Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo,

> "Chahi, bhikkhave, dhammehi samannaagato bhikkhu abhabbo tatra

tatreva sakkhibhabbata'm paapu.nitu'm sati sati aayatane.

> /with six /o monks /dhammas /endowed /a monk /is unable /there

/there indeed /with one's own eyes realises ability /to attain
/mindfulness /mindfulness /in the sphere /

> With six, o monks, dhammas endowed, a monk is unable - just as here

or there one realises ability with one's own eyes - in the sphere of
mindfulness to attain mindfulness.

I think the 'sati' here is the locative singular form of the present
participle 'santa' (from 'as' -- to be or exist) and that the object
or patient of 'paapu.nitu.m' is 'sakkhibhabbata.m'. The 'abhabbo' goes
with 'paapu.nitu.m' -- is unable to attain or is incapable of
attaining.... The two sati-s suggest a pairwise relation to the two
earlier tatra-s although I'm not sure how that would be translated.
One possibility could be to read "tatra tatreva . . . sati sati
aayatane" as a locative absolute construction: "when there is (sati)
a basis (aayatana) in just this or that (particular)". The English
translation of this sentence at GS iii 299 is:

"Monks, if a monk be possessed of six things, he cannot become this
and that, so as to be bound personally to attain, given the
opportunity."

This PTS translation does not seem right nor does it make much sense
to me. A footnote indicates that the translator had some difficulty
with the terms 'abhabbo' and '-bhabbata.m'. I also find
'sakkhibhabbata.m' difficult to understand and have never seen that
term before. The '-bhabbata.m' is the accusative singular form of
'-bhabbataa'.

Best wishes,
Jim