Akkharā p’ ādayo ekacattālīsaṃ

Letters are forty-one beginning with ‘a’.

Kaccāyana 2
Rūpasiddhi 2
Saddanīti 1, 2
Sandhi-Kappa · Paṭhama-Kaṇḍa

Text and translation

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2. 2. Akkharā p’ ādayo ekacattālīsaṃ (1, 2)

[Akkharā + api + a-ādayo + ekacattālīsaṃ = 4 words]

Te ca kho akkharā (letters) api akāradayo (beginning with 'a') ekacattālīsaṃ suttantesu sopakārā (very useful).

Taṃ yathā? a ā i ī u ū e o; 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; ya ra la va sa ha ḷa aṃ. Iti akkharā nāma.

Tena kvattho? Attho akkharasaññāto.

Letters are forty-one beginning with ‘a’.

And these letters, which are forty-one beginning with ‘a’, are very useful in the Discourses.

Which are these? a ā i ī u ū e o; 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; ya ra la va sa ha ḷa aṃ. These are called “letters”.

What is the benefit of that [calling them “letters”]? [It is beneficial in suttas such as] “Attho akkharasaññāto” (§1).

Without the footnotes: they are on the chapter card.

Where it is cited

The verb — ākhyāta §2

Drafts

Classification of the sutta → draft
Analysis following Visuddhāyuṃ → draft

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Pāḷi text and English translation by Bhikkhu Nandisena; edition, apparatus and glossary by the Instituto de Estudios Buddhistas Hispano (IEBH). This material may be reproduced for personal use and distributed free of charge. Copyright © 2026 IEBH. Published under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 · DOI 10.5281/zenodo.21948010.