Re: Bhumibalobhikkhu Foundation

Hi Amara,

> > reimburement. I'd prefer that the books be sent by sea which I
think
> > might take about 3 months.
>
>
> I've checked with the lady again and she said she often mails them
by
> sea, and it takes 2 weeks.  Let's give it three, since I am sending
> you the complete list of their publications, in case you wanted to
> order something else, since the shipping cost starts at about
400/kg,
> but the more weight the less the average, which is why your 4 kgs
come
> to about 1000 including packaging.
>
> For comparison, my 8 volumes of dictionary comes to 10 kgs,
according
> to my maid, and cost 5000 bhts/set, for some reason, coming to
around
> 600 bhts/vol, the cost of your entire 3 book set!  I have no idea
how
> this works, but in your case the shipping is going to cost more than
> the books themselves.  Which is why I am sending you the list in
case
> you would like to order more and lower the shipping cost average
> further by ordering all the books you want from them at once.

I still find it hard to believe that it will only take 2 weeks or so
to come from Bangkok by sea to Canada. When I order books from PTS in
the UK (maybe a quarter to a third of the distance) it normally takes
about a month by sea. Would the high shipping cost be due to it being
sent by private courier rather than through the post office? Thank you
for posting the BBF list of titles which is truly amazing as it
contains a lot of rare books not published by PTS and I can see that I
will want to add many other titles to my order. So don't have any
books sent to me until I decide on which ones I want included. I think
it might be better if they charge everything directly to my credit
card as I think the total bill is going to be high.

> > I'm interested in the name Saddavisesa for
> > the series as 'visesa' is a word that I often have trouble
> > understanding as I did in my recent explanation of the first
> > derivation of se.t.tho. I think the sadda part is used like the
sadda
> > (meaning language) in Saddaniiti but how do you understand the
meaning
> > of the 'visesa' part in the combination with sadda?
> >
>
> Visesa has been incorporated in the Thai usage, but the meaning
might
> have shifted slightly, according to my So Sethaputra, 'wisehd'
means:
>
> vi. adj. - superb (chance), splendid, topping, tops; magic, magical
> (power)
>
> My newly acquired BF Paali - Thai - English vol. 7 says [all
questions
> beginning with ? mine]:
>
> Visesa [fr. vi+sis(? the s's here have special phonetic symbols) cp.

These refer to two Sanskrit s's not found in Pali. They can be
represented in the Velthuis scheme by "s (s with the acute mark above)
and .s (underdot s), and so vi+"si.s.

> Epic Sk. visesa]
> 1. (mark of) distinction, characteristic, discrimination A I.267; S
> IV.210;] II.p; Miln 29; VvA 58, 131; PvA 50,60. -
> 2. elegance, splendoour, excellence  Jv.151; DhA 1.399.
> 3. distinction, peculiar merit or advantage, eminence, excellence,
> extraordinary state D I.233 (so for vivesa all through?)[? I wonder
if
> there is some mistake here].

I agree. I think 'vivesa' is a typo for 'visesa'.

   A III.349 (opp. haana);  J O/435;  VvA
> 157 [Pu~n~na]; PvA 71(id.), 147 (sukha). -
> 4. difference, variety SnA 477, 504; VvA 37,81,135 (pl. = items).  -
> 5. specific idea (in meditation), attainment J. vi.69: see & cp.
> Brethren 24.n.i; 110.-Cp.pati.-aadhigama specific attainment A
iv.22;
> M ii.96; Nett 92; Miln 412; DhA i.100.  [Cp. BSk. visesadhigama Civy
> 174].  -gaamin  reaching distinction, gaining merit A ii.349 sq.;  S
> v.108. -gu reaching a higher state of attainment J vi.573.  Paccaya
> ground for distinction of progress (spiritually) D iii.272 sq.;
> 277,282; Nett 77; Vism ii 88 (abstr. bhaagiyataa)

This is also what the PTS's PED entry has as well. So your dictionary
took it right from there.

> Together with Saddha wouldn't it mean something like 'detailed
> analysis of words'?  [Although as a book title, 'The Wonder of
Words'
> sounds more magically appealing to me.]

Interesting but not sure about 'analysis', though 'detail' could be a
translation of 'visesa' (differentia). I looked up Apte's Sanskrit
dictionary and found an entry for /"sabdavi"se.sa.h/ with the
definition: a variety of sound. That doesn't seem applicable in our
case. My guess so far is that 'visesa' refers to a category and with
sadda (also speech or sound) it is specifying a class of works
relating to the Pali language. 'Visesa' is derived from the prefix
'vi' + the root 'sis' + a primary affix 'a'. Visesa is given as one of
the many meanings of the prefix 'vi' and you will also see its past
partciple form 'visi.t.tha' used to explain the 'abhi' of 'abhidhamma'
and the 'vi' of 'vi~n~naa.na' (discriminating awareness). The
Saddaniti, p.567 gives the meaning of 'atisaya' (superiority) to
'vi'+'sis' which is interesting as Panini uses ati"saya to explain the
usage of the affixes of comparison whereas Kc and Sd use 'visesa'.

.....

> > Kaccaayanavyaakara.na only takes up 411 pages. I'd be interested
in
> > finding out more about the contents of this set, whether it
contains
> > other works on Kaccayana as well.
>
>
> I think it does, and our friends at NP are bringing the sets to the
> WFB soon.  If you send me the list of books you want we might add
them
> to the lot I had ordered, and we might even ask them to send this
set
> together with the rest.

That would be good if the BBF could ship out the Kaccayana set along
with my order of books from them. If you see the Kaccayana set could
you perhaps check to see exactly what's in them. I'm geting curious.

> I'm sorry I have another busy afternoon/evening coming up, but will
> try and send you the BF list as soon as I can, if possible before I
> leave.
.....

> I seem to be able to get through OK, perhaps they have fixed it by
> now, thank you for the informtation.   I typed out the list for you;
> please see below:

I think the problem was quite short-lived and might have been just
part of a larger internet problem. Thank you for taking the trouble of
typing out this very useful list. There's one item I'd like you to
clarify:

> [9] SADDHAMAPAKASINI ANAOABASATU             150

What is this ANAOABASATU? It doesn't look like a proper Pali spelling.
Could you check?

Thanks for your great help! Remember not to have any books sent to me
until I've sent you a complete list of the books I want from the
foundation.

Best wishes,
Jim