Some recommendations for translating Pali


Best dictionaries:

The PTS dictionary, Cone’s Dictionary of Pali, and the Critical Pali Dictionary, all available online:


Best translators:

Bhikkhu Ñāṇamoli, esp. of the Majjhima Nikāya and Visuddhimagga is the gold standard.

Bhikkhu Bodhi, who has worked on Ñāṇamoli’s translations, is very useful.


Best Grammars:

Thomas Oberlies, Pali Grammar. The language of the canonical texts of Theravda Buddhism: Volume 1.

W. Geiger. A Pali Grammar.

  • Oberlies is more up to date and thorough than Geiger, which is old but still useful.


Style of translation

The ideal translation into English is something that reads like English, rather than placing English words in the regular order followed in Pali syntax.

Idioms: like any language, Pali is full of idioms – these should not be translated literally, but give a translation that fits the context.


Background knowledge to understanding the Pali canon

The early Upaniṣads are indispensable for understanding the historical, social and religious circumstances in which Buddhism emerged, and in which the Pali canon was formed. The translation of Patrick Olivelle is unsurpassed: ‘The Early Upanishads: Annotated Text and Translation’.

Aśoka’s edicts are also indispensable, for their content and language. On this see K. R. Norman’s collected articles, many of which deal with the philology of the Aśokan edicts. Also see Harry Falk’s recent volume, Aśokan Sites and Artefacts; a useful recent online translation is that of Sravasti Dhammika:


Online translations of the Pali canon

The most reliable, with some mixed quality, are the following: