Re: king and the ascetic

 

Dear All,

I'd like to consult with you about one minor thing in the suttas, but which intrigues me for some time. At the moment I'm translating Bahitika sutta (MN 88) and at the beginning a conversation between Ananda and Pasenadi is described. So my question concerns greeting between king and the monk when they meet. Does the king bows or salutes with anjali?

In the sutta the same word abhivādeti: "bows down; salutes" is used when later Ananda meets the Buddha. While in this case I'm absolutely sure Ananda bowed down to the Teacher, I' not quite sure how Pasenadi greeted Ananda. Especially since the text says
upasaṅkamitvā āyasmantaṃ ānandaṃ abhivādetvā ekamantaṃ aṭṭhāsi
which means he was standing, while talking to the monk.

If he stands and Ananda is sitting, that's against the rule that monk should be seated higher than the lay person. On the other hand, maybe he as king considers himself higher than the ascetic. But, according to the Pali text, he shows great respect when talking to the Ananda. So one would expect him to not stand while monk is sitting. Anywya, as I see it, there is some kind of discrepancy here. Or I miss something?

Maybe this all sounds trivial, but when translating I try to imagine what is described as a real event that happened and what would be the most realistic description of it. And in this case somehow I can't put together the whole picture.

Yours in Dhamma
Branko