<< Dear Jim, Nina and others,
I would like to make a few cxomments for Jim’s consideration:
Verse 2: ‘visuddha.m’ :‘pure’ rather than ‘purified’ >>
This may be just a matter of personal preferrence. I chose 'purified' for
'visuddha.m' in verse 2 to distinguish it from 'pure' for 'suddha.m' in
verse 3. I suppose my choice of 'purified' is also influenced by
~Naa.namoli's title of 'Path of Purification' for his Visuddhimagga
translation. One objection might be that 'purified' is related to the
causative form 'visodhita' but the meanings given for the verb 'visujjhati'
in PED are: to be cleaned, to be cleansed, to be pure. I think the first two
are practically synonymous with 'to be purifed'. At any rate, either 'pure'
or 'purified' is fine, in my opinion.
<< Verse 4 : taadino. like Him?
Taadi, “such-like” “of such qualities” is a word that reminds one of
tathaagata. Like the latter it is used to refer to the Buddha and the
Arahants. (See PTSD s.v.) Taadino can be either nom. pl. or gen. sg.
As gen sg it can refer to the Sangha, (the Sangha of such
worthiness); as nom.pl to the Buddha (the Sangha of the Buddha of
such worthiness). You will have to find a proper word/words to
translate it.
In the Mahaa-parinibbaa.na-sutta taadi occurs in the statement “naahu
assaasa-passaaso/ .thitacittassa taadino// >>
In addition to the nom. pl. and gen. sg 'taadino' can also be acc. pl and
dat. sg. I read 'taadino' in verse 4 as a dat. sing. in agreement with
'sa"nghassa'. I was aware of 'such-like' but I thought it too vague in the
context and chose 'like Him' instead to show clearly that the Sangha is like
the Buddha which doesn't mean to say 'equal to him' since he has some
additional powers and attainments not shared by his disciples. I will keep
your interpretations in mind.
<< visuddhagu.najotino. the splendour of the purified qualities? Perhaps
“resplendent in (their) pure qualities” >>
Sounds good.
<< saasanattha.m: . Perhaps "for the benefit of the Dispensation" rather
than "for the benefit of the Teaching", in this context.>>
Verse 6:
I will be making some changes here. In my first attempt, I took -attha.m in
the sense of visaya or gocara (scope or subject-matter) but now agree that
'for the benefit or good of . . .' (saasanahitaaya) is better and more
acceptable. Saasana is a difficult one to translate. It seems to suggest a
religion or a tradition (what has been handed down). I was aware of
'Dispensation' as I think that's how ~Naa.namoli translates it also but then
should we not translate 'satthu', which has the same root, as 'of the
Dispenser'? Perhaps 'saasana-' might be better left untranslated: "for the
good of the Saasana". I believe that Buddhasaasana is synonymous with the
Buddhist tradition or religion.
<< Verse 8:
saccaadhigamana.m ta~nca, pa.tipattissita.m mata.m.
pa.tipatti ca saa kaama.m, pariyattiparaaya.naa..
What this seems to say is that the attainment of Truth is considered
or known to be based on practice, and the practice certainly is
dependent on learning of the teaching. (Pariyatti =textual learning,
Pa.tipatti: ethical practice and Pa.tivedha: realization of the Truth
are traditionally regarded as the three pillars of the religious life.
Here adhigama is the same as Pa.tivedha.) ta.m adhigama.m and saa
pa.tipatti are gramatically parallel, adhigama.m being neuter and
pa.tipatti being feminine. The author says ta.m ca adhigama.m (and
that realization) because he has already referred to it in the
previous verse. >>
For the meaning of 'pariyatti' I have been somewhat confused as to whether
it refers to scriptural/textual learning or the texts themselves. I follow
the Abh-.t gloss on 'pariyatti' in Abh 784 which has "pariyatti
pariyaapu.nitabbaa vinayaabhidhammasuttantaa." = "pariyatti is the vinaya,
abhidhamma, & suttanta to be learnt or fully-mastered". I think the three
pillars of the religious life or, in other words, the three-fold Saasana
sums it up beautifully and serves as a great conceptual model for finding
one's bearing.