Re: kaccaayanappakara.na

Dear Nina,

> Dear Jim,
> Thank you very much, this is most interesting and I shall print it
out to> keep it.

Thank-you for expressing your interest.

> In my preface to the Guide they say, tradition says...
MahaaKaccayana, but
> modern scholars reject this. But these scholars have not read the Co
to the
> Apadana, I think.

They do know about this, and in fact, it was in a scholarly article by
O. Pind that I learned about the reference to Apadana Co. I've only
started to read this long article but it seems to be an argument
against the tradition in favour of a post-Buddhaghosa dating for
Kaccayana's grammar. The article is entitled: Studies in the Pali
Grammarians I, pp. 33-81, JPTS XIII 1989. On the first page he writes:
"Perhaps it dates from the 7th-8th century A.D. since it is not
referred to in any of the a.t.thakathaas except for Ap-a, a fairly
late commentary. It is there ascribed to Kaccaayana along with the
Mahaanirutti and Nett." p. 33. Also, on the last page of the article
he writes: "To conclude, it is highly unlikely that Buddhaghosa, whose
respectful attitude towards the tradition is beyond doubt, would have
failed to refer to such a work, had it been in existence." p. 81. Yet,
according to the tradition, the Apadaana commentary is ascribed to
Buddhaghosa, a fact which also flies in the face of modern
scholarship. I plan to study his article further and see how
persuasive his arguments are. I think modern scholars are generally
sceptical about the claims of a tradition.

> I wonder whether you could forward this to Pali Yahoo, since it is
important > material about the tradition.
> Nina.

I'm not sure if it would be a good idea for me to forward it.
Personally, I have a thing against cross-posting. However, you're
welcome to do so if you like. You or anyone else here have my
permission to quote me or use my material in other groups. While you
were away I posted an announcement to Yong Peng's Pali group informing
them about the traditional grammatical studies that would start in
this group and inviting anyone interested to join. Only Steve
(Bodhi2500) and Yong Peng have signed up so far. It seems that there
isn't a whole of interest out there, but maybe it just needs a lot of
time to grow.

Best wishes,
Jim