Greetings,
an acquaintance of me recommended this forum for general directions in learning and getting questions answered regarding the Pāli language, so I am hoping being allowed for the first time to posit a question here. I am a Buddhist monk now living in central Thailand, having started to read Pāli some month ago, to give you some background info.
I am confused about the following sentence from the brahmajālasutta: "itipetaṃ abhūtaṃ, itipetaṃ atacchaṃ, natthi cetaṃ amhesu, na ca panetaṃ amhesu saṃvijjatī".
Specifically I don't get at the meaning of itipetaṃ. The commentary resolves into iti and petaṃ. "Thus the departed ones are false." (?!) Very strange and of course not translated by any text I know of, they rather take it, e.g., as "for such and such reason [...]" (Bodhi, The All-Embracing Net of Views). I took it first as sandhi with an insertion of "p" but that such an insertion is possible I found nowhere supported. How would you read this passage? Thank you very much!
Mettā
Ninnamika