Hi Bryan,
The commentaries offer some explanation for the yena/tena structure. The
following example is from Sv I 48 on "yena maṇḍamāḷo tenupaṅkami" in the
third para. of the Brahmajālasutta:
Yenāti yena disābhāgena, so upasaṅkamitabbo. Bhummatthe vā etaṃ
karaṇavacanaṃ, yasmiṃ padese so maṇḍalamāḷo, tattha gatoti ayamettha attho.
My interprettation for this phrasing is: "In whatever direction it (the
pavilion) is to be approached, (in that direction the Blessed one
approached). Or, alternatively, this is an instrumental in the sense of the
locative: in whatever place the pavilion was, there he went.
Best,
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bryan Levman" <bryan.levman@...>
To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2012 4:28 PM
Subject: [palistudy] Question on yena/tena structure
Dear Friends,
Is anyone familiar with the yena/tena structure whereby the subject
approached with the verb upasaṃkamati is in the nominative, instead of the
accusative?
A typical instance is at the beginning of the Mahāparinibbāna sūtta where
Ajātasattu tells his minister Vāsakāra to
ehi tvaṃ brāhmaṇa yena bhagavā ten(a)upasaṃkama
"Go Brahmin, approach the Buddha".
ehi is imperative and so is upasaṃkama. One would expect an accusative here
(bhagavantaṃ).
Warder mentions this structure on page 14, without explaining its origin or
use as does Collins on page 25. Apparently the person approached is in the
nominative and the person doing the approaching is also in the nominative
(tvaṃ) with the verb being in the active (not passive, as one would expect)
form.
Another, even simpler example, at the beginning of the Mahānidāna sutta:
atha kho āyasmā ānando yena bhagavā tenupasaṅkami,...
"Ven. Ānanda approached the Blessed One..."
Exactly what function the yena/tena relative/correlative structure performs,
I am not sure, unless is was a hold-over from the passive (yena bhagavā
upasaṅkami, tena Ānanda...) with upasaṅkami a passive aorist (if such a form
exists in Pāli).
Any suggetions as to how this structure originated or what the yena/tena
means or is used for would be appreciated. Why don't we just say āyasmā
ānando bhagavantam upasaṅkami...?
Mettā
Bryan