Mahabrahma wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:35 pm
I chant in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Hindi, and Japanese. Also Russian. I would Love to learn some Pali Chants that contain the Holy Name of the Buddha.
Chanting Book – Volume One
This is Volume One of the newly published chanting books, which includes Morning and Evening Chanting (Puja), Reflections, and formal requests, as used by Buddhist Monasteries and Groups associated with the Western Forest Sangha in the lineage of Venerable Ajahn Chah.
Mahabrahma wrote: ↑Mon Sep 26, 2022 10:35 pm
I chant in Sanskrit, Tibetan, Hindi, and Japanese. Also Russian. I would Love to learn some Pali Chants that contain the Holy Name of the Buddha.
One of the most famous phrases to chant in Pāli:
ye dhammā hetuppabhavā tesaṁ hetuṁ tathāgato āha tesaṃ ca yo nirodho evaṁvādī mahāsamaṇo. Of those phenomena which arise from causes, those causes have been taught by the Tathāgata, and their cessation too - thus proclaims the Mahāśramaṇa.
It contains two names for the Buddha: Tathāgata and Mahāśramaṇa.
It is pronounced very similar to Sanskrit. The "ṁ's" nasalize and lengthen the previous vowel, unless I'm mistaken. All E's and O's are long (imagine them as ē and ō). The "ṇ" is pronounced like the "ng" at the end of the word "sing," or is otherwise retroflex. The "V's" are pronounced precisely halfway between an English "v" and "w."
The timing of the geminations are the trickiest thing with Pāli IMO. The "mm" in "dhamma" should be just under half as long as each of the two "a's" (which are pronounced like the "e" in the English word "the"). In IPA (the International Phonetic Alphabet), this vowel is called a "schwa" and is insignified with the letter "ə." The "ā's" are pronounced similar to the "o" in the English word "song." The "e's" are pronounced somewhat similar to the "ay" in say, but without a diphthong (we don't really have this sound in English). The "o's" in addition to being lengthened are unrounded, which is another sound we don't really have in English. They sound, to my ear, halfway between the "o" in "go" and the "u" in "put," but that's very subjective.
So "evaṁvādī" would be something like:
ee-w-ә̃ә̃-w-aa-d-ii
(If you are familiar with IPA...
eːʋә̃ːʋaːdiː)
Every vowel in this word is lengthened AFAIK.
Ignoring the IPA, I've chosen W instead of V, but the actual sound is between the two, as stated. I've also put hyphens between each sound rather than each syllable. The tilde (~) insignifies nasalization. Doubled letters are lengthened and take twice as long to say. The "aa," once again, is as with the word "song," and the "ә̃ә̃" is a lengthened nasalized version of the "e" in the English definite article (i.e. the word "the").
For the "pp" in hetuppabhavā, since the human mouth can't actually "hold" a "pp" like it can the "mm" in "dhammā," model yourself on how this Italian teacher teaches you to pronounce the geminated "pp" in "cappello" versus the plain "p" in "capello" starting at 1:55 in the video. All plosives (d's, t's, k's etc.) follow this timing, even if they also have aspiration (i.e. "-h").
The whole thing, using my idiosyncratic transliteration I've made up for this post, goes like this (with interpuncts "·" only between significant timing units rather than hyphens between all sounds):
Don't pronounce the "ee's" as in "see" or the "oo's" as in "moon." These are only doubled to show length (i.e. how long it takes to say these vowels). The vowels that are not doubled/lengthened/geminated should be pronounced somewhat quickly if not chanting and just reciting. I've underlined them. Because there are so few, when chanting, they punctuate the chant into a memorable rhythm. Do these underlined syllables faster.
You should end up with this rhythm.
♩𝅘𝅥𝅮(mm)♩♩𝅘𝅥𝅮(pp)𝅘𝅥𝅮♩
Ye dha mm ā he tu pp a vā
♩♩♩♩
te saṁ he tuṁ
𝅘𝅥𝅮♩ 𝅘𝅥𝅮♩♩𝅘𝅥𝅮
ta thā ga to ā ha
♩♩𝅘𝅥𝅮♩𝅘𝅥𝅮♩♩
te saṃ ca yo ni ro dho
♩♩♩♩𝅘𝅥𝅮♩𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮♩
e vaṁ vā dī ma hā sa ma ṇo.
The "mm" and the "pp" take ever-so-slightly more time. As such, I've broken the rhythmic notation for them. Only ever-so-slightly more time hwoever: a little less than it takes to pronounce a lengthened vowel, but they are not as quick as single consonants and vowels. Linger on them lightly, but linger all the same.
The refuge in the three jewels has this rhythm, prescriptively:
𝅘𝅥𝅮(ddh)♩𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮♩𝅘𝅥𝅮(cch)♩𝅘𝅥𝅮
Bu ddh aṃ sa ra naṃ ga cch ā mi.
𝅘𝅥𝅮(mm)♩𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮♩𝅘𝅥𝅮(cch)♩𝅘𝅥𝅮
Dha mm aṃ sa ra naṃ ga cch ā mi.
♩♩𝅘𝅥𝅮𝅘𝅥𝅮♩𝅘𝅥𝅮(cch)♩𝅘𝅥𝅮
Saṃ ghaṃ sa ra naṃ ga cch ā mi.
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
A more readable version. My notation software does not allow me to add dots underneath M's or to put diacritics on the vowels. As such, instead of macrons, the vowel is doubled (i.e. "aa" instead of "ā").
Another famous one that you can apply all of the above rules to is "Itipi So Bhagavā," which is perhaps even more famous than "Ye Dhammā Hetu."
itipi so bhagavā arahaṁ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathi satthā devamanussānaṁ buddho bhagavāti. He is a Blessed One, a Worthy One, a Rightly Self-awakened One, consummate in knowledge and conduct, one who has gone the good way, knower of the cosmos, unexcelled trainer of those who can be taught, teacher of devas & human beings; awakened; blessed.
Last edited by Coëmgenu on Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
Coëmgenu wrote: ↑Tue Sep 27, 2022 2:33 amAnother famous one that you can apply all of the above rules to is "Itipi So Bhagavā," which is perhaps even more famous than "Ye Dhammā Hetu."
itipi so bhagavā arahaṁ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathi satthā devamanussānaṁ buddho bhagavāti. He is a Blessed One, a Worthy One, a Rightly Self-awakened One, consummate in knowledge and conduct, one who has gone the good way, knower of the cosmos, unexcelled trainer of those who can be taught, teacher of devas & human beings; awakened; blessed.
An extra rule is required for this. "Sam" followed directly by a consonant is lengthened. This happens in "sambuddho" and "sampanno."
In "sambuddho," there are three "beats."
1) sam
2) bu + ddh
3) ō
Similarly, in "sampanno," there are three "beats."
1) sam
2) pa + nn
3) ō
The "pa + nn" are loosely equivalent in length to the long ō and the lengthened "sam." Same with the "bu + ddh" due to the gemination.
Imagine "2)" as two eighth notes and "1)" and "3)" as quarter notes, if you are familiar with such terminology.
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
Those who fathom the noble truths
Ye ariyasaccāni vibhāvayanti,
taught by the one of deep wisdom,
Gambhīrapaññena sudesitāni;
do not take an eighth life,
Kiñcāpi te honti bhusaṁ pamattā,
even if they are hugely negligent.
Na te bhavaṁ aṭṭhamamādiyanti;
...
When they attain to vision
Sahāvassa dassanasampadāya, Variant: Sahāvassa dassanasampadāya → sahāvasaddassanasampadāya (mr)
they give up three things:
Tayassu dhammā jahitā bhavanti;
identity view, doubt, and any
Sakkāyadiṭṭhī vicikicchitañca,
attachment to precepts and observances.
Sīlabbataṁ vāpi yadatthi kiñci.
Also this
The superb, knower of the superb, giver of the superb, bringer of the superb;
Varo varaññū varado varāharo,
taught the superb Dhamma supreme.
Anuttaro dhammavaraṁ adesayi;
I think it sounds awesome, especially the aṭṭhamamādiyanti and the latter lines of verse
Because I'm having a rather idle morning, I wrote your favourite chants out in IPA. See here for an interactive IPA vowel chart and here for an interactive IPA consonant chart that anyone can use to check their pronunciation should they wish. Look up an unfamiliar IPA character and hear it pronounced.
A quick legend...
ː is a general lengthening mark for vowels or consonants that come before it.
ə is a schwa (the vowel in "the").
ә̃ is a nasal schwa.
ɑ is "o" as in the English word "song."
ʰ applies aspiration to what came before it.
ʧ is "ch" as in the English word "church."
ʤ is "g" as in the name "George."
j is "y" as in "yellow" or "yard."
ʈ is a retroflex T.
ɲ is a palatalized "n" (i.e. "ñ")
ʋ is precisely halfway between the English "v" and "w."
ɾ is a tapped (not rolled!) "R."
The above is very purist and very textbook. I've an interest in historical linguistics and I believe the above pronunciations to be accurate for Middle Indic Prākrits like Pāli.
The situation on the ground with Pāli is that it is pronounced according to local usages: one Thai, one Sri Lankan, one Burmese, etc.
The Thai accent pronounces this...
bhagavā arahaṁ sammāsambuddho
...as something like:
pɛkawaː arahaːŋ saːmaːsaːmpuːwtoːw
...instead of:
bʰəgəʋɑː əɾəhә̃ː səmːɑːsəːmbʊdʰːoː
It gets very interesting for the linguistically inclined.
Last edited by Coëmgenu on Tue Sep 27, 2022 3:08 pm, edited 3 times in total.
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
Oddly enough, though Pāli looks like it should be mostly the "a-sound" as in either "cat" or "calm," it's actually mostly schwas: the "e" in "the." When you first hear this, it sounds bizarre compared to what you'd expect from just reading the letters how it's written. That and the almost-a-W sound for the V's. That throws you.
The word-final anusvāra (i.e. "ṃ"), by the time of Middle Indic Prākrits which Pāli is a later derivative of, is starting to drop out of word endings. The lengthened nasal schwa (ә̃ː) is slightly preserved in Sinhalese pronunciation, though it has acquired an "R-colouring" over time. This long nasal schwa is a part of the process of the old Sanskritic "ɐːm" eventually dropping out and disappearing (like it often does in Gāndhārī, an even later Prākrit). First it becomes a schwa, "əːm," and then the "m" merges with the vowel to form a nasalized vowel, "ә̃ː." Eventually, this long nasal vowel shortens to just "ә̃," then we have a possible de-nasalized intermediary stage of "ə," and then subsequently it is dropped altogether. This is an example of the mid-centralization exhibited by many patterns of vowel reduction. It also shows that Pāli is a natural human language and not a divine or otherwise supernatural or supernormal language (there's no such language spoken on earth).
What is the Uncreated?
Sublime & free, what is that obscured Eternity?
It is the Undying, the Bright, the Isle.
It is an Ocean, a Secret: Reality.
Both life and oblivion, it is Nirvāṇa.
Before going out from home to office in the morning, usually starts with Namo Tassax3, then Buddham saranam gacchami... then Pancasila, Itipiso bhagava till Punnakhettam lokassati.
Back to home after bath, do the same again.
Weekends, I will dedicate one hour approximately for chanting Suttas and other stanzas, then meditate if not tired. Been doing that for many years.
