Frankly, I enjoy this new Pindaric "war" against Norman (if only he would deign to
reply here), as long as it is as respectable scholars. For, as regular here know we
have had quite a bit of online fisticuffs lately. I can almost begin to understand
why schooling was limited to clerics and nobles in the European Dark Ages.

Ole Holten Pind wrote:

> KR Norman has something interesting (philologically) to say. Please see his
> "The Dhaniya-sutta of the Suttai-nipaata" (Collected Works IV:148).
>
> He thinks that samaana,vaaso should read samaasa,vaaso both meaning "staying
> together" but "samaasa" he says could also mean "six months" etc.
>
> I regard this as a next to impossible suggestion. Sa in the sense of six
> only occurs in post-canonical literature, a backformation from Sanskrit
> .sa.s In the canon six is invariably cha.

On the last para: This raises an interesing question, as we very well know that the
12-link formula throughout the Pali Canon has sa.laayatana for the six sense-bases (V
1:1; D 2:32; M 1:51; A 1:176; S 2:3): see CSCD for numerous more. Should this be
"chalaayatana" as in "cha.labhi~n~naa"?

In pace,

Piya