Four great canonical languages
The general belief is that ancient India had 340 different languages. Among them were four great canonical languages (Tib. སྐད་རིགས་ཆེན་པོ་མི་འདྲ་བ་བཞི་, ké rik chenpo midrawa shyi, Wyl. skad rigs chen po mi 'dra ba bzhi) in the sense that sutras and shastras were composed in them: Sanskrit, Prākrit, Apabhraṃśa and Piśāci. Sutras and treatises were written in all of these languages. Sanskrit is considered the most important among them and is known as the divine language (Tib. ལྷའི་སྐད་, Wyl. lha'i skad), the language that all buddhas of the three times spoke in the past, are speaking in the present and will speak in the future. The Tibetan translators have translated the term Sanskrit with ‘well composed’ (Tib. ལེགས་སྦྱར་, Wyl. legs sbyar).[1]
References
- ↑ Khenpo Chöga’s oral explanation, Andreas Kretschmar, Drops of Nectar, Ch.1 p.392.
Further Reading
- Khenpo Kunpal, The Nectar of Manjushri’s Speech, a Detailed Commentary on Shantideva’s Way of the Bodhisattva, p.29 and Note 42, p.446, Translated by the Padmakara Translation Group, published by Shambhala, ISBN 978-1-59030-439-6.
- Khenpo Kunpal’s Commentary – Drops of Nectar - on Shantideva’s Entering the Conduct of the Bodhisattvas, Volume One, p.209. Translated by Andreas Kretschmar. See link below.