Re: Meaning of "Buddha"?

Dear Petra,

I found a review by von Hinüber on the An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles also called Poona Dictionary. In an unusually wry manner, after discussing up other problems with the project, he estimates that at its current speed it will take another 900 years to finish it!

``it is clear that it is a truly unique long-term project, of which the completion is to be expected after about nine centuries (!) calculated from today, towards the end of the next millennium. Then after reaching about page 127000 (!) the paper of the first volumes will be long turned to dust. It therefore seems imperative to thoroughly review the planning and to streamline the project''.

'so ergibt sich, dass es sich um ein wahrhaft einzigartiges Langzeitprojekt handelt, dessen Abschluss nach etwa neun Jahrhunderten (!) von heute aus gerechnet, also erst gegen Ende des nachsten Jahrtausends zu erwarten ist. Dann wird nach Erreichen von etwa Seite 127 000 (!) das Papier der ersten Bände langst zu Staub zerfallen sein. Es scheint also dringend geboten, die Planung gründlich zu überdenken und das Unternehmen zu straffen.'

''An Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Sanskrit on Historical Principles. General Editor S. D. Joshi
Journal'', Indo-Iranian Journal, Volume 42, Issue 2 , pp 157-163. see http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1003264408418#page-1

Republished in Kleine Schriften vol. II.

Best wishes,
Bhikkhu Nyanatusita

On 12/3/2014 1:11 PM, Petra Kieffer-Pülz kiepue@... [palistudy] wrote:

Dear Ven. Nyanatusita, This dictionary is still unsurpassed, right, but besides the Große Petersburger Wörterbuch and the shorter version of the Petersburger Wörterbuch as well as Schmidt's Nachträge several special dictionaries have been made( Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit; the Sanskrit-Wörterbuch der buddhistischen Texte aus den Tufan-Funden (not yet completed), specialized on the vocabulary of the Sarvāstivādin, etc.). Most of them are put online by the University of Cologne (Germany). Here is the link, where all available Sanskrit Dictionary are sorted as to languages, and can be used online. http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de/ A new project at the University of Halle creates a Online-Sanskrit Dictionary which contains all information from all the Sanskrit dictionaries and many special works. Kumulatives Nachtragswörterbuch des Sanskrit It hopefully will go online next year in summer. Best, Petra Am 02.12.2014 um 18:43 schrieb Nyanatusita nyanatusita@... <mailto:nyanatusita@...> [palistudy]:

Dear Petra, Thanks. Is it because of the excellence of these dictionaries that no newer Sanskrit English Dictionary has been made? There have been several large Pali dictionaries since Childers first one (in 1872): Rhys Davids & Stede, Critical Pali Dictionary, and now Cone's, but as far as my limited knowledge goes, in the field of Sanskrit, development of large dictionaries ended with Monier Williams. BW, Bh Nt On 12/2/2014 10:54 PM, Petra Kieffer-Pülz kiepue@... [palistudy] wrote:

Dear Ven Nyanatusita, one remark regarding the reliability of MW. He used the excellent Große Petersburger Wörterbuch by Böhtlingk & Roth, where you can find the German meanings with references. In case you want to be certain regarding the sources in which a certain meaning appears, it is worth consulting the PW (which is also available online). Best, Petra Am 02.12.2014 um 18:18 schrieb Nyanatusita nyanatusita@... <mailto:nyanatusita@...> [palistudy]:

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.

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