Re: Meaning of sānu?

Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo and Bodhi,

In the Vimānavatthu (325)  it seems to mean "forest" and is so glossed

“sīho yathā pabbatasānugocaro, mahindharaṃ pabbatamāvasitvā.

pasayha hantvā itare catuppade, khudde mige khādati maṃsabhojano.

Commentary: pabbatasānugocaroti pabbatavanasaṇḍacārī.

The meaning "soil" could also work as a kind of metonym – the soil in which the forest or plants grows. The passage from MN-a talks about the Gandhamādana summit which is sānumayaṃ ("consisting of a grove"),  and gives forth ten fragrances (the fragrance of roots, bark, leaves, flowers, etc.), so presumably there would be a thicket of trees growing there as well as nānappakāraosadhasañchannaṃ = covered with medicinal herbs. sānu ordinarily means plateau, but I think here it means plateau with trees and herbs growing on it; it is also muggavaṇṇaṃ, the colour of green peas, again indicating a wood, thicket and herbs.

Best wishes,

Bryan

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From: "Bhikkhu Bodhi venbodhi@... [palistudy]" <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
To: palistudy@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Saturday, November 22, 2014 4:45 AM
Subject: Re: [palistudy] Meaning of sānu?

 

Dear Ven. Yuttadhammo,

Thank you for this citation. This should settle the meaning of sānu as the material of which a mountain is composed. The gloss "sānūni ca pabbatāni cāti paṃsupabbate ca silāpabbate ca" would mean that it is soil (as opposed to rock). The PED meaning "ridge" and SED "'ridge, summit" seem to be less relevant, as they do not specify the substance.

With best wishes,
Bhikkhu Bodhi

On 11/21/2014 10:00 PM, Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu yuttadhammo@... [palistudy] wrote:

 

Bhante,

Have you seen this?

so tassa vacanaṃ sutvā ācariyaṃ pabodhetukāmo dutiyaṃ gāthamāha —

35.

“ahañhimaṃ sāgarasevitantaṃ, samaṃ karissāmi yathāpi pāṇi.

vikiriya sānūni ca pabbatāni ca, tasmā silaṃ dariyā pakkhipāmī”ti.

tattha ahañhimanti ahañhi imaṃ mahāpathaviṃ.sāgarasevitantanti sāgarehi sevitaṃ cāturantaṃ. yathāpi pāṇīti hatthatalaṃ viya samaṃ karissāmi. vikiriyāti vikiritvā.sānūni ca pabbatāni cāti paṃsupabbate ca silāpabbate ca.

(Jat-A 356)

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