>"For the soul (attano) in the hereafter (parato) is the great fruition
>(mahaphala)."--AN 3.337

Saya.m aacamayitvaana, datvaa sakehi paa.nibhi,
Attano parato ceso, ya~n~no hoti mahapphalo.
Eva.m yajitvaa medhaavii, saddho muttena cetasaa,
Abyaapajja.m sukha.m loka.m, pa.n.dito upapajjatii' ti.

If one but cleanse himself and give by hand,
For self hereafter, too, great is the fruit.
So giving -- faithful, wise, heart-free, discreet --
In the sorrowless, happy world he'll rise.
(E.M. Hare, Gradual Sayings III 237)

I have quoted Hare's translation because most of the passages that the Dark
Zen people are posting on bulletin boards seem to be mangled versions of
the early PTS renderings by Hare, Woodward, and Mrs. Rhys Davids, with
'self' invariably changed to 'soul'.

The context is a Sutta describing the benefits of generosity. I am not
convinced that 'attano parato' means 'for self hereafter'. Though as an
adverb parato does mean 'later' or 'beyond', I cannot locate any passage
where it unequivocally indicates the next life. Nor do the Commentaries
ever gloss it as such.

Pali grammars allow the suffix -to to convey the instrumental, dative,
ablative and locative cases. In most cases taking parato as 'other' or
'others' in the ablative or instrumental seems to yield the most plausible
sense.

In this Sutta I would translate 'attano parato' as meaning 'for oneself
through another', i.e. through one's generosity to another one obtains a
great fruit oneself.

Another example (from a Sutta on stinginess):

*Parato* aasiisare baalaa, tampi tesa.m na labbhati.
Di.t.the dhammesa vipaako, samparaaye ca duggati.
(S i 34)

Bhikkhu Bodhi translates:

Whatever the fools may expect *from others*,
Even that they do not obtain.
This is the result in this very life;
And in the future a bad destination.
(Connected Discourses I 124)

though in an older translation of the same Mrs. Rhys Davids takes parato as
an adverb and renders it 'by and by':

Those things the fools do hope for *by and by*
Remain e'en here ungotten...
(Kindred Sayings I 47)

>"Those who have become the soul, this is the ariyan heart of dhamma. This is
>the celestial light of true dhamma." -- Itivuttaka 108

This is very mangled. The translator has disregarded not only the syntax
but even the distinction between nouns and verbs. Here's the Pali and two
translations of it:

Paamojjakara.na.m .thaana.m, eta.m hoti vijaanata.m
Yadida.m *bhaavitattaana.m*, ariyaana.m dhammajiivina.m
Te jotayanti saddhamma.m, bhaasayanti pabhan.karaa
Aalokakara.naa dhiiraa, cakkhumanto ra.na~njahaa

For those who are knowledgeable
This is a state making for joy --
Living the life of Dhamma
Under the noble ones *perfected in mind*.

They clarify the true Dhamma,
Shining forth and illuminating it,
Those light-bringers, heroic sages,
Endowed with vision, dispelling faults.
(John D. Ireland, Itivuttaka p 82)

an earlier translation:

This is the state of those who cause delight,
Who know, of *those who've made the self to grow* --
Those ariyans who live the dhamma-life:

They light up dhamma true, they make it shine,
These radiance-bringers, bringers of light, inspired,
They who have eyes to see, who scatter passions.
(F.L. Woodward, As it was Said p 191)

In their gloss of such terms as attasammaapa.nidhi (setting oneself on the
right course), attadiipa (with self as an island), attasara.na (with
oneself as one's refuge) etc. the Commentaries tend to replace attaa with
abhidhammically correct terms, e.g. santaana or citta. I guess this is why
Ireland felt it necessary to render bhaavitatta as 'perfected in mind'.

Nevertheless, though this is faithful to the commentarial understanding, it
does seem to me overly squeamish, as though the word 'self' had to be
avoided at all costs. Since the Itivuttaka is expounding Dhamma according
to the Sutta method and not the Abhidhamma method there is no reason for a
translator to shy away from the word self. On the other hand, the Woodward
rendering 'those who've made the self to grow' tends too far the other way,
towards a reifying of the self. Nyanamoli's translation, 'self-developed'
seems a reasonable compromise.

"Those who have become the soul" is not a feasible translation. Bhaavita is
the past participle of bhaaveti, the causative form of bhavati. Bhavati
means to be, so the causative means to make or cause something to be. The
awkwardness of the English 'to cause to be' has led most translators to use
such terms as 'develop' or 'cultivate', and 'development' for the nominal
form bhaavanaa.

To say "one who has become the soul" one would need to use the past
participle of the indicative form of bhavati, which is bhuuta. So, the
compound would be attabhuuta, a term not found in the Tiptaka.

Must go now. I'll look at the last quote tomorrow.

Best wishes,

Robert