' liberation from this earthly career' or ' the absolute good'; they therefore imply a condition of hope.
Page v - From thence again Pali has become the name of the Magadhi language in which Buddha delivered his doctrines. The Pali has also received the designation of Tanti, " the string of a lute," its Sanskrit cognate being tantri.
Page cxxvii - ... by a natural bond with the ancient language, have often a more antique fashion than the Sanskrit, which, being shaped and circumscribed by the rules of grammarians, has sacrificed the truth of analogy for the sake of regularity. The Prakrit tongues are nothing else than ancient Vedic dialects in a state of degeneracy; while the Sanskrit (or Epic) bhdshd is the sum of the Vedic dialects constructed by the labour and zeal of grammarians, and polished by the skill of learned men.
Page v - S'iva. See S'AKTAS. A Tantra is said to comprise five subjects — the creation and destruction of the world, the worship of the gods, the attainment of all objects, magical rites for the acquirement of six superhuman faculties, and four modes of union with spirit by meditation. A variety of other subjects, however, are introduced into many of them...