Re: What's does the "anta" in Suttanta mean?

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It was Petra who argued that the names of suttas are late and so are not
evidence for early use of sutta as a designation for the discourses.
> Can you give a reference?
I was thinking of Vin I 35, but although the version from the Burmese CD
has Ādittaparyāyasutta, the PTS edition has only Ādittaparyāyaṃ; so we
are back at the problem of lack of proper Ms studies.

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> Since the Pātimokkha, the training rules and Brahmacariya are
> specifically referred to here it seems to me that the simile of the
> flowers not tied to the board primarily refers to the Patimokkha.
> Sariputta also understood it in this manner since he requests the
> Buddha to recite the Patimokkha: /Etassa, sugata, kālo! Yaṃ bhagavā
> sāvakānaṃ sikkhāpadaṃ paññapeyya uddiseyya pātimokkhaṃ, yathayidaṃ
> brahmacariyaṃ addhaniyaṃ assa ciraṭṭhitika’’nti. /‘
>
>
Most scholars would take this passage to be rather late, since it
contains reference to the six past Buddhas as well as to all nine kinds
of dhamma.

To return to my previous question regarding anta in suttanta as meaning ''inside'' or “included in”, in the sense of -anta in gāmanta: “inside the village (area)”: In the Pali commentaries and Tikas sometimes suttantara  is used instead of suttanta.

In commentaries sutta passages are quoted as suttantare and suttante: e.g. Tasmā suttantarepi vuttaṃ ‘yāvatā, bhikkhave, dhammā  … (Sn-a) or 

Suttantepi vuttaṃ bhagavatā …. (It-a)

The words suttantapada, suttantarapada and perhaps also suttapada are used alternatively:

Patis-a

.... virāgā vimuccatī’’ti vuttānaṃ dvinnaṃ suttantapadānaṃ atthaṃ niddisitukāmena

 M-t: Upaparikkhitabboti suttantarāgamato suttantarapadassa aviparīto attho vīmaṃsitabbo.

M-t: Tattha samānetvāti suttantarato samānetvā, suttantarapadehi ca samānetvā.

M-t: etaṃ mama, esohamasmi, eso me attā’’ti, evaṃ suttantarapadānipi ānetvā visesavacanaṃ niddhāretabbaṃ.

 Ud-a: asaṅkhatagāminiñca paṭipada’’ntiādīhi anekehi suttapadehi, ‘‘atthi, bhikkhave, ajāta’’nti.

Perhaps then, if anta corrresponds to antara, suttanta means something like “inside the sutta” or “part of the sutta” as being a part or fibre of the larger sutta body or thread of texts? This  agrees with the suggestion of Klaus.

The Netti commentary explains suttaṃ (in evaṃ suttena suttaṃ saṃsandayitvā, which Nyanamoli translates as  ''collating Thread with Thread'')  as Suttenāti saṃvaṇṇiyamānena suttena. Suttanti suttantaraṃ.

Elsewhere the Nettippakarana suttanta is used in sabbe navasuttante vicinati: ”he investigates all that is in the nine sutta-modes” or Nyanamoli ''investigates .. all that is in the ninefold Thread-of-Argument'' which the commentary explains as the 'nine sutta (modes) starting with sutta, geyya, etc'. The Tika gives two explanations. The first, if I understand correctly, is that one investigates by way of sutta, geyya, etc, bringing the nine modes into the sutta. The second is that one investigates all having the nine sutta modes of sutta, geyya, etc, through the method of conveying which has the characteristic of investigation.

Nett-a: Yasmā pana anugītīti ettha anurūpā gīti anugītīti ayampi attho icchito, tasmā viciyamānassa suttapadassa anurūpato suttantarapadānipi atthuddhāravasena vā paduddhāravasena vā ānetvā vicetabbānīti dassento sabbe nava suttante vicinatīti āha. Nava suttanteti suttageyyādike nava sutte yathāsambhavatoti adhippāyo. Ayaṃ vicayahārassa padatthaniddeso.

Netti Tika: Nava suttanteti suttageyyādivasena navappakāre suttasmiṃ ānetvā vicinatīti yojanā. Atha vā sabbe nava suttante ti iminā pavicayalakkhaṇena hārena suttageyyādīni sabbānipi navappakārāni suttāni vicinatīti attho. Tenāha suttageyyādike ti ādi.

Lance Cousins