--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Everett Thiele <rett@...> wrote:
> >As I am quite new to the Paa.li language, my question may be not
so
> >intelligent, but it is through errors that progress is made.
> >
> >
> >As you all know, "Dhammapada" is almost always translated as "The
> >verses of Dhamma(whatever the term used to render dhamma, be it
> >doctrine, law, truth, etc. is not the point). What I do not
> >undestand, however, is how can it be that plural is used : pada,
it
> >seems to me, is clearly a singular form (unlike padaa, which would
> >be plural). Wouldn't a translation such as "the path of Dhamma",
or
> >else the somewhat akward "the verse of Dhamma", be more accurate ?
>
>
> I'm not certain of the correct answer, but one thing worth looking
at
> is this: K.R. Norman discusses the title in the introducton to his
> translation. He goes with "The Word of the Doctrine" which is
> singular like you suggest. But he also mentions possible
alternatives
> including "the Path of the Doctrine". I'm not qualified to judge,
but
> his work appears exceptionally thorough, knowledgable and well
> reasoned. That's also the opinion of many active scholars in the
> field. So I think your instincts are leading you in the right
> direction. Here's the reference to the book, in case you or
another
> reader is interested:
>
> Norman, K.R. (tr), _The Word of the Doctrine (Dhammapada)_, Pali
Text
> Society, Oxford, 2000
>
> hope this helps,
>
> /rett