Re: Kaccaayanava.n.naa colophon

I'm truly sorry to intrude with my opinion, but... re:

>>I think 'resembling a hoisted banner' qualifies the mountain 'abhayagiri'.
...
>>'nato' should be 'nago' (mountain). I mistook the Thai 'g' for a 't'.
...
> This clarifies things. It means: ``The mount (named) `Abhayagiri'.''
...
>There is, as far as I know, no hill at all in or near the Abhayagiri
>vihaara in Anuraadhapura in Sri Lanka. At least I have not seen anything
>there. It is completely flat.

Abhayagiri may nevertheless indicate the temple (not a mountain): "Nago"
could here be used in the sense of "nagara" (fortress, etc.) --a very apt
description for the temple in question (i.e., if it is the one in Sri Lanka
  --a tall brick tower, with a fortified appearance).  The epithet "like a
hoisted banner" would also describe this tower itself fairly well --in any
case, it seems to apply more naturally to the tower than to a (literal)
mountain.  Obversely, we could simply take "nago" as an exaggeration for the
stupa/mound situated underneath the tower.

Jim, take a look: it really does have a fortress-like quality (and the mound
is fairly impressive, if not quite a mountain in scale):
http://www.mysrilanka.com/travel/history/abayagiri.htm



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