Declension of Nouns
Declension of ‘a’-ending Masculine nouns

‘a’-ending Masculine Noun: Buddha

Case Singular Translation Plural Translation
Paṭhamā
(Nominative) 		Buddho The Buddha Buddhā The Buddhas
Dutiyā
(Accusative) 		Buddhaṃ to the Buddha Buddhe to the Buddhas
Tatiyā
(Instrumental) 		Buddhena by, with, through the Buddha Buddhehi, Buddhebhi by, with, through the Buddhas
Catutthī
(Dative) 		Buddhassa, Buddhāya to, for the Buddha Buddhānaṃ to, for the Buddhas
Pañcamī
(Ablative) 		Buddhā, Buddhasmā, Buddhamhā from the Buddha Buddhehi, Buddhebhi from the Buddhas
Chaṭṭhī
(Genitive) 		Buddhassa of the Buddha Buddhānaṃ of the Buddhas
Sattamī
(Locative) 		Buddhe, Buddhasmiṃ, Buddhamhi in, on, upon the Buddha Buddhesu in, on, upon the Buddhas
Ālapana
(Vocative) 		Buddha, Buddhā O Buddha! Buddhā O Buddhas!
Audio for pronunciation of Declension of the noun ‘Buddha’

Please note that various terminations get added to the original word (stem) ‘Buddha’ depending on the case of the noun. We have already come across two such forms in our previous Units :

  • Namo tassa Bhagavato Arahato Sammāsambuddhassa
    In this sentence we pay homage ‘to the Buddha’
  • Buddhaṃ saraṇaṃ gacchāmi
    Here the indicated meaning is – I go ‘to the Buddha’ for refuge.

Though in both the above sentences we used ‘to’ in the translation, the cases in Pali sentence are different (dative and accusative, respectively). We will study the eight cases in detail, with multiple examples and activities to understand their role in Pali sentences.

Last modified: Thursday, 13 June 2024, 7:49 PM