I have finished working on the study notes on Dh 97 (Two levels of
religious language) in the Sutta Discovery vol 10 (2005). Thanks to a gift
of the CBETA CD Chinese Tripitakas, I am able to find all the Chinese
characters I need for the citations. However I notice that the references
given by Minoru Hara does not exactly concur with the numbering in the
CBETA Taisho. I have to go by the Volume No, and then the Page, and run
through the whole list. Anyway, I managed to find 4 Chinese versions of Dh
97 quoted by Hara. This has been a most absorbing and interesting
enterprise in my first attempt at familiarising myself with the Chinese
characters.
I have used the old style classical Fantizi (mainland China uses the
simplified Jiantizi). My gut feeling is that the Fantizi might be more
useful since the Chinese Tripitaka uses it, and modern scholars as such
would be more familiar with it. However, I am not sure if there are greater
benefits in using the simplified Jiantizi.
Sidenote. Apparently, KR Norman is not the first person to give a detailed
study of the two levels of meanings in Dh 97. Minoru Hara in his "A note on
Dhammapada 97" (Indo-Iranian Journal 35,2-3 July 1992:179-191) shows that,
over a millennium ago, the bhaa.syakaara (commentator) on the
Abhidharmasamuccaya has actually discussed the bad and the good senses of
the 5 adjectives of Dh 97. Sadhu!
Norman's work nevertheless remains valuable. Hara, however, gives
prodigious examples of the usages of the adjectives in other Sanskrit works.
This is perhaps the longest essay I have worked on that is based merely on
one Dhammapada stanza (19 pages so far)! As the Sutta study notes are meant
for a one and a half to 2-hour classes, I usually limit my Sutta study
notes to some 5-8 pages. We might study this paper over 2 lessons.
Any feedback on the use of Jiantizi or Fantizi is most appreciated.
Sukhi
Piya
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