[d-l] "Buddha" before the Pali Canon? (fwd)

[Phillip Ernest]

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Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2000 03:30:05 -0500
From: Sean Whittle <ratthapala at dhammanet.net>
Reply-To: dhamma-list at egroups.com
To: dhamma-list at egroups.com
Subject: [d-l] "Buddha" before the Pali Canon?

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As someone who has studied the Pali, and with the creation of my lexicon
have had to investigate Pali words in other languages such as Sanskrit,
Tamil, the language of the Pakistan Asokan edicts, Greek, and Latin, I have
found that as yet it is very hard to come to any answer on the Buddha's
language.  What can be said is that the Pali can certainly be regarded as a
descendent from that language.  This is a matter of 400 years and languages
evolve and certainly better methods develop(such as writing and
standardization of the dialect).  I have seen theories that Pali is the
lingua franca of Magadhi, also that it came from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh,
that it came from Andhra Pradesh in SE India, and that it came from the
Western Bengal area.  Pretty inconclusive.  With this is mind, until we
discover any real hard evidence on that actual language(which probably is
not very far from Pali), we can only go on the content of the text.  There I
firmly believe that the early discourses have been preserved through the
oral tradition and represent the Buddha's actual words.

Sean


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