Re: Meaning of "Buddha"?

 

Dear Lance,

I would understand anubuddhā here as meaning 'recollected'. In other
words it is not that he understood them. Rather, he recalled his
experience of them. I agree that in this case it doesn't mean 'awakened'.

Monier Williams Sanskrit Dictionary has:
"to awake; to recollect; to learn (by information)"

But how could he recollect vimutti? Only the arahant and the Buddha have this experience, while 'recollect' means to bring up a memory. Gotama could not have recollected vimutti until he became Buddha. In the prose it is used together with paṭividdha, and in the verse with abhiññāya which  suggests that it is more than  just recollection.

Perhaps we interpret the verse, and also the prose, differently? As I understand the verse, it refers to Gotama's sambodhi under the Bodhi tree. Gotama became Buddha through wisely understanding/becoming enlightened with regards (anubuddha) the four dhammas.

How do you interpret it?

I think this indicates the range of meanings it can have. In
interpreting the Canonical texts, especially those in verse, it is
important to draw upon the usage of all the older Indic languages i.e.
Sanskrit and Prakrit both. Otherwise one narrows the meaning to one
dependent upon the much later commentaries and specific to Buddhist
contexts. The commentaries are invaluable, but they are not always aware
of older and wider usages. This is especially true of verse which tends
in Pali as in other languages to utilize unusual forms and meanings.

Yes, but I am sometimes wondering how reliable Monier Williams is since  it was made in 1872 and because he does not give references.

The next stanza has abhiññāya which Bhikkhu Bodhi renders as 'Having
directly known'. This too, I think, means that it is not just a matter
of 'having information about'.

I agree with this, but I think that Bhikkhu Bodhi means `understanding' in the sense of understanding with wisdom.

BW,
          Bh Nyanatusita

Lance Cousins
> Dear Bhante,
>
> The Buddha himself explained his /bodhi /in two verses, found in three
> suttas (and quoted in the Kathavatthu and Vimuttimagga), as follows:
>
> Sīlaṃ samādhi paññā ca, vimutti ca anuttarā;
>
> Anubuddhā ime dhammā, gotamena yasassinā.
>
> Iti buddho abhiññāya, dhammamakkhāsi bhikkhunaṃ;
>
> Dukkhassantakaro satthā, cakkhumā parinibbuto ti. D II 123; A II 2; A
> IV 105
>
> Which you translate in Numerical Discourses as
>
> Virtuous behavior, concentration, wisdom,
>
> and unsurpassed liberation:
>
> these things the illustrious Gotama understood by himself.
>
> Having directly known these things,
>
> the Buddha taught the Dhamma to the bhikkhus.
>
> The Teacher, the end-maker of suffering,
>
> the One with Vision, has attained nibbana.
>
>
> The Buddha here says that he “understood” or “realized”, /anubuddha,
> /four dhammas, and then says that the “Buddha, having directly known
> thus”, /abhiññāya/, “taught the Dhamma to the bhikkhus.”
> The /anubuddha /to these four states is the cause for Gotama becoming
> a Buddha. Since /abhiññāya/ is used instead of /anubuddha/ in the
> second verse, and since /cakkhum//ā/, “one with vision” is used as a
> synonym for Buddha, it seems to me that the emphasis here lies on the
> aspect of understanding and realization and vision with the light of
> wisdom rather than “awakening” from the sleep of ignorance.
>
> If /anubuddhā ime dhammā///would be translated as “awoke to these
> dhammas” it would not match with “directly known” /abhiññāya /and
> /paṭividdhā ///“penetrated” or “comprehended” //as used in the
> preceding prose section along with /anubuddhā/:
> /Tayidaṃ, bhikkhave, ariyaṃ sīlaṃ anubuddhaṃ paṭividdhaṃ, ariyo
> samādhi anubuddho paṭividdho, ariyā paññā anubuddhā paṭividdhā, ariyā
> vimutti anubuddhā paṭividdhā, ucchinnā bhavataṇhā, khīṇā bhavanetti,
> natthi dāni punabbhavo’’ti. //
>
> /Isn't there another word that fits the metaphor of light but is not
> so loaded with old connotations as “enlightenment”?
>
> Best wishes,
> Bh Nyanatusita
>

--
Best Wishes,

Lance

-------------
From:
L.S. Cousins,
12 Dynham Place,
Oxford,
OX3 7NL

CURRENT EMAIL ADDRESS:
selwyn@...