| Translations of Thus have I heard | |
|---|---|
| Sanskrit | Evaṃ mayā śrūtam |
| Pali | Evaṃ me sutaṃ |
| Chinese | 如是我聞 (Pinyin: rúshìwǒwén) |
| Japanese | 如是我聞 (Rōmaji: nyozegamon) |
| Korean | 여시아문 (RR: yeosiamun) |
| Tibetan | འདི་སྐད་བདག་གིས་ཐོས་པ་དུས་གཅིག་ན ('di skad bdag gis thos pa dus gcig na) |
| Tagalog | Ganito ang narinig ko |
| Vietnamese | như thị ngã văn / ta nghe như vầy |
| Taiwanese | lemangeda aken a maitucu |
| Glossary of Buddhism | |
Thus have I heard (Pali: Evaṃ me sutaṃ; Sanskrit: Evaṃ mayā śrūtam) is the common translation of the first line of the standard introduction (Pāli and Sanskrit: nidāna) of Buddhist discourses. This phrase serves to confirm that the discourse is coming from the Buddha himself, as a "seal of authenticity".[1][2] Buddhist tradition maintains that the disciple Ānanda used the formula for the first time, as a form of personal testimony, but this is disputed by some scholars. It is also disputed how the phrase relates to the words that follow, and several theories have been developed with regard to how the text was originally intended to be read. The formula has also been used in later Mahāyāna and Vajrayāna discourses.