Bhante (

Pali Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or '' Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of '' Theravāda'' Buddh ...

; my, ဘန္တေ, ;

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

: ''bhavantaḥ''), sometimes also called Bhadanta, is a respectful title used to address

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

and superiors in the

Theravada ''Theravāda'' () ( si, ථේරවාදය, my, ထေရဝါဒ, th, เถรวาท, km, ថេរវាទ, lo, ເຖຣະວາດ, pi, , ) is the most commonly accepted name of Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school' ...

tradition. The term religiously means "Venerable Sir." Young Indian Buddhist monk in Indian monastery

Etymology

''Bhante'' is a gender-neutral term, and may be used to address both

and nuns. It is the

vocative In grammar, the vocative case (abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and numer ...

form of the word ''bhadanta'', which confers recognition of greatness and respect. In English, the term is often translated as ''Venerable''. The Nepali terms ''bare'' and ''bande'' have the same derivation and are used to address Buddhist clergy. Bhante can also be used as an honorific or a form of address to specific Buddhist monks, similar to

Ajahn Ajahn ( th, อาจารย์, , ) is a Thai-language term that translates as "professor" or "teacher". It is derived from the Pali word '' ācariya'' and is a term of respect, similar in meaning to the Japanese '' sensei''. It is used as ...

, Phra or

Luang Por Luang por (; , ) means "venerable father" and is used as a title for respected senior Buddhist monastics. ''Luang'' is a Thai word meaning "royal" or "venerable". It is used in both family context and to express respect for monastics. ''Por'' i ...

in Thailand or Ashin in Burma (now

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...

Rinpoche Rinpoche, also spelled Rimboche and Rinboku (), is an honorific term used in the Tibetan language. It literally means "precious one", and may refer to a person, place, or thing—like the words "gem" or "jewel" (Sanskrit: ''Ratna''). The word con ...

in Tibet. Some famous monks who are addressed with ''bhante'' include: * Bhante

K. Sri Dhammananda K. Sri Dhammananda (born Martin Gamage, 18 March 1919 – 31 August 2006) was a Sri Lankan Buddhist monk and scholar. Early life Born in the village of Kirinde in Matara, Sri Lanka, Dhammananda spent most of his life and career in Malaysia. He ...

* Bhante Dharmawara * Bhante Henepola Gunaratana ("Bhante G.") * Bhante

Dhammalok Mahasthavir Dhammalok Mahasthavir ( ne, धम्मालोक महास्थविर) (born Das Ratna Tuladhar) (16 January 1890 – 17 October 1966) was a Nepalese Buddhist monk who worked to revive Theravada Buddhism in Nepal in the 1930s and 1 ...

* Bhante Kumar Kashyap Mahasthavir * Bhante

Pragyananda Mahasthavir Pragyananda Mahasthavir ( ne, प्रज्ञानन्द महास्थविर) (born Kul Man Singh Tuladhar) (2 May 1900 – 11 March 1993) was a Nepalese Buddhist monk who was one of the leaders of the revival of Theravada Buddhis ...

* Bhante Sitagu Sayadaw * Bhante Vimalaramsi Grammatically "bhante" is a

vocative case In grammar, the vocative case ( abbreviated ) is a grammatical case which is used for a noun that identifies a person (animal, object, etc.) being addressed, or occasionally for the noun modifiers (determiners, adjectives, participles, and nume ...

form of a Pali word "bhadanta" (venerable, reverend). The vocative case denotes and is used for address.Buddhist Precept & Practice
Gombrich, Richard F. Clarendon Press: 1995 , Page 141

In literature

The title ''bhante'' is used among monks to address superiors within the

sangha Sangha is a Sanskrit word used in many Indian languages, including Pali meaning "association", "assembly", "company" or "community"; Sangha is often used as a surname across these languages. It was historically used in a political context t ...

. The

Pali Canon The Pāli Canon is the standard collection of scriptures in the Theravada Buddhist tradition, as preserved in the Pāli language. It is the most complete extant early Buddhist canon. It derives mainly from the Tamrashatiya school. During t ...

abounds with references to the

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

's disciples addressing their seniors in this way. While the Buddha is usually addressed with the term ''

Bhagavān Bhagavan ( sa, भगवान्, Bhagavān; pi, Bhagavā, italics=yes), also spelt Bhagwan (sometimes translated in English as "Lord"), is an epithet within Indian religions used to denote figures of religious worship. In Hinduism it is us ...

'', his disciples also sometimes addressed him as ''Bhante''.

References

{{Buddhism topics Theravada Buddhist titles

Etymology

In literature

See also

References