Historical Present

Historical Present

In Pāli, verbs in the present tense are sometimes used to describe past events.
This is called the historical present

It is grammatically present tense, but is translated in the past tense in English.

Usually used in sutta introductions.

Atha kho bhagavā ārāmaṃ gacchati.

Lit. Then the Blessed One goes to the monastery.

But in translation we say:

Then the Blessed One went to the monastery.