Could someone enlighten me as to whether there is really any controversy
about the translation of these verses? I was not aware that any modern
authority had seriously doubted that "wander alone like the horn of a
rhinoceros" is the correct translation of "eko care khaggavisaa.nakappo",
and that E.M. Hare's earlier rendering is just plain wrong, even if more
poetically satisfying for a modern English speaker.

(more below)

Frank writes:

> Somewhere I researched it mentioned that Anguttara
>or that particular Rhino sutta is probably a
>collection of verses spoken by the Buddha on many
>occasions, so it seems plausible that he may be
>referring to horn on a few of the verses, but to me
>from the context of most of the verses it seems to
>refer to the solitary lifestyle of the rhino.
> Put it this way: Say the Buddha is giving a
>discourse and he uses the simile with a rhinoceros.
>What are the Bhikkhus going to think?
>(a) "Ah yes, the blessed one is clearly referring to
>the obvious fact that in our native India, the
>indigenous Rhinoceros unicornis has only one horn,
>whereas the Diceros bicornis from Africa, which I have
>never visited before, heard about, seen directly or
>indirectly, has two horns."
>
>(b) "My life as a monk is difficult sometimes. I miss
>the wife, family, and friends that I left behind. The
>elephants seem to be pretty social animals, traveling
>in herds, yet the rhino, other than the mother and
>calf, choose to live in solitude and they seem to be
>content. Perhaps the blessed one is hinting at
>something."
>
>-----------------
>I'm inclined to think it's option (b)
>:-)

Of course it's improbable that anyone would have reasoned in the manner
described in (a). This objection, however, would be irrelevant if it
happened that the single horn of a rhino was a well-known stock simile in
that culture. I think there is sufficient evidence that this was the case.
In particular, one finds the rhinoceros horn simile making a regular
appearance in Indian hagiographies and texts dealing with renunciation. A
couple of examples:


"....his senses were well protected like those of a tortoise; he was single
and alone like the horn of a rhinoceros; he was free like a bird; he was
always waking like the fabulous bird Bharundal, valorous like an elephant,
strong like a bull, difficult to attack like a lion, steady and firm like
Mount Mandara.....etc. etc.

(description of Mahavira in the Kalpa Sutra 118, attributed to Sri
Bhadrabahu, 433-357 BCE.)

Though the above is a Jaina text, the section from which the extract is
taken is actually strikingly similar to the Khaggavisaa.na Sutta, albeit
presented in the form of a description rather than an exhortation.

The same might be said for the following, this time a Hindu work:

"Efficient in his undertakings, full of compassion is the saadhu; he gives
pity to all, has enmity towards no one.

"He bears patiently heat and cold, seeing the one Self enlightening all
bodies. He walks solitary as the horn of a rhinoceros. He has become an
ocean of Truth and is ever engaged in the work of mercy. Such is the
Avadhut, free from birth and death."

(Avadhut Giita ch. 7)


Robert Eddison