There is actually a huge literature on this - a good starting point is
Richard Solomon's book:

Salomon, Richard, 2000 A G�ndh�r� Version of the Rhinoceros S�tra.
Seattle, Washington University Press

A bit like the problem of exactly what a ham.sa is - there are as many
arguments one way as the other.

Robert Didham




>From: frank kuan <fcckuan@...>
>Reply-To: Pali@yahoogroups.com
>To: nsbb@yahoogroups.com, pali@yahoogroups.com
>Subject: [Pali] Thanissaro version different : Re: [nsbb] Fare lonely as
>rhinoceros
>Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2001 17:10:07 -0700 (PDT)
>
>Ok, found out who translated that passage:
>
>Here's a question for you guys. The thanissaro version
>is different, and it doesn't make sense (with the
>indian rhino having one horn compared to other
>rhinos). I did a little bit of research into rhinos,
>and they do indeed live a solitary lifestyle, only the
>mother and child having a bond. What's the full story
>behind the horn thing?
>
>I have excerpts from both versions for you to compare.
>
>-fk
>
>================================
>(from access to insight)
>Translator's note: The Indian rhinoceros, unlike the
>African, has only one horn. Hence the recurrent image
>here. As noted under I.1, there is evidence suggesting
>that the verses here were originally separate poems,
>composed on separate occasions, and that they have
>been gathered together because of their common
>refrain.]
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Renouncing violence
>for all living beings,
>harming not even a one,
>you would not wish for offspring,
> so how a companion?
>Wander alone, a rhinoceros horn.
>
>=====================================
>Selected verses of the Rhinoceros Sutta from "Woven
>Cadences" (Sutta Nipata), translated by E. M. Hare,
>and published in Sacred Books of the Buddhists Series
>by the Pali Text Society. Other verses are used in
>this booklet.
>
>
>Verses for Thudong-faring
>From the Sutta-Nipata
>
>Put by the rod for all that lives,
>Nor harm thou anyone thereof;
>Long not for son -- how then for friend?
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>Love cometh from companionship;
>In wake of love upsurges ill;
>Seeing the bane that comes of love,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>In ruth for all his bosom friends,
>A man, heart-chained, neglects the goal;
>Seeing this fear in fellowship,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>Tangled as crowding bamboo boughs
>Is fond regard for sons and wife:
>As the tall tops are tangle-free,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>The deer untethered roams the wild
>Whithersoe'er it lists for food:
>Seeing the liberty, wise man,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>
>Casting aside the household gear,
>As sheds the coral-tree its leaves,
>With home-ties cut, and vigorous,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>Seek for thy friend[1] the deeply learned,
>Dhamma-endued, lucid and great;
>Knowing the needs, expelling doubt,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>
>The heat and cold, and hunger, thirst,
>Wind, sun-beat, sting of gadfly, snake:
>Surmounting one and all of these,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>Crave not for tastes, but free of greed,
>Moving with measured step from house
>To house, support of none, none's thrall,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>
>Free everywhere, at odds with none,
>And well content with this and that:
>Enduring dangers undismayed,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>Snap thou the fetters as the snare
>By river denizen is broke:
>As fire to waste comes back no more,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>
>And turn thy back on joys and pains,
>Delights and sorrows known of old;
>And gaining poise and calm, and cleansed,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>Neglect thou not to muse apart,
>'Mid things by Dhamma-faring aye;
>Alive to all becomings' bane,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>
>As lion, mighty-jawed and king
>Of beasts, fares conquering, so thou,
>Taking thy bed and seat remote,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>Poise, amity, ruth and release
>Pursue, and timely sympathy;
>At odds with none in all the world,
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>Leaving the vanities of view,
>Right method won, the Way obtained:
>"I know! No other is my guide!"
>Fare lonely as rhinoceros.
>
>
>
>
>
>
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