Dear Nina,

thanks.

Vajja - I beg to differ. I understand 'vajja' not just to refer to
something severe, but misdeeds and wrongdoings in general. In the
perspective of this sutta, we may infer 'vajja' to mean "evil deeds",
but I think the word has a wider and more general usage.

I find the Buddha's example of a misdeed affecting the present life
"mind boggling". The Indian caste system may help explain why a person
caught stealing would end up being flogged, tortured, maimed, impaled,
decapitated and fed to the dogs. It was possible that similar laws
existed elsewhere in ancient times through the medieval period right
up to the pre-modern period (and even today). However, with my limited
familiarity with History, the actual practice only took place in
highly segregated societies. Due to the short length of the sutta, we
are unable to determine who the offender was, nor what he had taken.
But, for the treatment he received, we can roughly guess that it must
be a very valuable item he had stolen, or he must be from a lower
stratum of the society. In a society with a large poverty gap, the
rich are very rich, and the poor are very poor. The rich can afford
everything and anything that there is no reason for them to steal. On
the contrary, the poor are so poor that at times stealing is their
only option. Under such situations, harsh laws as we find in this
example are enacted to protect the properties of the wealthy. These
are just my opinions, I do not wish to make a stir. Sankhobha.m
kaatu.m na icchaami.

This example is effective in showing the immediate result of an evil
deed, though. Hopefully, we may soon read about the Buddha questioning
the impartiality of such laws.

Hetu - thanks for the lead. Now, the sentence can be logically halved:

Yathaaruupaana.m kho paapakaana.m kammaana.m hetu...
Indeed, on the account of such evil deeds,...

...cora.m aagucaari.m raajaano gahetvaa vividhaa kammakaara.naa kaarenti.
...the rulers, having held the robber committing the offense, impose
the various punishments.

What do you think?

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Nina van Gorkom wrote:

> 1. vajja: gerund of vajjati, but used here as a neuter noun.
> PTS has 'fault', so does Ven. Buddhadatta's dictionary. [an
> evil deed, as the example used in this sutta, is a fault]

N: All that is blamable. Fault in this context seems too weak. I would
suggest: evil deeds, plural.

> 3. yathaaruupa: thanks for this. yathaa...tathaa... = as...so...,
> just as...likewise...
>
> It is hard to think of an exact equivalent for yathaaruupa,
> furthermore, it is not used as an adverb here, but as a qualifier
> for kamma. PTS has "in like manner".
> In the sentence, "yathaaruupaana.m kho paapakaana.m kammaana.m
> hetu cora.m aagucaari.m raajaano gahetvaa vividhaa kammakaara.naa
> kaarenti", which does 'hetu' mean?

N: PED: acc : hetu, elliptical, with the genetive: on account of . It
belongs to yathaaruupaana.m kho paapakaana.m kammaana.m.