Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo (and Nina),

Thanks for the notes and the Visuddhimagga reference. I also did some
searching and found some commentarial explanations that shed further
light. For an explanation of the term "sakkhibhabbataa", I quote the
following from the Vibha"nga-muula.tiikaa:

paccakkha.m yassa atthi, so sakkhi, sakkhino bhabbataa
sakkhibhabbataa, sakkhibhavanataati vutta.m hoti. sakkhi ca so bhabbo
caati vaa sakkhibhabbo. aya~nhi iddhividhaadiina.m bhabbo, tattha ca
sakkhiiti sakkhibhabbo, tassa bhaavo sakkhibhabbataa, ta.m
paapu.naati. aayataneti pubbahetaadike kaara.ne sati. -- p. 152
(Myanmarese ed. from CSCD)

This shows two ways in which the compound can be derived. The
anu.tiikaa comments on "sakkhibhavanataa" and "pubbahetaadike".

For a very informative explanation of "sati sati kaara.ne" (and
sakkhibhabbataa) see the MN a.t.thakathaa and .tiikaa near the end of
the Mahaavacchagottasutta (no. 73). In the A"nguttaranikaaya sentence
being studied, the part still needing more explanation for me is
"tatra tatreva" which the a.t.thakathaa explains as: tasmi.m tasmi.m
visese (in this and that distinction). I'm not sure what these
distinctions are, perhaps they are the six supernormal abhi~n~naa-s, I
don't know.

In your:

> With six, o monks, dhammas endowed, a monk is unable here or
> anywhere to attain realisation with his own eyes, though it
> be within his sphere.

I think "here or anywhere . . . his sphere" still needs more work.
"his sphere" doesn't at all reflect 'aayatane' in the sense of
'kaara.ne' (cause) according to the commentary. I notice that in some
of the readings in the Burmese texts for other similar passages there
is a hyphen: sati-aayatane. This suggests a compound with 'sati' in
the sense of mindfulness, not with the loc. sing. of santa. I'm
inclined to think the hyphen doesn't belong.

I can't help too much more unless I take up the study of the
commentarial passages I've just indicated above (and undoubtedly this
will lead to other ones to study as well) which I don't have enough
time for at present, unfortunately.

Best wishes,
Jim

> Dear Jim,
>
> Thank you for the correction, I learned something new :) I
> found what you are talking about in Duroiselle's Grammar
> sect. 603. I ran a search and found this clause "sati sati
> aayatane" in the Visuddhimagga (VIII,76), where Nyanamoli
> translates it as "whenever there is occasion." He cites the
> commentaries to support this. The MCU Thai version seems to
> be following the same with "mua mii hetu" and has some
> interesting notes in the pa~ncakanipaata (vol ??, page 28).
> The Vism Maha-tika says: "pubbahetu-aadi-kaara.ne sati".
>
> It's just a stab in the dark, but maybe this works:
>
> "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 /anywhere /realisation with his own eyes/to attain
> /though it be /within his sphere /
>
> With six, o monks, dhammas endowed, a monk is unable here or
> anywhere to attain realisation with his own eyes, though it
> be within his sphere.
>
> The opposite:
>
> With six, o monks, dhammas endowed, a monk is able here or
> anywhere to attain realisation with his own eyes, should it
> be within his sphere.
>
> Hope that is getting closer :)
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Yuttadhammo