Khuddaka Nikaya - Nettippakarana - Second Grouping - Illustrative Quotations 2

Khuddaka Nikaya - Nettippakarana ( The Guide ) - Second Grouping - Illustrative Quotations 2

ACCORDING TO
KACCANA THERA

TRANSLATED FROM THE PALI BY
BHIKKHU NANAMOLI
Pali Text Society
[ii (a)]
868. Herein, what is that expressed in terms of creatures ?
(I visited all quarters with my mind
Nor found I any dearer than myself;
Likewise is self to every other dear,
Who loves himself will never harm another ) (Ud. 47).
This is expressed in terms of creatures.
869. (AU beings there are, and that will come to be,
Will travel on, abandoning their bodies;
A man with skill in births, knowing all that,
Would lead the life divine most ardently) (Ud. 48; cf. Pe 55).
This is expressed in terms of creatures.
870. SBhikkhus, when a good friend possesses seven factors he should
never be rejected by one as long as life lasts, even if one is sent away
and dismissed, even if one is driven away.
1
What seven ? He is
endearing, venerable and emulatable,
2
he is willing to talk to one and
867/2 l
Uslra—fibres': meaning in PED does not fit here. See Vin. iv, 130.
867/3 Read masim for mamsim.
870/1 Read panujjamdnena ? For someone who should not be abandoned,
see M. i, 108: na pakkamitabbam api panujjamdnena pi.
870/2 Bhdvanlya, a praise-word for persons, is very hard to render except
loosely; lit. 'one who should be made to be' . NettiA says 'Uttarimanussa-
dhammavasena sambhdvetabbatdya\ which suggests 'to be respected'.

willing for one to talk with him, and he never exhorts groundlessly [in
a manner not in conformity with the True Idea and Outguiding
Discipline]. When a good friend possesses these seven factors . . .
even if driven away.' That is what the Blessed One said. When the
Sublime One had said this, he, the Master, said further:
'Dear, venerable, to be emulated,
Who talks to one, and can be talked with, too,
Is willing to explain what is profound,
And never gives a groundless exhortation:
A friend like that may well be served for life
By one who is desirous of a friend ) (cf. A. iv, 32).
This is expressed in terms of creatures.
[n (b)]
871. [165] Herein, what is that expressed in terms of ideas ?
( Whatever bliss in sense desires
Or bliss of heaven in the world,
All are not worth a sixteenth part
Of bliss that comes with craving's exhaustion) (Ud. 11; Pe 55).
This is expressed in terms of ideas.
872. (Extinction is true bliss indeed
As taught by the Enlightened One:
The sorrowless, secure, stainless,
Where suffering does come to cease ) ( ).
This is expressed in terms of ideas.
[ii (c)]
873. Herein, what is that expressed in terms of creatures and in
terms of ideas ?
( Having slaughtered a mother and a father,
And then two warrior-kings, and having slaughtered
A realm together with its governor, )x
this is expressed in terms of ideas.
873/1 l
Sanucara—with its governor': anucara not in PED, see CPD; the
Commentary is followed in the rendering.

(One wanders in immunity, divine) (Dh. 294)
2
this is expressed in terms of creatures.
This is expressed in terms of creatures and in
terms of ideas.
873/2 Some translators have got ethically embroiled over this verse and that
which follows i t (Dh. 294 and 295). So, it is worth while examining it care-
fully. There are three problems: (1) the grammar, (2) the direct meaning,
and (3) the interpretation. The Pali is mdtaram pitaram hantvd rdjdno dve
ca khattiye rattham sdnucaram hantvd anlgho ydti brdhmano. Now (1) the
grammar (syntax) is unusually simple, being gerund (hantvd) followed by
finite verb (ydti), a very frequent Pali construction signifying either temporal
or causal succession ('having slaughtered . . . goes' or 'by slaughtering . . .
goes'). There is no justification at all for inserting, as some have done, an
'although' ('although having slaughtered . . . goes') since there is no corres-
ponding word in the Pali and the syntax does not require it. For the gerund
and verb there are two possible subjects: either (a) brdhmano ('a Divine') as
noun, with anlgho ('immune') as qualifying adj. , or (b) 'one' (ekacco or so)
understood, of whom then both anlgho and brdhmano are qualifying adjs.
(This construction is very common in Pali, cf. Sn. 35 l
sabbesu bhutesu nidhdya
(ger.) dandam . . . eko (adj.) care (verb) khaggavisdiiakappo (adj.)', both
adjs. qualifying an understood 'one' as verb-subject). (2) As to the
direct meaning: first (a), if brdhmano is taken as the subject of the verb ('a
brdhmana (already such) having slaughtered (or by slaughtering) a mother . . .
goes immune'), this must imply some such doctrine as the 'teleological sus-
pension of the ethical' (e.g., 'a saint with pure heart can commit any crime
without sin', etc.). But in the whole Tipitaka no such doctrine is taught
anywhere, which would make hay of innumerable discourses, and particular
nonsense of the 'instance and non-instance' (§546) the '10 courses of action' ,
and the eight-factored path. If there is an alternative, it must be considered.
There is one. In fact, (b) brdhmano can be taken in its natural adj . sense to
qualify 'one' understood as subject of the verb (as in Sn. 35 referred to above:
cf. §829, etc.). Then the understood subject has two qualifying adjs. anlgha
and brdhmano, and the natural direct rendering then is 'Having slaughtered
(by slaughtering) a mother, . . . two kings . . . [one] wanders immune, divine' .
This is certainly preferable since it is grammatical and literal and involves
no necessary contradiction of other texts as long as a figurative meaning is
possible. (3) The interpretation could either be literal or allegorical. If
literal (i.e., 'I t is by (or after) slaughtering a mother . . . two kings . . . that
one wanders immune, divine' , then besides the clash mentioned above (2a), the
statement as a whole is absurd since the Hwo1
kings ('two' in both verses)
cannot be explained at all. This, in fact, rules out a literal interpretation.
The verse is, then, on its internal evidence quite clearly a 'shock-allegory'
(there is another, milder, one in §812, and see below), and it should be rendered
exactly as i t is in the Pali in all its 'shocking' simplicity with no words
squeamishly interpolated through misapprehending it. The allegorical
sense is underlined by Netti in its own way by its allotment of the term
'expressed in terms of ideas'. What it is an allegory for is given by Netti A

874. (Bhikkhus, there are these four bases for success. What four ?
The basis for success that possesses concentration of will, as well as
endeavour and determinations . . . the basis for success that possesses
concentration of energy . . . the basis for success that possesses con-
centration of cognizance . . . the basis for success that possesses con-
centration of inquiry, as well as endeavour and determinations ) (cf.
S. v, 254).
This is expressed in terms of ideas.
(He mounts cognizance upon the body, and he mounts the body
upon cognizance, and after finding a footing in easy perception and
quick perception, he enters upon that and abides therein) (cf. Ps. ii,
210).
This is expressed in terms of creatures.
This is expressed in terms of creatures and in
terms of ideas.