Re: se.t.tho -- derivation 3

Dear Nina,

Welcome back from Thailand and Cambodia!

> thank you very much.
> I am just catching up, had no time to go to your web and look at no
1,2.
> Just a few remarks.

[...]

> J: sabbhaavo:
> N: I have to be careful, since sa can also be: own (Vedic: sva). I
did not
> find sabbhaavo, only sabhaavo. True nature? I am interested since we
discuss
> this a lot on dsg.

I don't see 'sabbhaavo' in PED but it does occur often enough in the
commentaries and subcommentaries and shouldn't be confused with the
more familiar 'sabhaavo'. The Saddaniiti gives 3 derivations for
'sabbhaavo', one of which is: attano bhaavo like sabhaavo, the other
two are: sata.m bhaavo (= sappurisadhammo) & sa.mvijjamaano bhaavo
(existing state??). As you know 'sabhaavo' can also be derived in
several different ways as seen in Sadd and the detailed commentary in
Pa.tis-a.

> J:Unlike the 2nd
> > derivation, this one takes 'se.t.tho' as the object (kamma) of
seeking
> > by the agent (wise ones).
> N: Can it also mean: to be sought among the wise ones. Thus: he is
the best
> of the wise ones?

I think the commentator would have used 'santesu' instead of 'santehi'
if he meant 'among the wise ones' which I think would be another valid
interpretation.

The meaning: 'the best one' belongs only to the first derivation
with 'sa' as the substitute of 'pasattha' followed by the affix of
comparison 'i.t.tha'. With the meanings of the remaining 5
derivatives, the meaning of 'the best one' is just with the first
derivation. Although 'se.t.tho' refers to the Buddha in all of these
cases, we are dealing with a homonym derived in six different ways,
each having its own unique meaning(s). Before you went away I was only
going to treat the first two and then I came upon a detailed
commentary on 'se.t.tho' in the Namakkaara.tiikaa written around 1945
by the President of the Sixth Council, U Rewataabhiva.msa, which gives
an additional 4. The first derivation from 'pasattha' is described in
Kaccayana and even in Buddhaghosa which occasionally glosses
'se.t.tho' with 'pasatthataro'. The other five derivations are
late-comers and could be viewed as optional ones that could be ignored
if one prefers to keep it simple.

> Now placing all this in the context of the Co by Mahaavijitaavi:
> <sundare satipa..t.thaanaadibhede dhamme esati gavesatii ti
> se.t.tho.
> Perhaps you discussed this already? I would be interested.

Yes, this is all discussed in my post for derivation 2. After I'm
through with the last derivation, I will post a summary of all six.
I'm currently working on the 4th one which takes the 'i.t.tha' as 'the
desired or loved one' which made me smile as you had made that
association early last summer when we were discussing the first
derivation which I then thought was the only one possible.

You might be interested in seeing the list of Pali books published by
the Bhumibalobhikkhu Foundation in Bangkok that Amara posted here. It
includes some rare texts such as the Ga.n.thipada on
Pa.tisambhidamagga and another .tiikaa on Visuddhimagga. I have placed
an order for 11 of their books. Yesterday, I received my copy of
Kahr's Indian Semantic Analysis that Rett had recommended here
earlier.

Best wishes,
Jim