Dear Rene, Nina and friends,

thanks, the mystery is finally solved.

bhava~nhi (hopefully it is not a typo in CSCD) = bhava.m hi

bhava.m (nom.sg. of bhavant) honorific pronoun: sir, your honour, his
honour [see Warder Lesson 8 - The Pronoun bhavant]

As Nina has mentioned earlier, the word is indeed related to bhava.

From the footnote of Pg 47, Warder 3e:
bhavant = bhava + sant
bhava means "existence", "good fortune"
sant means "existing", "true", "good"

hi (ind. enclitic) for; because; through.

Can I suggest
Bhava.m hi So.nada.n.do a.d.dho mahaddhano mahaabhogo
For the honorable Sonadanda [is] rich, of great wealth and resources

Thanks again.

metta,
Yong Peng

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Rene Salm wrote:
> The sentence in my PTS edition is:
>
> Bhava.m hi So.nada.n.do a.d.dho mahaddhano mahaabhogo... pe...
> ??? / Sonadanda / rich / of great wealth / of great resources
>
> By analogy with what precedes, the "pe" appears to refer to the
following:
>
> Ya.m pi bhava.m So.nada.n.do a.d.dho mahaddhano mahaabhogo,
> Because / ven. / Sonadanda / rich / of great wealth / of great
resources
>
> iminaa p'angena na arahati bhava.m S. sama.na.m Gotama.m
dassanaaya upasa.mkamitu.m,
> in this respect / not proper / ven. S. / ven. Gautama / in order to
see / to visit
>
> sama.no tveva Gotamo arahati bhavanta.m S. dassanaaya
upasa.mkamitum.
> recluse / but / Gautama / proper / ven. S. / in order to see / to
visit.
>
> ------
>
> "Bhava.m" is the pronoun of polite address, nom. / voc.
of "Bhavant." (See Warder pp. 35, 47.)
> It is translated "Reverend" (Walshe) or "venerable" (PTS), but can
also mean "sir," "Lord," or just "you." (See PTS Dict. "Bhavant")
>
> If you look at the whole passage in Pali, you will see that
Sonadando is always addressed with this respectful form. Thee
sentences earlier it occurs in the accusative: bhavanta.m
So.nada.n.da.m.
> A little before that it is in the gen/dat: bhoto So.nada.n.dassa.
>
> The "hi" seems to be ordinary enclitic, meaning "for, because,
through" (Warder p. 297).
>
> -------
>
> So, the whole passage will be-- oops! I mean "become" : ) --
something like:
>
> (The venerable Sonadanda should not visit Gautama, but Gautama
should visit him...)
> For the venerable Sonadanda [is] wealthy, with much property and
possessions. In this case, it is not proper for the ven S. to visit
[in order to see] Gautama the recluse, but it is proper for the
Gautama the recluse to visit [in order to see] the ven. S.