I was hoping someone could help translate a brief but seemingly gnarly passage. It's in AN 3.3.3.9 (SLTP 3.129; CSCD and World Tipitika 3.132?; PTS I.282-83, occasionally entitled, "Paá¹icchanna Sutta"), a two-paragraph sutta, the first paragraph consisting of these six sentences:
TÄ«á¹imÄni bhikkhave paá¹icchannÄni vahanti no vivaá¹Äni.
KatamÄni tÄ«á¹i?
MÄtugÄmo bhikkhave paá¹icchanno vahati no vivaá¹o.
BrÄhmaá¹Änaá¹ bhikkhave mantÄ paá¹icchannÄ vahanti no vivaá¹Ä.
MicchÄdiá¹á¹hi bhikkhave paá¹icchannÄ vahati no vivaá¹Ä.
ImÄni kho bhikkhave tÄ«á¹i paá¹icchannÄni vahanti no vivaá¹Äni.
(This is from the SLTP, e.g., at
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sltp/AN_I_utf8.html#pts.283 . The Word Tipitaka redaction substitutes the verb "Ävahati" for "vahati" throughout, e.g., as seen at
http://studies.worldtipitaka.org/tipitaka/15A3/3/3.3/3.3.9 .)
In "In the Buddha's Words" (2005), Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi translates this paragraph (p. 88) as:
"These three things, monks, are conducted in secret, not openly. What three? Affairs with women, the mantras of the brahmins, and wrong view."
For me, the biggest translation question is Ven. Bodhi's translation of "mÄtugÄmo" as "affairs of women." While I can appreciate that "mÄtugÄmo" (e.g., vs. "itthiyo") has the implication of a woman who is both desirable and dreaded (e.g., as used in DN 16, MN 66, MN 67, Iti. 4.10, Ja 436), and thus Ven. Bodhi's inclusion of the phrase "affairs with" captures the licentious connotation of this Pali word. But might not a more straight forward (though, admittedly problematically patriarchal) translation of this be -- especially given that "mÄtugÄmo" is in the nominative (vs. accusative) form -- something like:
"Women proceed in secret ..."?
Thanks so very much for any help!
Larry