Re: gamanassādānaṃ devaputtā naṃ
From: Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu
Message: 3459
Date: 2012-08-09
Bhante,
Sorry, I can see it now... more like "bound to the feet", since it's not
locative... I still find it difficult to believe we are actually
talking about razor blades tied to the feet of angels, but truth is
stranger than fiction after all :)
Here's something that might be of interest; seems it's well-known that
Suriya moves pretty quick and is attended by some pretty busy angels:
My dear King, the carriage of the sun-god's chariot is estimated to
be 3.600.000 yojanas [28.800.000 miles] long and one-fourth as wide
[900.000 yojanas, or 7.200.000 miles]. The chariot's horses, which
are named after Gâyatrî and other Vedic meters, are harnessed by
Arunadeva to a yoke that is also 900.000 yojanas wide. This chariot
continuously carries the sun-god.
Although Arunadeva sits in front of the sun-god and is engaged in
driving the chariot and controlling the horses, he looks backward
toward the sun-god.
There are sixty thousand saintly persons named Vâlikhilyas, each the
size of a thumb, who are located in front of the sun-god and who
offer him eloquent prayers of glorification.
Similarly, fourteen other saints, Gandharvas, Apsaras, Nâgas,
Yakshas, Râkshasas and demigods, who are divided into groups of two,
assume different names every month and continuously perform
different ritualistic ceremonies to worship the Supreme Lord as the
most powerful demigod Sûryadeva, who holds many names.
My dear King, in his orbit through Bhû-mandala, the sun-god
traverses a distance of 95.100.000 yojanas [760.800.000 miles] at
the speed of 2.000 yojanas and two kros'as [16.004 miles] in a moment.
* The Vishnu Purâna states: Worshiping the most powerful demigod
Sûrya, the Gandharvas sing in front of him, the Apsaras dance before
the chariot, the Nis'âcaras follow the chariot, the Pannagas
decorate the chariot, the Yakshas guard the chariot, and the saints
called the Vâlikhilyas surround the sun-god and offer prayers. The
seven groups of fourteen associates arrange the proper times for
regular snow, heat and rain throughout the universe.
http://www.harekrsna.de/artikel/sun-chariot.htm
I imagine with a little inquiry here in Sri Lanka one would find that
monks like Soma Thera were acquainted with this legend.
Anyway, Nina's right - the important point is that in each part of the
step, the elements arise and cease and do not go from one part to the
next - "na hi dhammānaṃ desantarasaṅkamanaṃ atthi" :)
Best wishes,
Yuttadhammo
On 08/09/2012 05:49 PM, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote:
>
> Dear Fellow Pali Groupers,
>
> I thank those of you who replied to my inquiry. I see that there is no
> simple and unambiguous interpretation of this passage, though I found
> Ven. Pandita’s explanation to be cogent. I don’t see the problem that
> Ven. Yuttadhammo has in taking pāde to mean “on the feet.” I also
> think the idea that the meeting “conjoins” the head of one deity with
> the feet of the other would be expressed otherwise than by the use of
> the past participle baddha- (which seems to me better than the variant
> bandha-). The occurrence of a conjunction is already indicated (in my
> reading) by samāgama (or sannipāta in parallel passages). It occurred
> to me a short while ago that what is probably being related here is an
> ancient Indian explanation of meteorites, the phenomenon popularly
> known as “a shooting star.” On this hypothesis, it would be the
> momentary meeting of the two blades that gives off a shooting star.
>
> What I was really interested in was the question whether there was any
> basis for Soma Thera’s insertion of “the sun” into the passage. As
> Ven. Yuttadhammo suggests, Soma may have had in mind the
> Dhanuggahasutta from the Opamma-samyutta. Perhaps in the original
> printed edition he included a note explaining his rendering (I have
> only the electronic version); if not, he should certainly have
> included such a note.
>
> Again, with thanks,
>
> Bhikkhu Bodhi
>
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