Re: Mmd: introductory verses

Incorporating some of the suggestions made I have:

And to Kaccaayana whose understanding was praised by the Sage,
I will make an Introduction to the Kaccaayana book which he has made,
relying on the instruction I have received from those
who know the solutions to debated points that have been handed down
in succession <from teacher to pupil>.

kaccaayana~n ca muniva.n.nitabuddhim assa /
kaccaayanassa mukhamattam aha.m karissa.m //
paara.mparaabhatavinicchayanicchaya~n~nuu- /
laddhopadesam avalamba katassa tena //

I am happy as to the syntax, but there remain two areas of uncertainty for me:

1. I too am unsure whether mukhamatta is intended as the title of a
work or as a generic term or both.

2. The exact meaning of vinicchayanicchaya is uncertain. Apart from
anything else I do not really know the grammatical literature and am
not sure if these words have the same meaning as elsewhere. Generally
speaking, however, vinicchaya means investigation, conclusion,
judgment and the like. Nicchaya adds an element of finality. But I am
following:

Sadd II 363: aya.m vinicchayo patto, nicchaya.m bho su.naatha me

(I am not sure if this is the passage in Sadd to which you are referring, Jim.)

Here there is some discussion of the derivation of itthi(i) 'woman',
found also occasionally in Pali verse in the form thii. The
commentaries explain itthi in terms of the verb thi(i)yati 'gather,
collect' (corresponding to the Sanskrit explanation of strii).
Aggava.msa points out that this works for Pali thii but does not
account for the initial 'i' in itthi(i):
"the derivation of the word itthi(i) is very difficult if the
explanation (vaada) of the teachers <is followed> -
this is the conclusion (vinicchaya) <I> have reached. Listen, sirs,
to my solution (nicchaya)."

So we could render the last line of the second verse in Mmd:
who know the judgments and solutions that have been handed down in
succession <from teacher to pupil>.

In any case, it is clear that in a general sense what is meant is
that instruction has been received from people who are both familiar
with controversial issues and within the teaching lineage.

That is about all I can manage on these two verses, I think.

No-one has responded to Nina's question so far:

I think it is anagh' uttamadakkhi.neyya.m i.e. a poetic or metrical
elision for anaghaµ uttamadakkhi.neyya.m. Hence Jim's translation.

Lance Cousins