Re: questions based on Digha Tika

Dear Ven. Bodhi,

I make it:

"Or rather, he stated karuṇāsītalahadaya 'with a tranquil heart due to
compassion'  because it is the compassion of the Lord in particular that
has reached the state of 'great compassion' which is the cause of a
tranquil heart, [compassion that] is the specific cause for the
knowledges that are not shared with others, because it extends over its
own domain just like the preeminent and all-inclusive knowledge of
omniscience."

I understand the meaning as follows:
Wisdom understands its object. Omniscient wisdom (=great wisdom) is
unsurpassed and understands its object comprehensively. Similarly
compassion is moved by the suffering of beings. Compassion which has
reached the degree of great compassion is especially the cause of the
Lord's tranquility of heart. It reaches that degree by fully
encompassing its own domain i.e. suffering beings. So it is a specific
cause for the knowledges which are unshared. Similarly omniscient wisdom
is preeminent and complete because it fully encompasses its own domain
i.e. dhamma(s).

Lance Cousins


On 28/03/2013 23:40, Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi wrote:
> Dear Friends,
>
>
> Looking at the passage again, I think I was on the right track but wrongly took what was correct to be a scribal error. I now think the Tika-writer is in fact saying that compassion, when it arrives at the state of great compassion (mahākaruṇābhāvaṃ upagatā karuṇāva), becomes the distinctive basis for the unique knowledges of a Buddha (asādhāraṇañāṇavisesanibandhanabhūtā)—just like the pre-eminent and all-inclusive omniscient knowledge (sātisayaṃ niravasesañca sabbaññutaññāṇaṃ). Thus it is right that --bhūtā  should agree with the feminine singular ending of karuṇā.
>
>
> But I’m still unsure of the role of sa- in savisayabyāpitāya.
>
>
> Thanks.
>
>
> BB
>
> Dear Pali Friends,
>
> In the Dīgha Nikīya Ṭīkā we read the following:
>
> Atha vā asādhāraṇañāṇavisesanibandhanabhūtā sātisayaṃ niravasesañca sabbaññutaññāṇaṃ viya savisayabyāpitāya mahākaruṇābhāvaṃ upagatā karuṇāva bhagavato atisayena hadayasītalabhāvahetūti āha ‘‘karuṇāsītalahadayan”ti.
>
> (I 3, both in the VRI edition and in the PTS edition)
>
> I have two questions about this passage:
>
> (1) Since asādhāraṇañāṇavisesanibandhanabhūtā is evidently qualifying sabbaññutaññāṇaṃ, why does it end with –bhūtā, which looks like a feminine singular, rather than with –bhūtaṃ, which would agree with the neuter singular –ñāṇaṃ? Both editions of Ṭīkā, as well as the corresponding passage in the Sīlakkhandhavagga-Abhinavaṭīkā, have the same reading. It seems to me that the author (or an editor or copyist) momentarily forgot that he was writing about –ñāṇaṃ here and took the subject to be karuṇā, which is the main topic in the passage. But perhaps I’m missing something.
>
> (2) How should we understand the sa- in savisayabyāpitāya? It could be the short form of saha or it could represent “one’s own,” equivalent to attano. But if it is intended in the former sense, I don’t see what function it fulfills. The sense would seem adequate without sa-: “the pervasion of its objective sphere.”
>
> I look forward to your response to this.
>
> Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
> Chuang Yen Monastery
> 2020 Route 301
> Carmel NY 10512
> U.S.A.