Hi Dimitry and All,

"Dimitry A. Ivakhnenko (������� ���������� ���������)"
<koleso@...>:

>
> You are right in the change of punctuation. CSCD edition reads:
> Migii mara.nakaale "aya.m me
> tikkhattu.m puttake khaaditvaa idaani mampi khaadissati, ito daani
> cutaa eta.m saputtaka.m khaaditu.m labheyyan"ti patthana.m katvaa ito
> cutaa yakkhinii hutvaa nibbatti.
>

Thanks for providing this version of the text. It's quite helpful, and
interesting in that it shows how changes need to be linked together to
work. This version is very easy to understand, since not only does it
turn the 'taa' into a '-tvaa', it also backs that up by using 'aya.m'
instead of 'imaaya', and 'puttake' instead of 'puttakaa'. The latter
reading (puttake) is mentioned by Norman as being found in some mss,
but the former (ayam for imaaya) is not noted by him.

My only worry is whether this represents an 'evening out' of what might
originally have been a more subtle or grammatically difficult
construction. Does HC Norman's version make sense in some way that I
just can't see? It bothers me to think he might have edited together
some nonsense.

> In Norman's version taa may refer to 'khadissati' - hence 'she will

eat'.

>

Yes, I believe that is the idea in Norman's version, but the problem is
that if the 'taa' is a pronominal subject of khadissati, then in the
earlier phrase the aorist 'khaadi' is left without a subject, and there
is a free-floating 'imaaya' which looks like an instrumental agent. I
wonder whether a scribe at some point mistook a 'khaaditaa' or
a 'khaaditva' for the aorist 'khaadi' followed by 'taa' since that form
of the aorist had occured several times earlier in the same passage.

In any case, this doesn't seem to be especially important, since the
various variations are all trying to get at the same sense. We know
what it's trying to say, and the issue is just how did they originally
word it. On the other hand tt seems like that little change in
punctuation (putting mara.nakaale outside of the scope of the iti,) is
actually more important since it has cultural or doctrinal
implications. The deer is making a rebirth aspiration _at the moment of
death_.

Anyhow, I'm happy to see that the CSCD edition achieves clarity and
sense there. Is that typical for that edition, that they have found
solutions to these sorts of problems? If so it sounds like it would be
ideal for students like me to use as a learning tool. Unfortunately I
have a Mac... Are there any Mac conversions floating around?

best regards,

--Rett