Dear friends,
we are used to the trilineair translations, but the relation of word to
word is important in order to penetrate to the deep meaning of the texts.
Ven. Bhante Pandita has wirtten a Relational Grammar you can find in the
files and copy. Bhante gives example in his text in order to illustrate
different relations, but we ourselves can also find examples in the texts we
are reading. In this way the grammar comes to life.
I shall quote now one section of his grammar and illustrate this with a
short passage of the Visuddhimagga and Tiika I am reading. However, I stand
to be corrected! But I should take the risk of making mistakes, I think. I
hope others will be brave enough to follow!
Quote from Bhante's Relational Grammar:
Relational Grammar: <NOMINATIVE CASE
A. Nominal Identity Relation
Here, both relata of the same content must be in nominative case but
may differ in gender and number. No particular tense or mood is expressed
here.
It can further be classified into two sub-relations, namely, Nominal
Identity
(Ordinary) and Nominal Identity (Denominative) relations.
A.1. Nominal Identity (Ordinary) Relation [NIO]
so aacariyo = He (is/was) (a/the) teacher.
so ---> aacariyo (NIO)
Nandaa kalatta.m = Nandaa (is/was) (a/the) wife.
Nandaa ---> kalatta.m (NIO)
cittaani viisati = The types of consciousness (are) twenty (in number).
cittaani ---> viisati (NIO)
Note: The difference of gender in the second example and that of both gender
and number in the last should be marked.
****
Nina: thus, <so aacariyo> tells us more about the subject <so>. Who is he?
He is a teacher.
Bhante:
A.2. Nominal Identity (Denominative) Relation1 [NID]
The special feature of this relation is the indeclinable "naama" meaning
"by name". Otherwise, it is similar to the Nominal Identity (ordinary)
relation.
e.g.saro Nandaa naama = (The) lake (is) Nandaa by name, i.e., called Nandaa.
saro ---> Nandaa (NID)
N: We could also say: what is designated by the name Nandaa? It is a lake.
bhikkhuniyo sa"ngho naama = Nuns (are) Sa"ngha by name, i.e., called
Sa"ngha.
bhikkhuniyo ---> sa"ngho ( NID )
Note: Here note the difference of gender in the first example and that of
both
gender and number in the second.
*****
Nina: An example from Visuddhimagga and Tiika:
In Ch XIV, 133 etc. the Visuddhimagga deals with all the cetasikas (mental
factors) that accompany the first type of mahaa-kusala citta (among eight
different types) as classified in the Abhidhamma:
1) accompanied by pleasant feeling, connected with wisdom, unprompted
somanassa-sahagata.m ñaa.na-sampayutta.m, asa²nkhaarikam eka.m
Here the Visuddhimagga deals
In my passage Vis. XIV, 137, it deals with viriya cetasika, energy or
effort.
Text Vis: viirabhaavo viiriya.m. ta.m ussahanalakkha.na.m,
'Energy' (viriya) is the state of one who is vigorous (viraa).
Its characteristic is marshalling (driving).
The Tiika to this passage:
Viirabhaavoti yena viiro naama hoti, so dhammoti attho.
As to the words, the state of one who is vigorous, that a vigorous person,
someone who is so called, actually is a dhamma (so dhammoti attho).
N: We have to remember: saro Nandaa naama = (The) lake (is) Nandaa by name,
i.e., called Nandaa.
saro ---> Nandaa (NID)
Here we have: dhamma ---> viiro.
Who is viiro by name? A dhamma.
We may cling to an idea of my energy or effort¹ think of ourselves as a
vigorous person, but the Tiika gives us a sobering reminder that energy does
not belong to a person, that it is a dhamma, a cetasika arising because of
conditions and falling away immediately.
Nina.