Indian University launches comprehensive multilingual dictionary

By  India Blooms News Service   Jul 02, 2023

The Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) based in the Indian city of Pune has launched the Dictionary of Buddhist Terms, media reports said.

This ground-breaking multilingual lexicon employs Pali as the source language for its entries and provides equivalents in English, Sanskrit, and Tibetan, reports The Bhutan Live.

Each term is rendered in Roman script, further supplemented by textual references, serving as an indispensable tool for scholars engrossed in comparative Buddhist studies.

With the third segment of the dictionary released on 9th March, the media unveiled plans for this ambitious dictionary to ultimately compile a massive 50-part collection. The inception of the first two parts of this lexicographic masterpiece took place last year. Future plans also include Chinese interpretations, setting the stage for this dictionary to be hailed as a singular multilingual dictionary in its domain.

Mahesh Deokar, the distinguished professor leading the Department of Pali and Buddhist Studies, mentioned forthcoming plans of incorporating the Chinese language.

We are currently looking for a competent scholar to join our endeavor, Deokar was quoted as saying by the news portal, further hinting at possibilities of presenting the dictionary in Devanagari and Tibetan scripts.