UPMSP Intermediate Pali cheat sheet

Pali is a Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Prakrit group; it is not a script. The same text may be written in Brahmi, Devanagari, Sinhala, Burmese, Thai, Khmer, or Roman (IAST) script.

Standard Roman transliteration (IAST) uses macrons for long vowels (ā, ī, ū), dots under retroflex consonants (ṭ, ḍ, ṇ, ṣ), and ṃ/ḥ for anusvara/visarga; ṅ and ñ mark palatal and velar nasals.

Vowel inventory: a ā i ī u ū e o; e and o are always long in open syllables but are treated as short before a conjunct consonant (e.g., seṭṭha, oṭṭha).

Consonant series are organised in five vaggas of five: ka kha ga gha ṅa; ca cha ja jha ña; ṭa ṭha ḍa ḍha ṇa; ta tha da dha na; pa pha ba bha ma, plus ya ra la va sa ha ḷa and ṃ.

Eight cases: nominative (paṭhamā), vocative (ālapana), accusative (dutiyā), instrumental (tatiyā), dative (catutthī), ablative (pañcamī), genitive (chaṭṭhī), locative (sattamī).

Two numbers (singular, plural) and three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter); adjectives agree with their noun in case, number, and gender.

Six tenses/moods: present (vattamānā), imperative (pañcamī), optative (sattamī), future (bhavissanti), aorist (ajjatanī), conditional (kālātipatti); perfect (hīyattanī) is rare in canonical prose.

Sandhi rules: final -a/-ā before a vowel often elides or contracts (na + atthi = natthi); niggahīta ṃ becomes m before a vowel (etaṃ + eva = etam eva); consonant doubling after a short vowel is common (vi + ññāṇa = viññāṇa).

Translation procedure: identify the verb (usually final in prose), then resolve the subject in nominative, then map remaining cases to their function; participle clauses (‑anta, ‑māna, ‑ta, ‑ya) are rendered as relative or subordinate clauses.

The Pali Canon (Tipiṭaka) has three baskets: Vinaya Piṭaka (Suttavibhaṅga, Khandhaka, Parivāra), Sutta Piṭaka (five Nikāyas), and Abhidhamma Piṭaka (seven books).

Five Nikāyas: Dīgha (34 suttas), Majjhima (152 suttas), Saṃyutta (connected sayings), Aṅguttara (numerical suttas), Khuddaka (mixed collection including Dhammapada, Udāna, Itivuttaka, Sutta Nipāta, Thera/Therīgāthā, Jātaka, Vimānavatthu, Petavatthu, Puggalapaññatti-type texts).

The canon was first committed to writing in Sri Lanka at the Aluvihāra (Matale) in the first century BCE under King Vaṭṭagāmaṇī Abhaya, according to the Mahāvaṃsa tradition.

Commentaries (aṭṭhakathā) are attributed to Buddhaghosa (5th c. CE): Visuddhimagga, Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (Dīgha), Papañcasūdanī (Majjhima), Samantapāsādikā (Vinaya), Atthasālinī (Dhammasaṅgaṇī).

Post-canonical Pali literature includes Dhammapāla's sub-commentaries (ṭīkā), the Milindapañha (dialogue of King Milinda and Nāgasena), and the chronicles Dīpavaṃsa and Mahāvaṃsa.

The Visuddhimagga, a systematic manual of doctrine and meditation, is the central non-canonical Pali text; it organises practice under sīla, samādhi, and paññā.

Khuddaka Nikāya texts prescribed for study include the Dhammapada (423 verses in 26 vaggas), Sutta Nipāta, Udāna, Itivuttaka, Theragāthā, Therīgāthā, and Jātaka.

The Abhidhamma Piṭaka comprises Dhammasaṅgaṇī, Vibhaṅga, Dhātukathā, Puggalapaññatti, Kathāvatthu, Yamaka, and Paṭṭhāna; the Kathāvatthu is traditionally ascribed to Moggaliputta Tissa.

The Pali Text Society (founded 1881 by T. W. Rhys Davids) produced the standard Roman-script editions and translations of the canon.

Locate the finite verb first; Pali prose normally places it at the end of the clause, with the subject before it and objects/adjuncts preceding.

Identify stock formulas: 'Evam me sutaṃ' (thus have I heard) opens suttas; 'ekasmiṃ samaye' (at one time) fixes the setting; 'bhagavā' is the usual subject of narrative prose.

Participial constructions carry much of the meaning: present participle ‑anta/‑māna (while/doing), past participle ‑ta/‑na (having done/been done), future passive participle ‑tabba/‑ya (to be done).

Absolute constructions (locative absolute: noun in locative + participle) are rendered 'when/while/after…'; e.g., 'sāvake sannipatite' = 'when the disciples had assembled'.

Quotation markers: 'iti' closes direct speech; 'bhagavā etad avoca' (the Blessed One said this) introduces a discourse; 'āha' and 'vuttaṃ' alternate as speech verbs.

Numerical and listing formulas ('pañca khandhā', 'catunnaṃ satipaṭṭhānānaṃ') should be translated with the full list, not summarised, when the question asks for explanation.

For explanation questions, restate the passage's doctrinal point in plain language, identify speaker and addressee, and cite the key term (e.g., anicca, dukkha, anattā) with its context.

Negation: na/nā before vowels and na- in compounds; 'na kho' softens refusal; 'mā' is used with the imperative and optative for prohibition.

When a passage contains 'vuccati' or 'idaṃ vuccati', the following phrase is a definitional gloss - treat it as the technical meaning being taught.

Metre matters: most canonical verses are siloka (anuṭṭhubha), 8 syllables per line, 4 lines per stanza; other common metres are tuṭṭhubha (11), jagatī (12), and vaṃsaṭṭha.

Siloka pathyā form: lines 1 and 3 have the cadence pattern with 5th syllable light and 6th–7th heavy; vipulā variants alter lines 2 and 4 and should be noted in scansion.

Word order in verse is free and driven by metre; resolve compound words (samāsa) first, then locate the verb, which may be omitted (ellipsis of 'hoti' or 'atthi').

Common verse particles: 'hi' (indeed/for), 'eva' (just/only), 'pi' (also/even), 'ca' (and), 'kho' (indeed); they often fill a syllable and should be translated lightly.

Verse syntax frequently splits compounds across lines (enjambment); read the whole stanza before translating any single line.

The Dhammapada's opening pair ('Manopubbaṅgamā dhammā…') illustrates the standard explanatory task: identify the subject (dhammā), the predicate, and the doctrinal claim about mind and kamma.

For 'explanation' (vyākhyā) questions, give the literal meaning (padattha), then the intended meaning (attha), then the moral or doctrinal application.

Refrains (e.g., 'taṃ ve… brūmi brāhmaṇaṃ') mark the conclusion of a stanza and usually carry the definition being asserted; translate the refrain identically each time.

Dhammapada: 423 verses, 26 vaggas; verse 1–2 on mind (mano), verses 21–32 on heedfulness (appamāda), verse 183 ('sabbapāpassa akaraṇaṃ…') gives the Buddha's summary teaching.

Sutta Nipāta: early verse collection including the Aṭṭhakavagga and Pārāyanavagga; the Ratana Sutta and Metta Sutta (Karaṇīyamettā Sutta) are widely prescribed.

Theragāthā and Therīgāthā: verses of awakened monks and nuns; Therīgāthā includes poems attributed to Mahāpajāpatī Gotamī and Ambapālī.

Udāna and Itivuttaka: short sutta collections with verse conclusions; the Udāna opens with the Bodhi and first-sermon narratives.

Majjhima Nikāya: 152 suttas; key prescribed texts include the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10), Sabbāsava Sutta (MN 2), and Dhammadāyāda Sutta (MN 3).

Dīgha Nikāya: 34 suttas; key texts include the Brahmajāla Sutta (DN 1), Sāmaññaphala Sutta (DN 2), Mahāparinibbāna Sutta (DN 16), and Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sutta (DN 22).

Saṃyutta Nikāya: connected discourses, including the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (SN 56.11) and Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta (SN 22.59) - the first two sermons.

Visuddhimagga: 23 chapters; chapters 1–2 sīla, 3–13 samādhi (including kammaṭṭhāna and 40 meditation objects), 14–23 paññā and paṭiccasamuppāda.

Milindapañha: dialogue between King Milinda (Menander) and Elder Nāgasena; the chariot simile (no fixed self) and the 'nāgasena' name analysis are standard prescribed passages.

Four Noble Truths (cattāri ariyasaccāni): dukkha, dukkhasamudaya (taṇhā), dukkhanirodha (nibbāna), dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā (aṭṭhaṅgiko maggo).

Eightfold Path: sammādiṭṭhi, sammāsaṅkappa, sammāvācā, sammākammanta, sammāājīva, sammāvāyāma, sammāsati, sammāsamādhi.

Three characteristics (tilakkhaṇa): anicca (impermanence), dukkha (unsatisfactoriness), anattā (non-self); the Anattalakkhaṇa Sutta applies them to the five khandhas.

Five aggregates (pañcakkhandhā): rūpa, vedanā, saññā, saṅkhāra, viññāṇa; 'khandha' means heap/aggregate, not a permanent self.

Dependent origination (paṭiccasamuppāda): twelve links from avijjā to jarāmaraṇa; formula 'imasmiṃ sati idaṃ hoti' (when this is, that is).

Kamma and rebirth: volition (cetanā) is kamma; rebirth is described with the twelve links and the 'stream' of consciousness, not a transmigrating soul.

Four Brahmavihāras: mettā, karuṇā, muditā, upekkhā; the Metta Sutta and Brahmavihāra practice in Visuddhimagga ch. 9 are prescribed.

Cultural context: the sutta setting includes kings (Bimbisāra, Pasenadi, Ajātasattu), patrons (Anāthapiṇḍika, Visākhā), and the saṅgha's rain-retreat (vassāvāsa); these frame many prescribed narratives.

Nibbāna is described negatively (asaṅkhata, unconditioned) and by simile; Pali sources avoid defining it as a place or state of annihilation.

Present tense endings: -mi, -si, -ti (sing.); -ma, -tha, -nti (pl.); e.g., gacchāmi, gacchasi, gacchati, gacchāma, gacchatha, gacchanti.

Optative (sattamī) endings: -eyyaṃ, -eyyāsi, -eyya, -eyyāma, -eyyātha, -eyyuṃ; used for wishes, polite requests, and conditions ('siyā' = may be).

Imperative endings: -mi/-tu, -hi/-tha, -tu, -ma, -tha, -ntu; e.g., bhavatu, gacchāhi, gacchantu.

Future: add -ssa- to the root before endings (gacchissāmi, bhavissati, karissati); aorist is formed with -i/-si/-ā endings and often changes the root (agacchi, ahosi, akāsi).

Noun declension model (a-stem, masculine 'nara'): naro, naraṃ, narena, narassa, narā/naramhā, narassa, nare; plural narā, nare, narehi, narānaṃ, narehi, narānaṃ, naresu.

Feminine ā-stem 'kaññā': kaññā, kaññaṃ, kaññāya, kaññāya, kaññāya, kaññāya, kaññāyaṃ; plural kaññā, kaññā, kaññāhi, kaññānaṃ, kaññāhi, kaññānaṃ, kaññāsu.

Causative: root + -e-/-aya- (karoti → kāreti, 'causes to do'); passive: root + -ya- (karīyati, vuccati); both are frequent in commentarial prose.

Composition drill: build sentences with subject in nominative + object in accusative + verb final; add instrumental for 'with/by', dative for 'for', locative for 'in/at', genitive for possession.

Sandhi in composition: apply vowel elision (so + ahaṃ = so'haṃ), niggahīta to m before vowels (idaṃ + api = idam api), and consonant assimilation in compounds (rāja + putta = rājaputta).