re: hi—yasmā and tasmā
I would like to offer an alternative translation of the vutti and an
explanation of how its parts inter-relate, based on Ashin Jananakābhivaṃsa's
Bhāsāṭīkā. He says there are three sentences: 1. *Sabbavacanānamattho
akkhareheva saññāyate* = The meaning of all words is known well and recorded
by means of the letters [or (speech) sounds, if you will] which make up the
words. 2. *Akkharavipattiyaṃ hi atthassa dunnayatā hoti* = True: when
there is deformity of letters [and the sounds they represent], the meaning
is hard to understand. 3. *Tasmā akkharakosallaṃ bahūpakāraṃ suttantesu* =
Therefore [sc, because the meaning of all words is known and recorded by
means of letters and the sounds they represent], akkharakossalañāna
[proficiency in letters and words] is very beneficial with respect to the
suttas.
The first sentence is a direct explication of the sutta. The second
sentence, with hi being translated "saccaṃ", supports the first sentence.
The third sentence is a phala vākya, showing the result of sentence 1.
Tasmā refers back to the first sentence and not to the second.
with best wishes,
Ma Vajira
On Fri, Jan 1, 2010 at 5:08 PM, Ole Holten Pind <ohpind@...>wrote:
> George,
>
> I agree, and the old commentary explains that mispronunciation of the
> sounds
> (akkhara) makes it difficult to understand the meaning of the canonical
> texts. The background is oral presentation of the suttantas. Interestingly,
> there are parallels in the Pali canon. See, for instance, D III,128ff., and
> A II 147,20: idha … bhikkhu duggahita.m suttanta.m pariyapu.nanti
> dunnikkhittehi padabyañjanehi. dunnikkhittassa … padabyañjanassa attho pi
> dunnayo hoti.
>
> Notice that /hi/ of the commentary is to be construed with /tasmaa/. /hi/
> functions syntactically as equivalent to /yasmaa/. The same usage is found
> in Sanskrit commentarial literature: hi (= yasmaat) ... tasmaat ...
>
> Ole
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "George Bedell" <gdbedell@...>
> To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Friday, January 01, 2010 4:48 AM
> Subject: Re: [palistudy] Kc 1
>
>
> All,
>
> Consider the English sentence (1):
>
> (1) "The meaning is correctly known through the letters."
>
> Pretend (for the sake of argument) that we don't know (a) that this is a
> translation from Pali, (b) what the translated Pali words are, (c) what the
> Sanskrit words are which correspond to them, (d) what later commentaries
> have said about them, or (e) how they are defined or analyzed in Pali
> dictionaries and grammars.
>
> What does (1) tell us? First of all, it is talking about written, not
> spoken language.. Maybe it is telling us to be careful in reading and
> writing; if we don't know how to spell, we may misunderstand or cause
> others
> to misunderstand.
>
> What about (2); what does it tell us (those of us who know a little Pali
> and
> are studying Kaccaayana)?
>
> (2) Attho akkharasaññāto.
>
> It isn't about written language or spelling at all, but a fairly profound
> statement about the relation between sound and meaning either in Pali or (I
> would like to think) in all languages, whether in pre-literate or literate
> times. I propose (1') as a preferable translation of (2):
>
> (1') "Meaning is known through sounds."
>
> I have eliminated the definite article since this is the first statement in
> the grammar, and there are no specific meanings or letters to which it
> refers. And 'correctly' is redundant (since incorrect knowledge would not
> be knowledge at all). We still need to ask exactly what Kaccaayana means
> by
> (2), but to insist on 'letter' as opposed to 'sound' (for whatever reason)
> still strikes me as mistaken.
>
> I think this agrees with Ma Vajira when she said:
> > We need to understand as much as possible what is written in Kaccaayana,
> > but
> > we also need to develop an English translation that is meaningful and
> > practical.
>
> * * * * *
> George Bedell
> 230/5 Suan Lanna Village, Huay Kaew Road,
> t. Chang Phuak, a. Muang
> Chiang Mai 50300, Thailand
> +66-53-414100
>
>
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