In Pali is preserved the Buddhist canon. Which, considered as
"the most authentic form of Buddhavacana", constitutes the very
matrix of its 2500-year-long Theravada tradition. A refined,
widely-spoken language of the early Middle Indic (Indo-Aryan)
stage: about bc 600-200, Pali has also left, for posterity, a
splendid legacy of "secular" literature that captures
contemporary socio-cultural milieus not only of India, but of
Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and other neighbouring countries
as well. Here is, in two volumes, a fascinating, well-knit study
of the Pali language, and also of its literature: both canonical
and non-canonical. Beginning with a systematic description of
the language, its historical evolution, phonology and major
grammatical categories, VOLUME 1 takes an indepth, critical look
at the canonical Pali texts -- all the three Pitakas : the three
"baskets" (collections): the Vinaya, Sutta and Abhidhamma,
which, among other things, embody Sakyamuni's own universal
message, the writings of his imme