Re: Saddatthabhedacintaadiipanii, verse 1

Dear Ven. Pandita,

> Moreover, "dvandato" should not be translated as "as a dvanda
> compound" Notice the ablative sense of the suffix "to" here. To
> understand this usage, I would have to quote from one of my earlier
> posts.
>
> " Next there is the problem of the ablative case in dhaatumhaa,
> though no one has raised it. It is in fact a convention used in
> building grammatical suttas. It isn't explicitly defined in
> Kaccaayana nor Ruupasiddhi, but it can be found in Moggallana (See
> the sutta "pa~ncamiya.m parassa" --- its meaning, in short, is that
> whenever a grammatical entity is given in ablative case within a
> sutta, the particular process or treatment denoted by that sutta is
> concerned with what follows that entity, not with what precedes it.
> This convention, and other given there, come to be used in vutti and
> commentaries like Ruupasiddhi. I think these conventions come from
> the Sanskrit grammatology and those fluent in Sanskrit should try to
> find out their origin" (Digest - number - 387)

A parallel sutra can be found in Paa.nini's grammar at 1.1.67
(tasmaadityuttarasya). But I don't think it applies here to 'dvandato'
for one only has to ask what is the subsequent (para) of 'dvandato' on
which a grammatical operation is to be carried out? The suffix '-to'
can stand for other cases in addition to the ablative as shown in Sd
493 (tatiyaa-pa~ncamii-cha.t.thii-sattamiyatthesu to kvaci). It is
also my understanding that the '-to' can denote either singular or
plural. I have gone over most of the uses of the ablative case and
have not yet been able to find one to fit the context of our
'dvandato'.

I agree with you that my translation with "as a dvanda compound" is
not right but I'm not in agreement with your translation either:

> According to that convention, "dvandato suyyamaanattaa" should be
> translated as "from the fact of its being heard after a dvanda
> compound"

What is being heard after a dvanda compound?

I'm looking at taking 'dvandato' to be in the locative case instead of
the ablative ie. "from the fact of its (meaning) being heard (or read)
*in* a dvanda compound" and 'dvandato' can also extend to include
'ekasesattaa' ie. "from the fact of the retention of one (in a dvanda
compound)". What do you think?

I thought your explanation of 'ekasesa' and its application to the
dvanda compound was brilliant and straightforward. Just to be sure
I've understood the dvanda compound in question correctly I will
partially resolve it as follows:

'saddatthabhedavaadiina.m' is the retention of one of the following:
saddatthabhedavaadiina~nca (1); saddatthabhedavaadiina~nca

saddatthabhedavaadiina~nca (1) ==>
saddabhedavaadiina~nca atthabhedavaadiina~nca

Best wishes,
Jim