Buddha Vacana

— The words of the Buddha —
Learn Pali online for free and the easy way.

This website is dedicated to those who wish to understand better the words of the Buddha by learning the basics of Pali language, but who don't have much time available for it. The idea is that if their purpose is merely to get enabled to read the Pali texts and have a fair feeling of understanding them, even if that understanding does not cover all the minute details of grammatical rules, they don't really need to spend much time struggling with a discouraging learning of tedious grammatical theory involving such things as numerous declensions and conjugations.

In that case, it is enough to limit themselves to simply learn the meaning of the most important Pali words, because the repeated experience of reading provides an empirical and intuitive understanding of the most common sentence structures. They are thus enabled to become autodidacts, choosing the time, duration, frequency, contents and depth of their own study.

Their understanding of the Buddha Vacana will become much more precise as they effortlessly learn and memorize the words and the important formulae that are fundamental in the Buddha's teaching, by ways of regular reading. Their learning and the inspiration they get from it will grow deeper as their receptivity to the messages of the Teacher will improve.


Disclaimer: This website is created by an autodidact and is meant for autodidacts. The webmaster has not followed any official Pali course and there is no claim that all the information presented here is totally free from errors. Those who want academic precision may consider joining a formal Pali course. In case the readers notice any mistake, the webmaster will be grateful if they report it via the mailbox mentioned under 'Contact'.


Users of this website may have noticed that only few updates have been made in recent years. The main reason is that Sutta Central now provides the service this website intended to make available. If you want a quick tutorial explaining how you can use Sutta Central with a similar Pali lookup tooltip using pop-up 'bubbles', click here. The only work I keep doing on this part of the website is to expand the glossary with definitions and references taken only from the Sutta Pitaka and occasionally the Vinaya Pitaka.

En Français:

Search on this website

Bhavissanti bhikkhū anāgatam·addhānaṃ, ye te suttantā tathāgata·bhāsitā gambhīrā gambhīr·atthā lok·uttarā suññata·p·paṭisaṃyuttā, tesu bhaññamānesu na sussūsissanti na sotaṃ odahissanti na aññā cittaṃ upaṭṭhāpessanti na ca te dhamme uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ maññissanti.


In future time, there will be bhikkhus who will not listen to the utterance of such discourses which are words of the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, leading beyond the world, (consistently) connected with emptiness, they will not lend ear, they will not apply their mind on knowledge, they will not consider those teachings as to be taken up and mastered.


Ye pana te suttantā kavi·katā kāveyyā citta·kkharā citta·byañjanā bāhirakā sāvaka·bhāsitā, tesu bhaññamānesu sussūsissanti, sotaṃ odahissanti, aññā cittaṃ upaṭṭhāpessanti, te ca dhamme uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ maññissanti.


On the contrary, they will listen to the utterance of such discourses which are literary compositions made by poets, witty words, witty letters, by people from outside, or the words of disciples, they will lend ear, they will apply their mind on knowledge, they will consider those teachings as to be taken up and mastered.


Evam·etesaṃ, bhikkhave, suttantānaṃ tathāgata·bhāsitānaṃ gambhīrānaṃ gambhīr·atthānaṃ lok·uttarānaṃ suññata·p·paṭisaṃyuttānaṃ antaradhānaṃ bhavissati.


Thus, bhikkhus, the discourses which are words of the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, leading beyond the world, (consistently) connected with emptiness, will disappear.


Tasmātiha, bhikkhave, evaṃ sikkhitabbaṃ: ‘ye te suttantā tathāgata·bhāsitā gambhīrā gambhīr·atthā lok·uttarā suññata·p·paṭisaṃyuttā, tesu bhaññamānesu sussūsissāma, sotaṃ odahissāma, aññā cittaṃ upaṭṭhāpessāma, te ca dhamme uggahetabbaṃ pariyāpuṇitabbaṃ maññissāmā’ti. Evañhi vo, bhikkhave, sikkhitabbanti.


Therefore, bhikkhus, you should train thus: 'We will listen to the utterance of such discourses which are words of the Tathāgata, profound, profound in meaning, leading beyond the world, (consistently) connected with emptiness, we will lend ear, we will apply our mind on knowledge, we will consider those teachings as to be taken up and mastered.' This is how, bhikkhus, you should train yourselves.


— Āṇi Sutta —


Recent updates log:

08/08/2565

Glossary definition: Buddhānussati
11/07/2565

Glossary definition: bojjhaṅga
11/07/2565

Glossary definition: ānāpānassati (revised)
11/07/2565

Glossary definition: bodhisatta
28/06/2565

Glossary definition: bodhipakkhiyā dhammā
28/06/2565

Glossary definition: bodhi
28/06/2565

Glossary definition: bhojane mattaññutā
28/06/2565

Glossary definition: bhesajja
03/04/2561

Glossary definition: bhavataṇhā
30/03/2561

Glossary definition: bhavarāga
25/03/2561

Glossary definition: bhāvanā
22/03/2561

Using Sutta Central
Offline version update




Bodhi leaf