Hi All,

Thanks Nina and Dimitry for your help with my question about the
elephant preparing the Saal-tree for the Buddha's rains residence. I
gave a mistaken reference in my original post. The other description
of preparing a tree shrine was at the beginning of the
Cakkhupaalatheravatthu, not the Udena-cycle. Hope you didn't look for
it in vain at the wrong place! Among other things it mentions
'clearing the lower part (of the tree)' 'tassa he.t.thabhaaga.m
sodhaapetvaa'. Perhaps this means clearing away bushes, or even bushy
branches of the tree itself which clog the shaded area under the
canopy. This could perhaps correspond to taccheti, in the quotation I
sent in earlier. He 'chipped' or broke off any extra wood, so the
translation might even be 'trim'. This question is also interesting
to me, because I've often wondered whether trimming trees (in a way
that makes them healthier) was considered to be a kind of violence to
the tree by early Buddhists.

Anyhow, thanks again for the help, and if anyone knows any more about
the question I'm all ears. Below I quote the new reference in full,
and include the earlier messages, for anyone tuning in in the middle.

best regards,

--ET

Norman, H.C. (ed) _The Commentary on the Dhammapada_, PTS, 1970, page 3

So...aagacchanto antaraamagge sampannasaakha.m eka.m vanaspati.m
disvaa, aya.m mahesakkaaya devataaya adhiggahiito bhavissatii-ti
tassa he.t.thaabhaaga.m sodhaapetvaa paakaaraparikkhepa.m
kaaraapetvaa vaalika.m okiraapetvaa dhajapataaka.m ussaapetvaa
vanaspati.m ala.mkaritvaa 'putta.m vaa dhiitara.m vaa labhitvaa
tumhaaka.m mahaasakkaara.m karissaamiiti' patthana.m katvaa pakkaami.

He [a rich merchant]...returning, having seen a full-branched
solitary lord-of-the-forest, thinking this must be occupied by a
powerful deity, having cleared its lower part, having had an
encircling fence erected, having had sand strewn, having had flags
and banners hoisted, having adorned the lord-of-the-forest, having
made the vow "having obtained a son or a daughter I will do you a a
great good-deed (or religious ceremony, or favor?), he departed.

>ET> ...so hatthinaago... yena Bhagavaa ten' upasankami; upasankamitvaa
>ET> pana Bhagavanta.m vanditvaa olokento añña.m kiñci adisvaa
>ET> bhaddasaalamuula.m paadena paharanto tacchetvaa so.n.daaya saakha.m
>ET> gahetvaa sammajji.
>
>ET> My first try, loosely: that elephant, approached the Blessed One,
>ET> however having approached the Blessed One and saluted him, looking
>ET> around (and) not seeing anyone else, (he) trampled the (area around
>ET> the) root of the magnificent Sal-tree and prepared it, (then) taking
>ET> a branch with his trunk, swept (the area).
>
>I agree with your translation and interpretation.
>
>ET> This seems to partly support Burlingame's reading, that the chips
>ET> flew and wood was broken by the elephant's pounding feet. Does anyone
>ET> have know of any parallels in other stories, or know any traditions
>ET> concerning living at the roots of trees that would help make sense of
>ET> this?
>
>There are many mentions of monks sitting at the root of the tree in
>the suttas:
>http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjhima/mn018.html
>http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/majjhima/mn066.html
>etc.
>
>ET> Or has anyone seen 'taccheti' in a more general sense, 'making,
>ET> preparing, ordering'?
>
>At least 'tacchati' has such meaning, see 'magga-tacchaka' -
>'road-builder'.


> >
> > 1: What exactly did the elephant do to the Sal-tree? (mostly centered
> > on the verb taccheti)
> >
> > 2: Why exactly did he do it? (mostly centered on the referent of
> > añña.m kiñci adisvaa)
>Buddhadatta dict: taccheti: to chip. The Sal tree was important for shade,
>unthinkable the elephant would demolish it. He just took a chip from the
>root, probably
>Nina..