Dear Pāli Friends,
Does anyone know what the expression
bhūṇaha (var: bhūnahaṭa, bhūnahoṭa, bhūhata, bhūṇahu) means?
It occurs in three principal places
in the Tipiṭaka:
Sn 664-b bhūṇahu where Norman translates “abortionist”.
Commentary:
Pj 2, 4793: bhūnahu
bhūti-hanaka, vuḍḍhi-nāsaka, “killer of a being, destroying growth”.
The Māgandiya Sutta (MN 75, vol. 1, 50215, bhūṇahu,
bhūṇahano) where it is an insult directed by Māgandiya against the Buddha
and Ven. Bodhi translates “destroyer of growth”. Ven. Ñāṇamoli translates “a
wrecker of being” (Ñāṇamoli and Bodhi 1995: 607, 1281). Per the commentary the
“growth” that the Buddha is destroying is sense-object experience, the
cultivation of which Māgandhiya believes in.
Commentary (Ps 3, 2114-5), hatavaḍḍhino mariyādakārakassa, “destroyer
of growth, maker of limits”.
It is a pejorative expression
supposedly derived from the Vedic
bhrūṇa-han or -ghna, “killer of
an embryo” (Saksena 1936); the Vedic work bhrūṇa first occurs in the RV (10.155.2) where
it means "embryo". According to MW it also has the meaning "child, boy, learned Brahman, and pregnant
woman". however, this definition ("embryo-destroyer") doesn’t
make a lot of sense, either in the above references or in the Jātaka usages, two examples of which
are:
Jātaka 530, vol. 5, 266
ete patanti niraye, uddhaṃpādā avaṃsirā.
isīnaṃ ativattāro, saññatānaṃ tapassinaṃ. 88
te bhūnahuno (var,
Ck guṇāhuno) paccanti, macchā
bilakatā yathā.
saṃvacchare asaṅkheyye, narā kibbisakārino. 89
Francis 1895 [2008]: 137, translates
All that have outrage done to saints
or injured holy men
Fall headlong into hell’s abyss, no more to rise again.
In evil plight their mangled frames,
piecemeal like fish on toast,
For their misdeeds through countless years in hell are doomed to roast.
Commentary glosses; te
bhūnahunoti te isīnaṃ ativattāro
attano vuḍḍhiyā hatattā bhūnahuno koṭṭhāsakatā macchā viya paccanti. “They
offend the seers, because they are destroyed by the inflation of the self and
are cooked like fish made into a portion (koṭṭhāsa-katā,
i. e., like a fish cut up and cooked)", which seems to suggest
"arrogance"; it might also mean "destroyer of brahmans".
Jātaka 358, vol.
3, 179.
aham eva dūsiyā bhūnahatā, rañño Mahāpatāpassa.
pamuñcatu dhammapālaṃ, hatthe me deva chedehīti.4
Mahāpatāpa’s
wretched queen,
‘Tis I alone to blame have been.
Bid Dhammapāla, Sire, go free,
And off with hands of luckless me (Francis and Neil 1895 [2008]: 118).
Commentary: bhūnahatāti
hatabhūnā, hatavuḍḍhīti attho. bhūnahatā
= “Growth destroyed, prosperity lost” is the meaning, but again, the meaning
seems to be more “arrogant” as the queen is being punished because she did not
rise when the King entered her chamber and is here lamenting, that it is she
who should be punished not their son Dhammapāla.Perhaps it means "destroyer of children", because her conduct is leading to her son's death?
My feeling is that most of these
cases do not reflect the translations given, including “embryo-destroyer” or
“destroyer of growth”. As you can see, the Jātaka
authors have taken a good deal of license with the translation, rendering it
“in evil plight their mangled frames” (Jā. 530), and with Jātaka 358 associating the
expression with “wretched” and “blame”.
Any
suggestions would be appreciated,
Best
wishes,
Bryan