𑀩𑀸𑀮𑀸𑀯𑀢𑀸𑀭 (Bālāvatāra)

29 Sept 2026 · 4 min read

An introductory Pāḷi grammar for beginners, by Dhammakitti, written in the fourteenth century. It is based on the Kaccāyana and gives the basics of Pāḷi grammar suitable for beginners in the language.

𑀩𑀸

bā

/ba:/

𑀮𑀸

lā

/la:/

𑀯

/w, ʋ/

𑀢𑀸

tā

/t̪a:/

𑀭

/r/

Bālāvatāra is an introductory Pāḷi grammar for beginners, by Dhammakitti, written in the fourteenth century. It is based on Kaccāyana (it references Kaccāyana rules) and gives the basics of Pāḷi grammar suitable for beginners in the language. The text is written in a simple and straightforward style, making it easy to understand for beginners.

This is a translation of Bālāvatāra into English. If you spot any errors, let me know. The 1935 Calcutta University translation by Vidyabhusana, Punnananda Swami and Mitra is reproduced on the Bālāvatāra (1935 Translation) page, with the scan of the printed book (PDF, 3.6 MB).

The Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana edition numbers its paragraphs 1–269 straight through the text, and those numbers appear in the chapters as ¶1, ¶2 and so on, at the start of the quoted Pāḷi and of the matching English, or as a badge on a rule’s heading when the number sits on the rule itself. They locate a passage in the source text; they are not rule numbers, since a paragraph may carry a rule, a lead-in or a verse, and most rules have no number of their own. Where a rule is one of Kaccāyana’s suttas, its Kaccāyana number §N is given in a reference card.

The section headings are supplied by the translation. The edition’s own headings are few and sit in the wrong places: its Pulliṅga heading precedes the rules common to every gender, and its Pumitthiliṅga heading covers everything from nouns of two genders to the particles. The sections here follow the text’s own announcements, such as Saṅkhyā vuccate, “the numerals are described”, and the traditional names where they fit.

The Kaccāyana chapters on this site set against the four kaṇḍas of the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana Bālāvatāra text. Solid lines show where a chapter’s rules reappear; the seven meanings of the inflection forms are the only Kāraka material Bālāvatāra keeps, and the chapters on verbs and primary derivation have no counterpart in this text.

flowchart LR
  subgraph K["Kaccāyana"]
    K1["Sandhikappa §1–51"]
    K2["Nāmakappa §52–270"]
    K3["Kārakakappa §271–315"]
    K4["Samāsakappa §316–343"]
    K5["Taddhitakappa §344–405"]
    K6["Ākhyātakappa §406–523<br/>Kibbidhānakappa §524–623<br/>Uṇādikappa §624–673"]
  end
  subgraph V["Bālāvatāra"]
    V1["1. Sandhi ¶2–46"]
    V2["2. Nāma ¶47–201"]
    V3["3. Samāsa ¶202–231"]
    V4["4. Taddhita ¶232–269"]
    V5["no counterpart in this text"]
  end
  K1 --> V1
  K2 --> V2
  K3 -. "① to ⑦ only" .-> V2
  K4 --> V3
  K5 --> V4
  K6 -.-> V5

Dhammakitti was a renowned scholar and author of several important works on Pāḷi grammar and Buddhist philosophy, including Saddhammalahkara, Jinabodhavali, Samkhepa, Nikaya-sangraha, and Bālāvatāra.

He succeeded his master in the office of Sangharaja. He was also called Devarakkhita or Jayabahu Maha-thera, and lived in the reigns of Bhuvaneka-bahu V and Vira-bahu III (1372-1410).¹

The text for Bālāvatāra is sourced from Pāḷi Tipiṭaka which is a digital reproduction of the authenticated Tipitaka texts from the Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD published by the Vipassana Research Institute.

Reference translation

Bālāvatāra (1935 Translation)The University of Calcutta translation by Vidyabhusana, Punnananda Swami and Mitra, with a scan of the printed book; the chapters above have been cross-checked with it, and their footnotes record where the two differ.

Don M. de Z. Wickremasinghe, 2. The Several Pali and Sinhalese Authors known as Dhammakitti, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Vol. 28 Issue 1, p. 203 ↩

𑀩𑀸𑀮𑀸𑀯𑀢𑀸𑀭 (Bālāvatāra)

Reference translation

Footnotes

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