Abstract:

The earliest language in the Buddhist tradition and the language thought to have been spoken by the Buddha is Pali. Theravada monks in Sri Lanka utilized it to write Buddha’s teachings in Ola leaves manuscripts during the first century BCE. Pali was eventually acknowledged as the sacred language of the Theravada tradition. Pali Buddhist literature is a magnificent representation of Buddhism, with a wealth of material typically categorized into four main categories: canon, commentaries, sub-commentaries, and pakaraṇa. The earliest body of writing in this field is the Pali Canon, although there has been significant advancement. It has five Palis, five Nikeyas, and seven Pakaranas, in that order. Pali commentaries were typically written to elaborate on the Cannon. Usually, Pali commentaries were composed to further express the Cannon. Sub-commentaries are written to explain the commentary according to the traditional understanding but they comment on commentaries as well as the cannon. Additionally, the pakaraṇa have sub-commentaries written for them. The Pali literature's final segment consists of dictionaries, grammar texts, handbooks, chronicles, and life stories, Chandolankara, and so forth.