Vism

Dear bhikkhu Nyanatusita, Jim and Lance,

The Vism passage you have been discussing puzzles me. The phrase on page 22
(PTS edition) is a quotation from p. 16. where it occurs in a long
definition of aajiivapaarisudhisiilam, which is defined in terms of the
transgression (viitikkamassa ... vasena) of six sikkhaapadas and in terms of
the transgression of bad dhammas, which are defined as kuhanaa etc.
Now, when Buddhaghosa quotes the phrase concerning the six sikkhaapadas, it
is impossible to construe the phrase grammatically because it ends with ti
to mark that it is a quotation taken out of context, where viitikkammassa
..... vasena of the original definition would have clarified it. Then he
addresses the sikkhaapadas namely the following (yaani taani) and definies
each carefully and closes with the remark that this is the way in which they
are paññattaani. I think, however, that it is impossible to construe the
immediately following phrase imesa.m channa.m sikkhaapadaana.m with the next
paragraph, which goes on describing the bad dhammas. I have therefore come
to the conclusion that this phrase merely picks up the channa.m
sikkhaapadaana.m of the previous quotation to underline that they are those
just defined, and that the comma added by the PTS editors should be changed
to full stop. I think that Bhikkhu Nanamoli must have come to the same
conclusion because he translates "Of these six precepts."

Ole Pind


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