0. Paṇāma (Salutation)

Note

Verses Ka to Ja are the opening of the Bālāvatāra-gaṇṭhipada, a commentary on the Bālāvatāra, which the edition prints before the text; the verse under Homage is the Bālāvatāra’s own.

Paṇāma (Salutation)

Ka

Sabbaṃ niruttipathapāragataṃ sabuddhaṃ,
Buddhaṃ tilokatilakaṃ hatapāpadhammaṃ;
Dhammaṃ vimuttisukhadaṃ vihatāghasaṃghaṃ,
Saṃghaṃ ca niccamabhivandiya dakkhiṇeyyaṃ.

The one who has personally understood¹ the fullest extent of language,
the Buddha, ornament of the three worlds, who has destroyed evil nature;
the Dhamma, giving the ease of liberation, destroying the mass of ills,
and the Saṅgha, always worthy of the highest respect and offerings.

Kha

Vuddhippattosmi muddho mama varagaravo sīlapaññādisobhe,
Candādicceva suddhe varajinaṭhapite sāsanābbhe patīte;
Nissāyevā tipemā paṇamiya sirasā niccamesaṃ saritvā,
Pādambhoje guṇagge hataduritamalo ānubhāvena tassā.

I, who have grown up ignorant, shine in virtue, wisdom and the rest through my excellent teachers,
like the moon and the sun, satisfied with the recollection of the pure teachings of the excellent Conqueror;
having recalled them, I continually bow with my head down and with great love relying on them exclusively,
at their supreme virtuous lotus feet, I am pure and devoid of sins by the power of that recollection.²

Ga

Porāṇa sīhaḷa padattha vinicchayañca,
Sabbampi māgadhaniruttinayaṃ pasatthaṃ;
Aññañca nekavidha sakkata saddasatthaṃ,
Pāramparābhata matañca nisamma sammā.

The ancient Sinhala interpretation of the meanings of words,
even the exalted entire approach of the language of Māgadha;
and other kinds of esteemed³ grammar,
and traditional views, I have carefully and completely considered (all of these).

Gha

Bālāvatāra varamāgadha saddasatthe,
Dubbodha nekapadaattha vinicchayena;
Atthāya ādhunika bālaparamparāya,
Bālāvatāra varagaṇṭhipadaṃ karissaṃ.

The excellent Māgadha grammar, the Bālāvatāra,
is considered to have many hard-to-understand meanings of words;
for the benefit of the present-day line of beginners,
I will produce the Bālāvatāra-gaṇṭhipada, a comprehensive commentary.

Ṅa

Niccaṃ ye mettha bālā varahadayayutā suṭṭhu nikkhittanettā,
Puṇṇe nānānayānaṃ suratarusadise dhīrapāsaṃsiye ve;
Gambhīraṃ duttaraṃ te jinavacanudadhiṃ tiṇṇathāmā bhaveyyuṃ,
Laddhopāyā ca chandaṃ⁴ taditarapacuraṃ sakkataṃ sotukāmā.

By my regard, the beginners who, devoted with excellent hearts, always keep their eyes well placed,
full of various techniques, like the tree of the gods, truly praiseworthy to the wise;
may they have the strength to cross the deep, hard-to-cross ocean of the Conqueror’s word,
and, having obtained the means, they want to hear esteemed prosody and much else besides.

Ca

Ganthanipphattiyā sesa – dukkarattaṃ yathāvato;
Jānanti kusalā dhīrā, nekasatthantarādisu;
Ganthesu guṇadosampi, teyeva vidurā sadā.

Completing the remainder of the text — the difficulty is the essence;
the skilled and wise know, starting from the many types of grammar;
even the good and bad parts in the text, only the wise persevere.

Cha

Tasmā ettha pamādādi – dosaleso bhave yadi;
Porāṇāceraladdhīhi, vilomaṃ vā bhaveyya ce.

Therefore, if here there should be a slight fault such as carelessness;
or if there should be something contrary to the views of the ancient teachers.

Ja

Ganthantaraṃ vigāhetvā, vicāretvā punappunaṃ;
Yuttimeva ca gaṇhantu, hutvā vīmaṃsabuddhikāti.

Having plunged into other books, having examined again and again;
and may they take only what is suitable, having become inquiring minds.

Homage

¶1 Buddhaṃ tidhā bhivanditvā, buddhambuja vilocanaṃ.
Bālāvatāraṃ bhāsissaṃ, bālānaṃ buddhivuddhiyā.

Having venerated the lotus-eyed Buddha in three ways.⁵
I will articulate the Bālāvatāra for the growth of understanding of beginners.

Footnotes

1. sabuddhaṃ. The metre does not allow sambuddhaṃ, “fully awakened”; the prefix sa- may mean “self-”, giving “understood by himself”. ↩

2. tassā, “of that”, is feminine singular and points back to the recollection of the teaching in the second line, abbhe. ↩

3. sakkata is literally “honoured”, the past participle of sakkaroti; taken so, the line means the other Pāḷi grammars. The word is also a Pāḷi name for Sanskrit, more often spelt sakkaṭa, and Kaccāyana’s vutti to §9 (11): Parasamaññā payoge uses sakkataganthesu for “Sanskrit books”; read that way, the line would name Sanskrit grammars, set against the Māgadha approach of the line before. The plain sense is adopted here and in Ṅa. ↩

4. CST4 reads candaṃ, “moon”. chandaṃ, “prosody”, is adopted: sotukāmā, “desirous of hearing”, needs a subject of study as its object, and the line then lists what a beginner goes on to after this grammar. ↩

5. tidhā, “in three ways”: by body, speech and mind. ↩