The Pali Text Society's Pali-English dictionary - Tuninst.net

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{e) What are the critics to remember ? To find fault with the interpretation of one or the other
word is alright, but it must be remembered that, within a few years—which are nothing compared
with the life-study required for this purpose—not a few score or a few hundreds of words had to be
examined in every detail, but many thousands. Any criticism shows just what the editor himself
has felt all along: how much is to be done yet, and how important for Indological studies is the
study of Pali.
Many mistakes and misprints have to be taken with good grace : they are unavoidable ; and
I may
add as an example that Professor Konow's S, in spite of very careful work, contain one mistake (or
misprint) on almost every page, while the proportion of them in Kern's 315 pages of Toevoegselen is four
on every page ! We
are all human. The discovery of faults teaches us one thing : to try to do better.
5. Issues Involved in the Pali Dictionary.
It would easily fill a separate volume, if I were to discuss fully all the issues dependent on the new
Dictionary, and its bearing on aU parts of Buddhist studies. I confine myself to mentioning only a few
that are outstanding.
(a) Through a full list of references to nearly every word we are now able to establish better readings
than has been possible up to now. The Pali Dictionary is indispensable to any editor of new texts.
(6) Through sifting the vocabulary we can distinguish several strata of tradition, in place as well
as in time
(c) The relation of Classical Pali to Vedie and other stages of Sanskrit is becoming clearer, as also
is the position of Epic Pali to Singhalese and Tamil. A good example of the former is offered by the
relation of ava° to 0°. With regard to the term " Vedic " a word of warning has to be uttered. There
is an older stratum of direct Vedic connection in the four Nikayas; nevertheless in the majority of cases
the term is misleading, as we here have to deal with late Pali words which have been reintroduced from
Classical Sanskrit a la Renaissance.
It was Rhys Davids' wish, however, that I should use the term "Vedic," whenever a word dated
back to that period. — On the subject in general and the linguistic character of Pali see Childers,
Introduction, pp. xiv, xv (with note i); R. O. Franke, Pali and Sanskrit, Strassburg 1902, especially
chapters VII. to XII.
{d) The peculiar interrelation between Buddhist Pali and Buddhist Sanskrit can now be stated
with greater accuracy.
(e) Through a tabulation of aU parallel passages, given in the Pali Dictionary, we are now able
to compose a complete concordance
(/) From many characteristics, as pointed out in the Pali Dictionary, we can state with certainty that
Pali was a natural dialect, i. e. the language of the people. We can now group the canonical books
according to their literary value and origin.^ ^
(g) It will now be possible to write the history of terms.'
{h) We cannot always equate Pali: Classical Sanskrit. It is a wrong method to give the Sanskrit
form of a Pali word as its ultimate reduction and explanation. Sometimes Pali formation and meaning
are different from the Sanskrit.
Popular language and " Volksetymologie " are concerned here*
1 Thus some very old (Vedic) words are not found in Classical Pali, but occur later in the Epics (the Vagsas), e. g.
sarameya " dog," although Vedic, is only found in Mhbv; sunu, as frequent as putra in Rigveda, occurs only in Mhvs,
whereas putta is the regular Pali word. These examples may be increased by hundreds from the Vagsas. There are
many more than Rhys Davids assumed on p. vi of preface to Pali Dictionary.
2 Therefore we can never have a " standardized " Pah in the sense in which we are used to " Sanskrit." Among
the many signs of popular language (mentioned elsewhere, e. g. Childers introduction) I may also point to the many
onomatopoetic words (see note on gala), and the widespread habit of the reduplicative compounds (see my article
" Reduphkationskomposita im Pali," Zeitschr. / Buddhismus vi., 1925, pp. 89-94).
3 We have material enough to treat philosophical terms (like citta, dhamma, mano, vifiiiana, sankhara) historically,
as well as others of folkloristic importance (e. g. deva, yakkha, vimana). Light will be thrown on the question
of the Mahapurisalakkhanas, which it is interesting to note are in Sn 1022 attributed to Bavari (i. e. the " Babylonian "),
and clearly point to the late origin of the Vatthugathas as well as to Babylonian influence.
* Pali alia means " clean " as well as " wet " (in spite of /.ff. /I. S. 1924, 186), whereas Sanskrit ardra means "wet";
Pali salura means " dog," but Sanskrit Salura " frog "; the, root sviD has the specific Pali meaning " boil " or " cook.'
Many others in the Pali Dictionary; cp. Childers, p. xv.