Brahmajaala commentaries

Dear Members,

I thought I'd follow up on Brother Noah Yuttadhammo's postings from the
Brahmajālasutta and translation with a look at what the commentaries have to
say. There are three commentaries (1 aṭṭhakathā and 2 ṭīkā-s on the same)
available to us as follows:

1. Sumaṅgalavilāsinī (Sv) or Dīghanikāyaṭṭhakathā by Buddhaghosa (5th
     cent.).
2. Sumaṅgalavilāsinīpurāṇaṭīkā (Sv-pṭ) by Dhammapāla (7th cent. ?).
3. Sādhuvilāsinī (Sv-nṭ) by Ñāṇābhivaṃsa (completed in 2345 BE or ca. 1801
     AD). This is an abhinavaṭīkā or a new ṭīkā on Sv and builds on Sv-pṭ,
     the old ṭīkā.

There is a third ṭīkā (Sv-ṭ) by Sāriputta of Poḷonnaruva but seems to be no
longer extant.

The parts that deal directly with the Brahmajālasutta add up to 693 pages as
follows:

Sv I 26-131 (PTS); Sv-pṭ I 43-267 (PTS); Sv-nṭ I 139-500 (Be) [106+225+362 =
693 pages.]

The parts preceding the commentarties on the Brahmajālasutta relate to
Buddhaghosa's introductory verses and the Nidānakathā.

At Sv I 2, at the beginning of the Nidānakathā, is an interesting paragraph
briefly explaining the structure of the Dīghanikāya (= Dīghāgama):

Tattha dīghāgamo nāma sīlakkhandhavaggo, mahāvaggo, pāthikavaggoti vaggato
tivaggo hoti; suttato catuttiṃsasuttasaṅgaho. Tassa vaggesu
sīlakkhandhavaggo ādi, suttesu brahmajālaṃ. Brahmajālassāpi ‘‘evaṃ me suta’’ntiādikaṃ
āyasmatā ānandena paṭhamamahāsaṅgītikāle vuttaṃ nidānamādi. -- Sv I 2

Translation:
Therein, the Dighāgama, by name, according to vaggas has three vaggas as
follows: Sīlakkhandhavagga, Mahāvagga, Pāthikavagga; according to suttas,
(the āgama) comprises thirty-four suttas. Among its vaggas, the
Sīlakkhandhavagga is the first one, among (its) suttas, the Brahmajāla (is
the first one). The source or nidāna beginning with "evaṃ me sutaṃ", which
was spoken by the Venerable Ananda at the time of the First Great Recital,
is the beginning of the Brahmajāla(sutta).

I will follow up on this with an explanation by the two ṭīkā-s.

Best wishes,
Jim Anderson