Hi Chris,
I've been doing a little digging myself on this MN 12 passage (M I
82,34-83,2) and although I'm far from finished, I learn that "daḷhadhammo"
which is being translated as "skilled" or "strong" has the meaning of
"having a strong bow" (cf. Pali Miscellany, Trenckner 1871, p. 60, note
11). -dhammo (properly -dhammā) stands for -dhanvā > -dhammā. It is also
questionable that "tālacchāyaṃ" be translated as "the shadow of a
palm-tree". It is a measure of length according to Cone's DOP II 305 s.v.
tāla 1.
This is I.B. Horner's translation on p. 109 of M.L.S. i.:
As, Sāriputta, a skilled archer, trained, deft, a marksman, may with ease
wing a slender shaft across a palm-tree's shadow,-4 so are they of exgreme
mindfulness, of extreme attentiveness, of extreme resolute energy, so are
they possessed of the utmost lucidity of wisdom.
fn.—4 A. ii. 48, iv. 429; S. i. 62, ii. 266. See G.S. iv. 288, n. 3.
Best wishes,
Jim
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Valade cjvalade@... [palistudy]"
<palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
To: <palistudy@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: September 21, 2016 8:35 AM
Subject: Re: [palistudy] MN 12
Doing a little searching, I found that simile in two other suttas, linked
below. In the first, AN4.45, it reads, "My speed was as fast as that of a
strong archer — well-trained, a practiced hand, a practiced sharp-shooter —
shooting a light arrow across the shadow of a palm tree." And in the other,
AN9.38, it reads, "Suppose that there were four men standing at the four
directions, endowed with supreme speed & stride. Like that of a strong
archer — well-trained, a practiced hand, a practiced sharp-shooter —
shooting a light arrow across the shadow of a palm tree: Such would be the
speed with which they were endowed."
It d