Dear Branko,

It occured to me after posting the last message that this verse would rate
high as a poetical piece according to the canons of Sanskrit literary
criticism of the famous dhvani school. It says, but only by suggestion
(dhvani), that the Dhamma is to man what water is to plants. It has an
implied rasa or sentiment, that of spiritual peace or healing, what is
called the shaanta rasa. It has also an implicit figure of rhetoric : the
metaphor (ruupaka ala.mkaara) that dhamma is the water of life. The words
that evoke these suggestive meanings are viruuhati (grows/ prospers), sneha
( moisture/affection) and osadhaa (plants/ healing herbs). The surface and
evocative meanings almost certainly constitute a second figure of rhetoric,
the shleSa or double entendre, suggesting that dhamma brings prosperity,
love and healing to life. There is thus a powerful subtext underlying the
surface text.

Mahinda

On 3/19/08, Branislav Kovacevic <ja_sam_branko@...> wrote:
>
> Dear Mahinda and Piya,
>
> many thanks for your suggestions. It was interesting to see different
> approaches, but I'm more inclined to follow Mahinda's suggestion, since it
> better fits into the context as I understand it. Namely, it seems to me that
> comparison made is between a rotten seed in the good soil and the seed well
> watered.
>
> Metta,
> Branko
>
> mahipaliha <mahipal6@... <mahipal6%40gmail.com>> wrote: --- In
> Pali@yahoogroups.com <Pali%40yahoogroups.com>, "Piya Tan"
> <dharmafarer@...> wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for filling in Mahinda. Sorry I could not respond earlier,
> as I lost
> > my file
> > of a new translation of the Kukkuravatika Sutta (M 37), but now
> that I have
> > managed to undelete it, I can answer my mails.
> >
> > A lot of helpful suggestions has been made by Mahinda, but
> > sneha+anvayam+iva+osadhaa is interesting. Firstly, it is a hapax
> legomenon,
> > a one-time occurrence in the text.
> >
> > A possible translation is
> >
> > like a medicinal herb (more potent) after (anvaaya) oil has been
> added to
> > it.
> >
> > So we can perhaps out this into modern English:
> >
> > Ye ca saddhammagaruno, viha.msu viharanti ca;
> > Te ve dhamme viruuhanti, snehaanvayamivosadhaa ti.
> >
> > as
> >
> > They who have lived revering the true Dharma, and continue living
> so,
> > Indeed, grow in the Dharma, like a medicinal herb [drug] (more
> potent) after
> > adding oil to it.
>
> Dear sir,
> This might look plausible, but it does not fit the metaphor. The
> metaphor is that of growing. Plants do not grow by oil, they do by
> water or moistness. At Jataka, I 108. 18 (PTS) we have "ti.naani
> he.t.thaa udaka-sinehena u.t.thitaa": grasses have sprung up from
> the moisture of water underneath (them). ("the moisture of water" is
> how CPD translates the phrase. See CPD s.v. udaka-sineha) This is
> the way to understand sinehanvaya.m of the stz under discussion too.
>
> CPD translates anvayam as "in consequence of". See s.v.
>
> Best wishes
> Mahinda
> >
>
>
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------
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>
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>
>
>


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