Pali verse

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simsapa
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Joined: Sat May 23, 2020 5:51 pm

Pali verse

Post by simsapa »

I am wondering about the technical aspects of Pali verse. English poetry often uses iambic pentameter: what does Pali verse use? Is the Dhammapada written in a specific meter? What about the verse at the end of suttas?
sphairos
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Location: Munich, Germany

Re: Pali verse

Post by sphairos »

Consult A.K. Warder's "Pāli Metre" for a detailed introduction

http://www.palitext.com/palitext/PaliMetre.pdf

Most common metre in the Pāli texts is siloka (Sanskrit śloka)

here, p. 16:

https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/ ... Metres.pdf

The most of the Dhammapada is written in it.

All those metres are traditional ancient Indian ones, and were used in Vedas and Vedic literature.
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mikenz66
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Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2009 7:37 am
Location: Aotearoa, New Zealand

Re: Pali verse

Post by mikenz66 »

Yes, there's some great stuff on Ānandajoti Bhikkhu's web site:
https://www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/ ... -index.htm
In learning to chant Pali verses it's useful to have some basic idea about the metres.

:heart:
Mike
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