Majjhima Nikaya in Brahmi script

[Kare]

Incredible! Now the Majjhima Nikaya has been published in Brahmi!

http://www.amazon.com/Brahmi-Majjhima-Nikaya-Middle-Sayings/dp/1453823638/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1302770518&sr=1-1

What a strange book. It is probably the only book - in print - written in the ancient Brahmi alphabet. If that is not weird enough, the text of this book is in Pali, the language of the Buddha. No one knows for sure, but everything points to the fact that this alphabet was known at the time of the Buddha. Of course the discourses of spiritual leaders were written down much later, but if someone ever would have taken notes listening to the Buddha - this is probably how it would have looked.

How can a publisher expect to make money on such a publication? It is a totally crazy, totally wonderful idea!

But who is crazy enough to buy it? I, for one. I ordered a copy as soon as I saw it.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings Kare,

That is indeed quite cool.

Perhaps it would fall within the realms of "Fair Use" for you to scan a page for us, so we can see what it looks like, when it arrives? I for one would be curious to see a page.

Metta,
Retro.

[Ben]

Dear Kare

Thanks for being crazy enough to let us know.
In future, I'll expect MN quotes from you in English, romanized pali and Brahmi-pali!
kind regards

Ben

[daverupa]

There's a preview function at the link, and a few pages in you can see an example.

[retrofuturist]

Indeed you can... thanks guys.

Metta,
Retro.

[Kori]

Peeking through the book, Brahmi script really looks alien! Being a language nut that may be something fun for me to look into one of these days... I'm already trying to learn Pāḷi If I had the money, I'd definitely be crazy enough to buy it ^^

Thanks for sharing!

Mettā pāramī,
Leah

[Kare]

Dear Kare

Thanks for being crazy enough to let us know.
In future, I'll expect MN quotes from you in English, romanized pali and Brahmi-pali!
kind regards

Ben

If you really are crazy enough to ask me for quotes, you can have them in Norwegian.

[Kare]

Peeking through the book, Brahmi script really looks alien! Being a language nut that may be something fun for me to look into one of these days... I'm already trying to learn Pāḷi If I had the money, I'd definitely be crazy enough to buy it ^^

Thanks for sharing!

Mettā pāramī,
Leah

Even if you don't learn to read Brahmi, it is at least very useful to understand the basic principles of the script, to understand how vowels were treated in relation to the consonants. All the later Indian and South-East Asian scripts (Devanagari, Thai, Sinhalese, Tibetan etc.) are developed from Brahmi and based on the same basic principles. So if you understand Brahmi, you will understand why the vowels are placed in such a seemingly haphazard way - to the right, to the left, over and below the consonants - in these later scripts.

Wishing you all the best of luck in your Pali studies!

[Ben]

Thanks Kare but Norwegian will just do my head in!
English is all I can manage at the moment! Learning Pali is still an aspiration - perhaps when life settles down and I have more time on my hands.

All the later Indian and South-East Asian scripts (Devanagari, Thai, Sinhalese, Tibetan etc.) are developed from Brahmi

And don't forget Burmese!

kind regards

Ben

[Kare]

Thanks Kare but Norwegian will just do my head in!

Warning! Mind your head!

Jag ikke etter det svunne.
Hig ikke etter det uoppnådde.
Det som er forbi, er forbi.
Og aldri kan du gripe
det som ennå ikke er kommet.
Betrakt heller det som skjer
fra øyeblikk til øyeblikk.

(From the Bhaddekarattasutta, Majjhima Nikaya 131)

[Ben]

Oh wait, MN131 did you say??

A Single Excellent Night (Bhaddekaratta Sutta)

Let not a person revive the past
Or on the future build his hopes
For the past has been left behind
And the future has not been reached.
Instead with inisight let him see
Each presently arisen state
Let him know that and be sure of it
Invincibly, unshakably.

[retrofuturist]

Greetings,

...kommet.

That went right over my head.

Metta,
Retro.

[Kare]

:rolleye:
Oh wait, MN131 did you say??

A Single Excellent Night (Bhaddekaratta Sutta)

Let not a person revive the past
Or on the future build his hopes
For the past has been left behind
And the future has not been reached.
Instead with inisight let him see
Each presently arisen state
Let him know that and be sure of it
Invincibly, unshakably.

Sorry, but you are mixing it up with Silent Night.

[Ben]

Am I? I'm sure I transcribed from Bhikkhu Bodhi's trans. of MN131 (p 1039).
Mind you, someone could have slipped a magic mushroom into my mycoprotein dinner...

[beeblebrox]

How can a publisher expect to make money on such a publication? It is a totally crazy, totally wonderful idea!

I helped this guy on one of the books (the Nibbāna Sermons by Ven. Ñāṇananda). He told me he isn't looking to make any profits on the books, and I think that all of this is coming out of his pocket. The price that you see is Amazon.com's minimum at-cost level for the print-on-demand services (CreateSpace).

[Kare]

How can a publisher expect to make money on such a publication? It is a totally crazy, totally wonderful idea!

I helped this guy on one of the books (the Nibbāna Sermons by Ven. Ñāṇananda). He told me he isn't looking to make any profits on the books, and I think that all of this is coming out of his pocket. The price that you see is Amazon.com's minimum at-cost level for the print-on-demand services (CreateSpace).

Please convey my deep respects and heartfelt thanks for the good work he does!

[David N. Snyder]

How can a publisher expect to make money on such a publication? It is a totally crazy, totally wonderful idea!

But who is crazy enough to buy it? I, for one. I ordered a copy as soon as I saw it.

This is so cool.

Now, I have got to learn the Brahmi alphabet!

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

Life is too short for this. The Pali texts are available in Roman script (and most other scripts that you might know better). Learn to read and understand Pali rather than learning some obsolete script.

[David N. Snyder]

Life is too short for this. The Pali texts are available in Roman script (and most other scripts that you might know better). Learn to read and understand Pali rather than learning some obsolete script.

Good point!

Thanks Bhante.

[Kare]

Life is too short for this. The Pali texts are available in Roman script (and most other scripts that you might know better). Learn to read and understand Pali rather than learning some obsolete script.

That is a very good advice: Learn to read and understand Pali in some script you know.

But afterwards, allow yourself some fun. If reading Pali in obsolete scripts does not quite match ones ideas of fun, OK, then don't do it.