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

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(t) The Pali Dictionary affords an interesting comparison of our own interpretation of terms with the
fanciful etymological play of words given by the Commentators, which throws a light both on their
dogmatic bias and their limited linguistic knowledge. It is quite evident that Bdhgh did not know
Sanskrit. — In matters of grammar I place Dhammapala higher than Buddhaghosa.'
[k) In short, the Pali Dictionary gives clues to a variety of problems, which it was hitherto almost
impossible to approach; the proper study of PaU Buddhism is aided greatly by it, and an endless field
of work lies open to future scnolars. On the other hand, nobody reahzes more than I do after ten years
of intimate study, how far behind the " Classics " we are, both in analysis and synthesis, in explanation,
interpretation, and application. And also: that it will be worth the trouble to explore more thoroughly
that range of civilization which lies enshrined in the Pali Canon.'
6. Conclusion.
That my share in' the actual working out of the Dictionary preponderates over his own, I am sure
Rhys Davids would not mind: on the contrary, it was his wish from the beginning that it should be so,
and he would repudiate any attempt which would put the faults to my blame and the merits to his
credit. His mind was more bent on other aims than dictionary work, which was not his strongest point.
But without him there would not have been this Pali Dictionary.
I cannot conclude without extending my sincere thanks to all those who have made it possible for
me to complete the work, and have helped me directly or indirectly with encouragements of various kinds.
Among the former are the subscribers to the Dictionary Fund (especially generous Japanese donors);
those who have unselfishly handed over to me material collected by themselves, or have assisted me
with the copying of indexes, or suggested corrections and given valuable reviews. Above aU the Founder
of the Pali Text Society and Mrs. Rhys Davids, who helped me with many suggestions re details and
with reading the proofs; and last not least ray wife, who has been vmtiring in copying the whole MS.
for the printer.
For all deficiencies I sincerely apologize. Had I had another twenty years' experience of Pali, I
would have made a better job of it; but our motto was " Better now and imperfect than perfect and
perhaps never !" By no means do I leave the work with a feeling of self-satisfaction. I realize now that
I am only at the beginning of the " Perfect " Dictionary. May I, within the next twenty years, see a
second edition of the Pali Dictionary which will come nearer to the ideal. But then the ideal wUi have
moved farther away accordingly! Until then I hope that the "Provisional" Dictionary will do its
service and will prove a help to students and scholars of Pali alike !
227, Valley Road,
Streatham,
London, S.W. 16.
April, 1925.
W. STEDE.
1 There are more than a score of instances which prove this point, but the following is especially interesting. The
word for " whole, entire" vissa is extremely frequent in Vedic and Sanskrit ( = visva), but unknown in Pali (where
sabba takes its place), except for one passage in the Dh. (266). Had Bdhgh known Sanskrit, he would have explained
it as " sabba," but instead of that he takes it as *visra (musty), which (as a lexic. word) was current in late Pali, but
does not fit the passage mentioned. — Among other errors B explains " stiffness " (swoon) by " calati " (see under
chambhita and mucchancikata) ; in parajita he takes para as instr. of para ( = parena DhA 111.259); he connects Pali
pineti withpinvati (DA 1157, cp. Vism 32 pinana), and he explains attamana as " saka-mana " (DA 1.255). ^^^ equalling
atta = atman.
2 In connection with this I may point out that one of the greatest needs of Pali scholarship is a Dictionary of
Names. To insert names into this dictionary was not our intention, although more than once I was tempted, and doubtful
as to the category of " names." e. g. wn.-,Llier to regard names of trees and months, or titles of books as " names" or
"words." Thus the Name Dictionary will be an indispensable supplement to the Word Dictionary. I hope that I
shall be placed in a position which will make it possible to edit this supplement, for which Ithys Davids and myself
have already collected a large amount of material.