but also the deliverance from it.
The texts, translated from the original
Pali, have been selected from the five great collections of discourses
which form the Sutta-Pitaka. They have been grouped and explained in
such a manner as to form one connected whole. Thus the collection, which
was originally compiled for the author's own guidance and orientation in
the many voluminous books of the Sutta-Pitaka, will prove a reliable
guide for the student of Buddhism. It should relieve him from the
necessity of working his way through all these manifold Pali scriptures,
in order to acquire a comprehensive and clear view of the whole; and it
should help him to relate to the main body of the doctrine the many
details he will encounter in subsequent studies.
As the book contains many definitions
and explanations of important doctrinal terms together with their Pali
equivalents, it can serve, with the help of the Pali Index (page
89), as a book of reference and a helpful companion throughout one's
study of the Buddha's doctrine.
After the first German edition appeared
in 1906, the first English version was published in 1907, and this has
since run to ten editions, including an abridged student's edition
(Colombo, 1948, Y.M.B.A.) and an American edition (Santa Barbara, Cal.,
1950, J. F. Rowny Press). It has also been included in Dwight Goddard's
Buddhist Bible, published in the United States of America.
Besides subsequent German editions,
translations have been published in French, Italian, Czech, Finnish,
Russian, Japanese, Hindi, Bengali and Sinhalese. The original Pali of
the translated passages was published in Sinhalese characters (edited by
the author, under the title Sacca-Sangaha, Colombo, 1914) and Devanagari
script in India.
The 11th edition has been revised
throughout. Additions have been made to the Introduction and to the
explanatory notes, and some texts have been added.
Preface
to the 14th Edition
The venerable Author of this little
standard work of Buddhist literature passed away on May 28, 1957, aged
79. The present new edition commemorates the tenth anniversary of his
death.
Before his demise, a revised reprint of
this book being the 12th edition, was included in The Path of
Buddhism, published by the Buddhist Council of Ceylon (Lanka
Bauddha Mandalaya). On that 12th edition the text of the subsequent
reprints has been based, with only few and minor amendments. Beginning
with the 13th edition (1959), and with the kind consent of the former
publishers, the Saasanadhaara Kantha Samitiya, the
book is now being issued by the Buddhist Publication Society.
Along with this edition the Society is
publishing, in Roman script, under the title of Buddha Vacana.m, the
original Pali texts which are translated in the present book. This Pali
edition is meant to serve as a Reader for students of the Pali language,
and as a handy reference book as well as a Breviarium for contemplative
reading for those already conversant with the language of the Buddhist
scriptures.
Buddhist Publication Society
Kandy, Ceylon,
December 1967.
Preface to the Electronic
Edition
This edition of The Word of the
Buddha was prepared by scanning the pages of the 14th Edition and
capturing the text using OCR software. The following editorial changes
were made while editing the text for presentation:
- Citations placed in the margin at the
start of each quotation, replacing the numbered footnotes of the
original.
- British spellings such as colour
changed to American.
- Punctuational styles, and the form of
bibliographic listings, changed to reflect contemporary usage.
- Index
of Pali Terms (page
89) expanded to link every use of every term.
In other respects, the text is
unchanged from the original.
These files were output in two
versions: one in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) for viewing with
Adobe Acrobat?; one in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) for viewing in
any web browser. Both versions are hypertext-linked so that clicking a
heading in the table of contents or a word in the index turns to the
page referenced.
The PDF version reproduces the
diacritical marks that indicate Pali pronunciation in the original.
The page size (8 in x 5.3 in; 48 x 32 picas) is similar to the
original, so the pages can be printed to give a likeness of the
original book. With appropriate software, the pages can be printed
'two-up' as a booklet, using either U.S. letter stock or European A4
paper.
An HTML document cannot emulate a
printed page or display nonstandard accent marks. The HTML version
uses a modern convention for the Pali diacriticals, which is less
readable but uses only standard characters (see "The
Pronounciation of Pali" ).
Abbreviations
The source of each quotation is shown by
a marginal note at the head of the quotation. The citations use the
following abbreviations:
| Abbreviation |
Document
Referred To |
| D. |
Diigha
Nikaaya. The number refers to the Sutta. |
| M. |
Majjhima-Nikaaya. The number refers to
the Sutta. |
| A. |
Anguttara-Nikaaya. The Roman number
refers to the main division into Parts or Nipaatas; the
second number, to the Sutta. |
| S. |
Samyutta-Nikaaya. The Roman number refers
to the division into 'Kindred Groups' (Sa.myutta), e.g.
Devataa-Sa.myutta = I, etc.; the second number refers to
the Sutta. |
| Dhp. |
Dhammapada. The number refers to the
verse. |
| Ud. |
Udaana. The Roman number refers to the
Chapters, the second number to the Sutta. |
| Snp. |
Sutta-Nipaata. The number refers to the
verse. |
| VisM. |
Visuddhi-Magga ('The Path of
Purification'). |
| B.Dict |
Buddhist
Dictionary, by Nyanatiloka Mahaathera. |
| Fund. |
Fundamentals of Buddhism, by Nyanatiloka
Mahaathera. |
The
Pronounciation of Pali
Adapted from the American
edition
Except for a few proper names,
non-English words are italicized. Most such words are in Pali, the
written language of the source documents. Pali words are pronounced as
follows.
Vowels
| Letter |
Should Be
Sounded |
| a |
As u in the
English word shut; never as in cat, and never as
in take. |
| aa |
As in
father; never as in take. |
| e |
Long, as a in
stake. |
| i |
As in
pin. |
| ii |
As in
machine; never as in fine. |
| o |
Long as in
hope. |
| u |
As in
put or oo in foot. |
| uu |
As oo in
boot; never as in refuse.
|
Consonants
| Letter |
Should Be
Sounded |
| c |
As ch in
chair; never as k, never as s, nor as c in
centre, city. |
| g |
As in
get, never as in general. |
| h |
Always, even
in positions immediately following consonants or doubled
consonants; e.g. bh as in cab-horse; ch
as chh in ranch-house: dh as in
handhold; gh as in bag-handle;
jh as dgh in sledge-hammer, etc.
|
| j |
As in
joy. |
| .m .n |
As the
'nazalizer' is in Ceylon, usually pronounced as .ng in
sung, sing, etc. |
| s |
Always as in
this; never as in these. |
| ~n |
As ny in
canyon (Spanish: ca~non) or as gn in Mignon.
|
| ph |
As in
haphazard; never as in photograph. |
| .th |
As in
hot-house; never as in thin nor as in
than. |
| y |
As in
yes. |
.t, .th, .d,
.dh, .l are lingual sounds; in pronouncing, the tongue
is to be pressed against the palate.
Double consonants: each of them is to be
pronounced; e.g., bb as in scrub-board: tt as
in cat-tail.
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