Does monastic ordination needs to be performed in Pali language , otherwise it is not valid ? What would be the valid language for lay person undertaking of 5 & 8 precepts ?
Most communities would likely only accept an ordination as valid if it was performed in Pali.
There is no such thing as “validity” for taking the five or eight precepts. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.
Upasampada ordination is a legal procedure for joining a group. It has to be done to group standards or it isn’t accepted as valid.
Taking five or eight precepts is not a legal procedure. It’s just committing to a practice of ethical behaviour.
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Therefore it is invalid if in english mandarin or tibetan ?
Was there ever performed in other languages such as in ancient persian , other indian languages , mandarin or tibetan in bce or ce ?
I have no idea. But like I said, it would be up to each community to say if they accepted an ordination done in a language other than Pali. I’m sure that a Theravada community would accept the fact that a Tibetan monastic had a valid Tibetan ordination.
But there is really no reason a community would perform an ordination in English only. You would be ensuring that the candidate would have doubts about the validity of their own ordination, and that would be unkind.
Now, if you are asking because of issues related to bhikkhuni ordination, then better to just ask about that specifically and you will probably get better answers. I have no idea what the current thinking is on that.
No that is not in my mind , i have seen the Tibetan ordination done in Tibetan and Mahayana done in Mandarin , south east asia Theravada done in Pali , but never heard of if ever done in English before therefore the question . Another thing is , i have seen Mahayanist get ordained in Myanmar , Sri Lanka , Thailand and even Tibetan Vajrayana but i never seen Theravadin have their ordination in other lineages . Therefore , trying to understand if these different lineages recognise each other ordination ? I know the 2nd century monk An Shi Gao was a persian and probably he get ordained using Parthian language .
We generally consider that if one wishes to be a Theravada monastic, one should be ordained properly in the Pāli lineage. Example, a monk from Mahayana wishes to “convert” to become a Theravada monk doesn’t get to keep his vassa, but has to restart from the beginning.
In some Theravada monasteries, communities, Mahayana monks are after the last Bhikkhu in the meal line.
This is the conservative part of Theravada which serves well to preserve the lineage and texts.