Dear Huynh,
Sometimes, when you can't find a word or phrase in the dictionary, that's your only alternative. First I check whether it's been used in the vinaya or suttas or abhidhamma. If it has, then there may already be a translation for it and you can look that up. If not, it's quite possible it will be defined in the aṭṭhakathā or ṭīkā, and you can look that up. With contradictory definitions you have to judge by the context which fits, and using a little detective word as to what's suitable, you should be able to figure it out. You are quite right that some words are quite malleable and have several different meanings, but usually it you examine the passage carefully, and also look at similar passages,in similar contexts, you can find the right meaning that illuminates the passage,
Hope that helps,
Bryan
From: "KHANH TRONG HUYNH testsuda@... [palistudy]" <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
To: yahoogroups <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2016 12:08 PM
Subject: [palistudy] Use of Atthakatha & Tika
Dear all,
Sometimes, I cannot look up some "difficult words or phrases" in Atthakatha or Tika of a certain sutta. However, those words or phrases could be found in another Atthakatha or Tika as well. So, I have 2 particular questions:
[1] Could we use another Attthakatha or Tika for reading a certain Sutta? How could we know it will be the same meaning with the word/phrase that we are dealing with
[2] Whether 2 separated Atthakathas/Tikas could be conflicted with each other? If yes, what are your advices for this case?
Sincerely yours,
Huynh Trong Khanh