Transcription
Have you wondered what language the Buddha used?
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**[What was the language of the Buddha? by Point of View]**
Many must be sure they know the Buddha's spoken language: "Of course, it's Pali! Even the Tripitaka was written in Pali." Well, I must say this is wrong. Pali is not a language.
Now, what is going on? We have only known Pali as a language all along. This video contains some heavy explanations, but I will make it as easy to understand as possible.
If we're going to talk about this, we must first think way, way, way back to the era when the Buddha was still alive. The Tripitaka is the compilation of the Buddha's words, called 'Buddha Vajana,' which were all gathered after the death of the Buddha. They were gathered by the Buddha's followers.
They had a big meeting about the Buddha's teachings, and those teachings were passed on by memorization. Through time, meetings after meetings took place, until at one meeting, they decided to write it down and turn them into a series of books called the Tripitaka.
Tripitakas come in many languages. Some were written in Sanskrit, some were written in Pali, Lanna, and Thai. Nowadays, what you're reading is the Thai version of the Tripitaka.
So, in the Tripitaka itself, there wasn't a single time the word "Tripitaka" was used, only a word that should be most similar, that is, "Buddha Vajana," or the Buddha's words. In the Tripitaka, there are a lot of quotes saying, "the Buddha said..." or "the Buddha said to that person..."
Now that we have covered the language(s) of the Tripitaka, if the Tripitaka wasn't written in Pali, then where did Pali come from? What does it mean? Let's just get through this fast, and then we can finally discuss the main topic of the video.
For the word "Pali" itself, the linguists don't even know yet what the etymology is. There is speculation, though, that the word came from "Pada," which means footprints, rows, or things being lined up. It's because when we write something, the words are strung up in lines like footprints.
The word "Pada" appeared in the Rigveda, one of Hindu's holy texts. The word was used to indicate the phrase used to praise the gods. One phrase is one Pada.
Now, how is the word Pali and Pada connected? In the Atthakatha, the commentaries of the Tripitaka, when the Buddha's words were quoted, each word is called a Pali. This means they took a word from the Buddha and explained it. So, the term "Pali language" was born.
What does it mean? "Pali language" means the language used to write the Tripitaka. This ends the argument on whether Pali is a language or not.
Now that we know Pali is not a language, in order to know what language the Buddha used, we have to go back in time again, way, way back to the era when the Buddha was still alive.
Back then, India consisted of many tribes, assembling into many big empires. One of those empires was Magadha, and Kapilavatthu was a small city somewhere in Magadha.
You need to realize that in ancient India, there were so many languages, and each caste, each occupation, and each gender had their own language. So, if you want to know what caste this person is in, just listen to what they say, and you'll know. They had no rights to study the language of other castes.
The Buddha was born in the ruling class as Prince Siddhartha. What language did he speak? Being in the ruling class in ancient India, they must have spoken Sanskrit, because Sanskrit seems to be the high-class language.
Well, in that era, the kings didn't use Sanskrit. It was the priests' language, used to communicate with the gods. Kings came to use Sanskrit after that, when foreign dynasties invaded India and tried to use Sanskrit to show that they're cool.
So, what language did the Buddha use? I have to say that nobody knows. But there are also speculations that he might have used the Magadha language, because it appeared in one of the Atthakathas.
The language itself is ancient, and it looked similar to the Pali that we know nowadays. It's like saying the language seen in the Tripitaka must have developed from the Magadha language.
This video might not provide you with a clear answer, because the academic world is still searching too. But I hope you'll gain some knowledge on the languages' history.
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Can I advertise a bit, please? I don't know if you know yet that I've written a book called "Thai Literature Digest." It's a compilation of fun stuff in Thai literature, such as how to get a guy according to literature women, or what words they used to roast each other.
You can go buy it at any bookstores, or you can buy it online through the link down below. Until next time, goodbye!
This video might be a bit serious, but in the video about magic letters, we were quite serious, and everyone seemed to enjoy it, so why not step our game up a bit?
If you happen to know that I have said something wrong or have different opinions, don't forget to share it. Historical knowledge can always be updated with new discoveries. If anyone knows anything, please do share.