Re: Saddatthabhedacintaadiipanii, verse 1

Dear Ven. Dhammanando,

> Ong Teng has for some  time been trying to order books from
> the Buddhaghosa College people, but without any success. It
> seems the quality of their scholarship is not matched by the
> efficiency of their distribution. Their publications are not
> for sale anywhere in Bangkok, so one must either go to the
> college in person or order by mail. The latter course,
> however, is hampered by the fact that they tend not to
> respond to queries sent to them.

I think this is a problem in general for those who live outside of
South Asia and who do not speak the native language to find out about
the existence and availability of Pali texts relating to philology and
to be able to acquire them. One solution would be to find someone who
resides inside the country, is interested in the Pali language, and an
enthusiastic book-hunter/collector willing to help others acquire such
seemingly hard-to-come-by books. I know of some recent Devanagari
publications (early 90s) of the Nyaasa (Delhi) and the
Kaccaayanava.n.nanaa (Varanasi) which I would love to acqure but so
far haven't been able to.

> I mentioned the problem to my upa.t.thaaka and he has said
> he is willing to puchase and send the books to those
> interested. So if anyone would like copies of one or both
> books and cannot obtain them from the college, just e-mail
> me and I will send you his bank account details when we have
> estimated what the cost will be. I don't think the books
> would come to more than ten pounds sterling, but the postage
> might be a bit steep as they're both heavy hardbacks.

Your upa.t.thaaka's offer of help is greatly appreciated. I had a
number of Pali books sent to me from Thailand last year. In sending
money to Thailand from Canada, I found out that a major bank here
would only send bahts by wire to a bank account (for a high $30 fee)
in Thailand. It's much cheaper to send a cheque or money order in US
dollars by mail but I don't know how much the person at the other end
would have to pay to convert to bahts. I agree that the postage will
be expensive and it seems better to buy a number of books at the same
time in order to lower the cost per book. How things have changed! I
remember mailing a big box of books from Edinburgh, Scotland to Canada
for about 40p in 1973.

> Yes, I think you're right on all counts. The intended reader
> of the Saddattha and its commentaries is one aspiring to be
> a pa.tisambhidaapatta arahant, and is assumed to have
> completed Kaccaayana-101.

Perhaps you should also add Kaccaayana-401, Moggallaana-401,
Saddaniiti-401, etc., etc.

> > Since you're posting the Pali commentarial text untranslated, I
> > thought this could be an opportunity for any member to offer
comments
> > on or to have a go at translating parts of the text if desired.
>
> Yes, do go ahead. For the next ten days I have to take the
> Vinaya classes of a fellow monk who's in hospital, but after
> that I'll be able to join in.

I have started to study the diipanii but have find it hard going.
I'll keep mulling over the text for awhile and do the best I can and
acknowledging the parts I haven't a clue about. Thanks for your latest
instalment. I found your post on the Saddasa"ngaha interesting because
I've been meaning to ask about it for the last little while. You just
seem to be reading my mind and posting the right posts at the right
time these days. I first came across the term 'Saddasa"ngaha' last
year in the modern nidaanakathaa to my Thai copy of the Suttaniddesa
and have been wondering about it ever since.

Best wishes,
Jim