At 23:05 05.02.2005 +0000, you wrote:

>Hello Stephen,
>
>
> If you are
> > still interested, I'll transcribe it for you.
> >
>I would be interested, though it's perhaps not such an urgent task.
>I have some idea from Samtani's earlier comments, and i don't think
>the content is likely to be all that different from other, similar,
>works. But maybe i'm wrong!
>
>BS

Unless I have lost my way in the threads, you are speaking about the
Arthavinishcayasutra?

This is a very interesting text, since most of it closely parallells the
teachings in the Pali suttas, and you might find it worthwhile to learn
Devanagari just to read this sutra with commentary. In some cases it throws
unexpected light upon difficult passages in the Pali text. Here is one example:

You know the passage in the Mahasatipatthanasutta that describes the
impurities of the body. There is a list of the parts of the body: kesaa,
lomaa, nakhaa, etc., and to illustrate these there is the simile of the
"ubhatomukhaa muto.lii (vl. puto.lii)", where different sorts of rice,
beans etc. are lying, each in its place. Now, this word, muto.lii, only
exists in this expression, and the Pali commentary describes it as a
provision bag. This is rather strange. Do provision bags usually have two
openings? And if you carry this bag while travelling, would not the rice,
beans etc. be shaken around? Would you find them in well ordered heaps,
each in its place, when opening the bag? And would you really be able to
see much inside a bag, even one with two openings? The interpretation is
not quite convincing.

Here, however, the Arth.sutra in stead of "ubhatomukhaa muto.lii" says
"ubhayato dvaaravinirmukta.m koshtaagaara.m" - "a store house with both
doors open". This is probably a paraphrase, for the commentary, seens to be
based on a slightly different version that had "ubhayato muto.dii", so that
it was more similar to the Pali text. The commentary explains: "ubhayato
muto.diiti vriihiinaa.m sthaapanaaya m.rdbhaajana.m kosthiketi pratiitaa
madhyadeshe" - "ubhayato muto.diiti: an earthen store house to keep rice
in, as formerly called in the Madhyadesha (Northern India)".

Thus, it might be an earthen cellar with two doors. Here the different
sorts of rice, beans etc. would be lying in well ordered heaps, each in its
place, and once you open both doors, light would flow in and you could
observe the contents clearly as it is.

I can not assert that this is more authoritative than the Pali commentary
explanation, but it certainly works much better as an illustration of the
parts of the body. Therefore, in my Norwegian translation of the
Mahasatipatthanasutta, I have taken the liberty of leaning on this
explanation from the Arth.sutta commentary, and translated ubhatomukhaa
muto.lii as "en matkjeller med dør i begge ender" - "a food cellar with a
door in each end of it", instead of using the provision bag explanation.

This is of course a small detail, and not a very important detail for the
Dhamma practice. But it shows how a comparison with different versions may
throw interesting light upon unclear and difficult passages, and my hope is
that the Chinese Agamas perhaps may be useful in the same manner.

Best regards,

Kåre A. Lie
http://www.lienet.no/