Re: MN 12

Dear Branko and All,

First, the translation of the Middle Length Discourses was primarily the work of Bhikkhu Nyanamoli. I edited it, revised some of his renderings, and added introduction and notes, but the bulk of it was his translation. Although I do not have his original handwritten notebooks with me, I think it highly probable that I left this passage exactly as he had rendered it.

Second: I think it would be wrong to take tālacchāyaṃ itself to be "a measure of length." Rather, this is still the shade of a palm tree, which the commentary says is vidatthicaturaṅgula, which (since a vidatthi = 12 aṅgula, PED) amounts to 16 aṅgula. Thus the point of the simile is that "just as a skilled archer could easily shoot an arrow past the shade of a palm tree, which is just 16 aṅgula in length, so ..." This should not be hard to understand.

With metta,

Bhikkhu Bodhi

 

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

-- 
Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi
Chuang Yen Monastery
2020 Route 301
Carmel NY 10512
U.S.A.

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!