z> Attadiipaa viharatha,attasaranaa ana'n'nasaranaa
z> Viharatha/ The conjugation "atha" signifies "verb, 2nd person plural"?
In this case, imperative 2nd person plural.
z> Attadiipaa/ Then the declension "aa" signifies " plural."
z> (nominative?)
Agreed.
z> If so does this make "atta" and "Diipa" both plural?
Yes.
z> ----------------
z> Mrs. Rhys Davids, founder of the Pali Text Society, says: "We
z> are here up against the difficulty of equating Indian with European
z> idiom. The former uses no possessive pronoun with the reflexive
z> pronoun... 'Yourselves' is then wrong" (_What Was the Original
z> Gospel in "Buddhism"_, 1938).
z> Any Idea's?, seems most translations use something like "Be
z> island/lamps onto yourselves"?
z> --------------------
The use of reflexive pronoun in Russian is quite similar to Indian, so
hopefully I understand what she meant. Nevertheless I think that 'abide
self-reliant (as islands for yourselves)' reflects the original meaning.
(See Mr. Rhys Davids note in 'diipa' article of Pali-English
Dictionary).
z> The Pali Text Society's Dictionary states the Dipa can according to
z> it context be either an island,a lamp or that which illuminates.
You can see by references in PED that 'lamp' is rather late usage of
this word, applied in Commentaries.
z> Walpola Rahula in "What the Buddha taught" states -
z> The Digha Nikaya ancient commentary commenting on the word dipa
z> says,"Mahasamuddagatam dipam viya attam dipam patittham katva
z> viharatha" "Dwell making yourselves an island,a support, even as an
z> island in the great ocean"
This is from Mahavagga-Atthakatha 3.204 (written in 5th century).
z> Samsara is often compared to an ocean,Samsarasagara, and what is
z> required in the ocean for saftey/refuge is an island.
z> Anyone have any other ideas on why Island or lamp is used?
z> ------------------
In my inexperienced opinion 'attadiipa' just means 'self-reliant,
self-supported', with no strings attached. Commentaries just give
useful hints about the probable context. The explanation of the suttas
themselves is keeping track of the four bases of mindfulness in and of
themselves.
See also a 25th verse of Dhammapada:
Through initiative, heedfulness,
restraint, & self-control,
the wise would make
an island
no flood
can submerge.