Why sanskrit or pali?

person

Does anyone have any info on the reason for the different languages in the Therevada and Mahayana canons? I suppose the Mahayana canon may have been composed later but why not in pali? Was pali a dead language by then? I think I heard from a Mahayana view that sanskrit was the scholorly language of the time and pali was the common language, but I have no idea if thats true or not. Hopefully someone here knows something about this.

jinzang

Pali and Classical Sanskrit are related languages. Pali was a spoken dialect, supposedly the language of Magadha, though some scholars say it came from elsewhere in India. The language continued to evolve into modern Hindi. Pali was preserved in the Tipitaka and its commentaries outside of India. Classical Sanskrit was the result of a growing conservative tendency in India. It became the language of scholarship, hearkening back to the original Vedic Sanskrit. Buddhist scholars in India translated scriptures and commentary into Sanskrit, but with some irreguarities in text that was in verse. This is so-called Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit. Not just Mahayana, also Hinayana schools in India, such as the Sarvastivada wrote in Sanskrit.

amcgar2

I have been trying to translate the word Metta into Pali. I was told that Pali is more of a spoken language rather than a written language. I am curious if Metta would have been written in Pali in ancient times? Thank you in advance for any information!

☮

jinzang

Metta is Pali, the Pali word for loving-kindness. The corresponding Sanskrit word is maitri. Perhaps you mean write Pali in its native script? There is none, it is written in the script of each nationality where it is studied.

Vincenzi

there may be no native script, but deva nagari is usually used.

DhammaDhatu

My impression has always been Pali is a technical or specialist language created to record the Buddha's words. The Pali of the suttas was never a common spoken language from what I have (briefly) read. The Buddha taught verbally in a number of languages.

The Pali of the suttas is such a technical language that the mean of words cannot be altered.

Sanskrit was adopted by the Mahayana so the teachings could be adulterated.

Sanskrit is the language of the Brahmins. Obviously the Pali suttas contained words not previously known or existing in Sanskrit. So to say Sanskrit is the language of scholarship does not really make sense.

Regards

DD

DhammaDhatu

Are we asserting words such as 'paticcasummupada' or 'vipassana' had Sanskrit equivalents prior to Pali?

:-/

jinzang

"My impression has always been Pali is a technical or specialist language created to record the Buddha's words. The Pali of the suttas was never a common spoken language from what I have (briefly) read. The Buddha taught verbally in a number of languages. The Pali of the suttas is such a technical language that the mean of words cannot be altered."

No, it's just the opposite. Originally Pali was a spoken language. Classical Sanskrit was more of a formal, literary language. But once Pali left India it became a scholarly language, since it obviously it was not a spoken language outside of India.

The meaning of Buddhist terms is fixed by the commentarial literature, starting with abhidharma. It is not fixed by the structure of the language, either Pali or Sanskrit, which in any case, are very similar. Of course, the meaning of terms changed somewhat over the centuries. This usually is called progress, though people differ in their feelings about it.

jinzang

"Are we asserting words such as 'paticcasummupada' or 'vipassana' had Sanskrit equivalents prior to Pali? "

Some technical terms used in Buddhism are used in non-Buddhist traditions, especially Jainism. But I am not enough of a scholar to discuss this in any detail.

yogi_bare

DhammaDhatu said:

Are we asserting words such as 'paticcasummupada' or 'vipassana' had Sanskrit equivalents prior to Pali? :-/

Prateetya-samutpada and vipashyana.