atypical vitakka in Mil 116?

Dear Professors and Dear List-members,

In *Mil* 116, in an eightfold apophatic listing of Vessantara's qualities,
Nagasena says he is without *vitakka*, and the occurrence is clearly
distinct from the more typical discussion in e.g. *Mil* 63. As no mention of
*vicara* is made here, the alternatives are perhaps a bit less strict than
is the case with the famous meditational pairing, most helpfully overviewed
by Prof Cousins in *IIJ* 1992 = FS 1 K.R. Norman. Despite this guidance, I
don't know how to render *vitakka* in this very passage.

The text reads *na vitakkavasena* (*pavattati*). Checking the translations,
we found rather unsatisfactorily renderings: 'disputation' in Rhys Davids
(1890: 1.173, 'his heart not turned in the way of' etc.) and 'raisonnement'
in Nolot (1995: 111; 'la pensée n'était mue ni par etc.'), but 'je reste
sur ma faim' as there are no further comments. A similar situation is met in
the modern *Mil-a* edited by Prof Deshpande, in *DOP* & in *CPD* (if I am
not mistaken; I was able to check neither Prof Jaini's *tika*, nor Dr
Ferreiro-Jardim's 2006 unpublished Australian paper). Horner (1969: 1.162 *
cum* n. 2) has 'way of thought', rightfully adding 'a very difficult word to
translate' (for 'not that it [scil. the mind] proceeded'). Paribok's Russian
*Mil* and Osier's recent French *Vess* translations offer, again, no clue.
Note *vitakka* described with *pavattati* in Cousins 1992: 157 n. 82.

This seems to be a little bit puzzling: is this to be taken *prima facie* as
e.g. 'initial thought', with Horner and Prof Gethin's thesis (1992/2001
passim)? Or perhaps the most context-sensitive translation is still the
first English one, however far from a proper substantiation (perhaps
*citta*cannot be taken here in the sense of
*hadaya,* as in many a non-Buddhist Indian setting; see Sugunasiri,
*PhEW*1995: 409-430), and looking like a wild guess?

Would you be so kind as to offer an alternative hint for translation? Please
excuse the lack of diacritics.

with metta
Eugen


--
Dr E. Ciurtin
Secretary of the Romanian Association for the History of Religions
http://ihr-acad.academia.edu/EugenCiurtin

Publications Officer of the European Association for the Study of Religions
www.easr.eu

Lecturer & Secretary of the Scientific Council
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Calea 13 Septembrie no. 13 sect. 5, Bucharest 050711
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