Recently, I felt a strong desire to learn Pali. My motivation was to read the Buddhist texts in their original language and experience the joy of understanding the teachings directly. As a teacher of Comparative Religion and Ethics, I also wanted to connect Buddhist texts with other religious traditions, especially Christianity, the faith in which I am rooted. For me, learning the language is another way of listening respectfully to a religious tradition before attempting to compare it with others.
One word best describes my approach to learning Pali: connection. I have discovered that when I consciously connect new vocabulary with languages I already know, learning becomes much easier, and remembering words requires much less effort.
As a Vipassana meditator, I was already familiar with many Pali words and phrases. However, I had never felt the need to acquire the language itself. My attention was always on practicing the technique of Vipassana rather than understanding the language in which many of its teachings were preserved. Even during Metta Bhavana, I usually recited the verses either in English or in my mother tongue, Bengali.
One interesting aspect of Pali is that it does not have a script of its own. It is written in the script of the country where it is studied or practiced. In Bangladesh, Pali is written in the Bengali script, while internationally it is commonly presented in the Roman script. Since I wanted to learn the language according to international standards, I chose to study it in Roman script.
Learning languages has always been a source of joy for me. Bengali is my mother tongue, English is my second language, and I learned French many years ago, which I now consider my third. Now I have embarked on learning Pali as the next step in my multilingual acquisition.
To begin my journey, I enrolled in the online Pali courses offered by The Open Buddhist University and Pariyatti. Although the two courses differ in their approach, I found that together they complement each other remarkably well. My learning process is quite simple:
From the Pariyatti website:
- I read the text in Pali.
- I listen to the same passage while following the written text.
- I pronounce the words together with the recording.
- I read the English translation.
- I analyse unfamiliar words by breaking them into meaningful parts.
- Finally, I connect them with similar words in my mother tongue, Bengali.
This has become an effective way for me to build vocabulary, although I am still at the beginning of my learning journey. From The Open Buddhist University’s Pali language course, I am learning word formation and sentence structure. Once again, I rely on connections with Bengali to understand grammatical patterns and enrich vocabulary. In this way, I am gradually developing my abilities in reading, writing, and comprehension simultaneously.
For example, in the Dhammapada (1.17 and 1.18), the first lines of the first and second verses read:
Idha tappati, pecca tappati.
Idha nandati, pecca nandati.
The English translations are:
"Agony now, agony hereafter."
"Rejoicing now, rejoicing hereafter."
From these two lines, I understand that tappati conveys the idea of suffering or agony, while nandati means rejoicing. Likewise, idha means “here” or “in this life,” while pecca refers to “hereafter” or “after death,” depending on the context.
The second lines read:
Pāpakārī ubhayattha tappati.
Katapuñño ubhayattha nandati.
Since I already know the meanings of tappati and nandati, I can focus on the remaining words.
The word ubhayattha immediately reminds me of the Bengali word উভয়ার্থ (ubhayārtha), conveying the idea of “both” or “in both places.” This connection helps me understand that the verse refers to both this life and the hereafter—in other words, both worlds.
Similarly, pāpakārī resembles the Bengali word পাপাচারী (pāpācārī), meaning a wrongdoer or sinner. Likewise, katapuñño reminds me of কৃতপুণ্য (kṛtapuṇya), referring to someone who has performed good deeds or accumulated merit. Making these connections enables me to understand and remember new vocabulary much more naturally.
Overall, I am thoroughly enjoying this journey. Alongside learning a new language, I am engaging directly with the Dhammapada, one of the foundational texts of Buddhism. More importantly, I am discovering that multilingual acquisition is not simply about memorising vocabulary or grammar. It is also about building meaningful connections across languages, cultures, and religious traditions. For me, those connections have become a bridge, not only between languages, but also between cultures, religious traditions, and deeper understanding.