Dear Nina, Ven. Yuttadhammo and All,
Yes, one of the "original" meanings of mu.n.da is "shaven" so, "cut" would be consistent, although I'm not sure how a cut spoke can produce the sounds described.
Another "mu.n.da" conundrum is found in the Abhisamacarika-Dharma (101, 2) of the Mahasamghika sect in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit:
mu.n.davaataayane paatramsthavitam. tandaani vaatama.n.dalikaaye aagacchiyaa.na.m bhuumiyampatitobhinno
which vonHinuber translates as
“The almsbowl is to be placed in a not closable (muṇḍa?) window, for when a wind has arisen, it falls to the ground
broken. (Von Hinüber, O. 1992. "SprachentwicklungundKulturgeschichte, EingBeitragzurmateriellenKulturdesbuddhistischenKlosterlebes." AkademiederWissenschaftenundderLiteratur, AbhandlungedderGeistesundSozialwissenschaftlichenKlasseJahrgang 1992, Nr. 6, 45)
The word might mean "bare" here in the sense of a window with no covering. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Another perlexing case is the commentary to the Sekhasuttaṃ MN 1, 354f) where the Sakyans prepare a new assembly hall for the Buddha with "prepared seats" for which the commentary is:
...bhikkhusa"nghassapalla"nkapii.thaa-passayapii.tha-mu.n.dapii.thaani pa~n~naapetvaa... "for the BhikkhuSangha, they prepared cross-legged seats, seats with a cushion, and mu.n.da (bare, unadorned?) seats...."
This might make sense; however in the next phrase the commentary talks about placing "ha.msalomaadipuuritaani" pillows filed with swan's down , so I'm not sure. The whole passage reads,
pacchimabhitti.m nissaaya bhikkhusa"nghassa palla"nkapii.tha-apassayapii.tha-mu.n.dapii.thaani pa~n~naapetvaa upari setapaccatthara.nehi paccattharaapetvaa paaciinabhitti.m nissaaya attano attano mahaapi.t.thikakojavake pa~n~naapetvaa ha.msalomaadipuuritaani upadhaanaani .thapaapesu.m
which I tentatively translate as "near the western wall they prepared these (three types of seats for the bhikkhu Sangha) above which they spread out a white canopy and near the eastern wall they prepared for each of themselves high-backed kojavake (? armour-wolf?) seats, and caused pillows filled with swan's down to be placed."
Does anyone know what a mahaapi.t.thika-kojavake seat is? And were the pillows placed just on those seats or also on the bhikkhus' seats (in which case mu.n.dapii.thaani can't mean "empty or unadorned seats")?
Metta,
Bryan
________________________________
From: Nina van Gorkom <
vangorko@...>
To:
Pali@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2011 5:52:55 AM
Subject: Re: [Pali] Re: Question on mu.n.da
Venerable Yuttadhammo,
Op 10-dec-2011, om 4:44 heeft Yuttadhammo het volgende geschreven:
> But it seems difficult to understand how a bare spoke could make the
> sound of a quintet orchestra...
>
> See the petavatthu aṭṭhakathā:
>
> >kaṇṇamuṇḍoti khaṇḍitakaṇṇo chinnakaṇṇo.
>
> "shaven-eared" means broken-eared, cut-eared.
>
> So, mu.n.da can mean "cut, broken", which seems to fit the context
> here
> much better than "bare".
------
N: Interesting text, you are right.
Appreciating your explanations and help,
with respect,
Nina.
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