From: Bhikkhu Bodhi
Message: 4353
Date: 2015-06-25
1)
atthi me tumhesu anukampā - Out of compassion for you I have
thought - Would
the literal translation be "There is my compassion in you" ? If
not,
please explain atthi.
A.
In Pali possession is usually indicated by means of a passive
sentence in which
the possessor occurs in the dative-genitive and the object
possessed in the
nominative, as the subject, with the verb ‘atthi’. Objects of
desire,
knowledge, and compassion occur in the locative case, in the
sense of “in
regard to, in relation to.” So here a better literal rendering
is:
“There
is for me compassion in regard to you,” or more naturally: “I
have compassion
for you.”
2)
bhaveyyātha is a conditional basically meaning "if you
should/would
become/be" ?
A:
Bhaveyyātha is
optative, 3rd
person plural. It is not necessarily conditional; whether or not
it functions
as conditional would depend on its role in a sentence. Here it
is used in
relation to the hypothetical consequence.
3)
tumhepi tena ādiyā bhaveyyātha - you will be reproached thus -
Does ādiyā mean
having taken? If so, would literal translation be "you / on that
account /
would be taken as (here I joined ādiyā and bhaveyyātha)" ?
A:
Note that the Burmese edition has ādiyā but
Sinhalese, Thai, and PTS have ādissa,
which is preferable. Ādissa is
absolutive of ādisati,
to point out, to indicate. The expression here is unusual. The
commentary gives
a clear explanation of what is meant:
Apadisitabbā visuṃ kātabbā
vavatthapetabbā, viññūhi
gārayhā bhaveyyāthāti vuttaṃ hoti. Kinti? Āmisadāyādā
satthusāvakā viharanti,
no dhammadāyādāti.
“You might be set off
(apadisitabbā), you might be made
separate (visuṃ kātabbā), you might be segregated
(vavatthapetabbā). What is
meant is: ‘You would be reproachable by the wise.’ How so? As
the Teacher’s
disciples who live as heirs to material things, not as heirs to
Dhamma.”
4)
idhāhaṃ, bhikkhave, bhuttāvī assaṃ pavārito paripuṇṇo pariyosito
suhito
yāvadattho - Now, bhikkhus, suppose that I had eaten, refused
more food, had my
fill, finished, had enough, had what I needed - what is assaṃ (
DPR says
atthi), how does it fit here?
A:
assaṃ
is first person singular, optative, based on the verb ‘atthi’;
it goes with the subject. The other words function as adjectives
describing the subject. Thus: "Suppose that I was one who had
eaten, who had refused more ..."
5)
siyā - what does it mean? (siyā ca me piṇḍapāto....)
A:
Siyā
is third person singular, optative, based on ‘atthi’. There are
two 3rd
person singular optatives based on ‘atthi’: siyā and assa.
I don't know any rule that distinguishes there distinct usage.
6)
atirekadhammo chaḍḍanīyadhammo - what is the point of dhammo in
these words,
how would it change the meaning if it was e.g. atireko
chaḍḍanīyo ? ( the whole
sentence is siyā ca me piṇḍapāto atirekadhammo chaḍḍanīyadhammo
).
A:
As a suffix, –dhamma has the meaning “of a nature of (X).” In
this case, “of an
excessive nature, of a nature to be discarded.” Dhamma may not
add anything to
the meaning, but it was a style of expression in use during the
Buddha’s time.
7)
tatrekassa bhikkhuno evamassa - Then one bhikkhu thought. To me,
literal
translation seems to be: then of one / of bhikkhu / evamassa.
What is evamassa?
I guess "ssa" ending makes it genitive, but I still don't
understand
evama ?
A:
In Pali, the locution used to indicate that somebody has a
thought or idea is:
Tassa evaṃ hoti,
“[It] occurred to him thus…”
followed by the thought or idea. In the above line, this is set
up
hypothetically: “There, it might occur to one monk thus …”
Evamassa = evam +
assa, with ‘assa’ as 3rd person singular, optative
(in this case
corresponding to ‘hoti’ in an indicative sentence); the meaning
is “might
occur/would occur.”
8)
āmisaññataraṃ - what is aññataraṃ ? ( if that is what the second
word actually
is ).
A:
‘aññataraṃ’
means “a certain X,” or simply “a/an X.” Here:
Āmisaññataraṃ
kho
panetaṃ, yadidaṃ piṇḍapāto.
“But
this is a material thing/worldly thing/carnal thing, namely,
almsfood.”
9)
imināva - what does it mean ? In the sentence it is imināva
jighacchādubbalyena, is it because of imināva that "ena" ending
is
added to jighacchādubbalya, making it instrumental ( if I am not
mistaken ) ?
A:
Imināva
= iminā + eva
(emphatic particle)
10)
so taṃ piṇḍapātaṃ abhuñjitvā teneva jighacchādubbalyena evaṃ taṃ
rattindivaṃ
vītināmeyya. - what is the point of taṃ here, what does it mean
in this
context? The way I see the translation is: he taṃ? almsfood not
having eaten
teneva? by [being?] hungry and feeble thus taṃ? day and night he
would spend.
A:
The first ‘taṃ’ goes with
piṇḍapātaṃ.
‘Teneva’ = tena + eva (emphatic particle).
Thus:
“Not having eaten that almsfood, he would pass that night and
day thus with
that same hunger and weakness (or: weakness due to hunger).”
11
) teneva - what does it mean ?
A:
Already answered.
12)
pujjataro ca pāsaṃsataro ca - what does the ending "taro" mean?
more
?
A:
Tara is the comparative suffix, added to adjectives to give the
meaning “more.” Here, “more
honorable and more praiseworthy.”
13)
tañhi tassa, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno dīgharattaṃ appicchatāya
santuṭṭhiyā
sallekhāya subharatāya vīriyārambhāya saṃvattissati . Can you
exlain
tañhi tassa ?
Tañhi
is an eloquent way of writing taṃ hi. It
seems to be common in
Burmese texts, whereas the Sinhalese would have taṃ
hi.
Hello,
I have questions regarding MN 3.
Thanks in advance to whoever takes the time.
1) atthi me tumhesu anukampā - Out of compassion for you I have thought - Would the literal translation be "There is my compassion in you" ? If not, please explain atthi.
2) bhaveyyātha is a conditional basically meaning "if you should/would become/be" ?
3) tumhepi tena ādiyā bhaveyyātha - you will be reproached thus - Does ādiyā mean having taken? If so, would literal translation be "you / on that account / would be taken as (here I joined ādiyā and bhaveyyātha)" ?
4) idhāhaṃ, bhikkhave, bhuttāvī assaṃ pavārito paripuṇṇo pariyosito suhito yāvadattho - Now, bhikkhus, suppose that I had eaten, refused more food, had my fill, finished, had enough, had what I needed - what is assaṃ ( DPR says atthi), how does it fit here?
5) siyā - what does it mean? (siyā ca me piṇḍapāto....)
6) atirekadhammo chaḍḍanīyadhammo - what is the point of dhammo in these words, how would it change the meaning if it was e.g. atireko chaḍḍanīyo ? ( the whole sentence is siyā ca me piṇḍapāto atirekadhammo chaḍḍanīyadhammo ).
7) tatrekassa bhikkhuno evamassa - Then one bhikkhu thought. To me, literal translation seems to be: then of one / of bhikkhu / evamassa. What is evamassa? I guess "ssa" ending makes it genitive, but I still don't understand evama ?
8) āmisaññataraṃ - what is aññataraṃ ? ( if that is what the second word actually is ).
9) imināva - what does it mean ? In the sentence it is imināva jighacchādubbalyena, is it because of imināva that "ena" ending is added to jighacchādubbalya, making it instrumental ( if I am not mistaken ) ?
10) so taṃ piṇḍapātaṃ abhuñjitvā teneva jighacchādubbalyena evaṃ taṃ rattindivaṃ vītināmeyya. - what is the point of taṃ here, what does it mean in this context? The way I see the translation is: he taṃ? almsfood not having eaten teneva? by [being?] hungry and feeble thus taṃ? day and night he would spend.
11 ) teneva - what does it mean ?
12) pujjataro ca pāsaṃsataro ca - what does the ending "taro" mean? more ?
13) tañhi tassa, bhikkhave, bhikkhuno dīgharattaṃ appicchatāya santuṭṭhiyā sallekhāya subharatāya vīriyārambhāya saṃvattissati . Can you exlain tañhi tassa ?
-- Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi Chuang Yen Monastery 2020 Route 301 Carmel NY 10512 U.S.A. To help feed the hungry and educate disadvantaged children around the world, please check: Our website: http://www.buddhistglobalrelief.org/ Our blog: http://buddhistglobalrelief.wordpress.com/ For my Dhamma lectures and teachings: http://www.baus.org/en/?cat=9 (includes schedule of classes) http://bodhimonastery.org/a-systematic-study-of-the-majjhima-nikaya.html http://www.noblepath.org/audio.html http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL23DE0292227250FA For my public photo albums: http://picasaweb.google.com/venbodhi Sabbe sattā averā hontu, abyāpajjā hontu, anighā hontu, sukhī hontu! 願眾生無怨，願眾生無害，願眾生無惱，願眾生快樂！ May all beings be free from enmity, free from affliction, free from distress. May they be happy!