Textual Criticism and Its
Application:
Recollecting the Experience in
Editing SN I for PTS
G.A. Somaratne
Co-Director – Dhammachai Tiptaka Project
1
This Presentation
• I edited the SN I for PTS in the years 1994
and 1995 at Oxford.
• How did I account for the differences
among the witnesses in my effort to
retrace the steps of the ancient scribes in
recovering the text of SN I at least several
steps closer to the original?
– G.A. Somaratne, The Saṃyuttanikāya of the
Suttapiṭaka, Volume I: The Sagāthavagga,
PTS: Oxford, 1998.
2
What is Textual criticism?
• a scientific method of restoring the
original text.
• a disciplined and a creative process.
• Its “rules” tell how the textual critic
applies the common sense with good
judgment and insight, to a group of
corruptions accrued in the given text
through its successive transcription over a
period of time.
3
What is a Text? What is a Manuscript?
• Text is the intangible content or the
wording of a given text.
• Text can be copied.
• The copy so produced perishes but the
text survives, if it has been copied again.
• A particular copy of the text so produced
is a manuscript.
• The same text may be written down in
many different manuscripts.
4
No copy of an ancient text is perfect.
Why?
• “A text is a traveler who goes from one inn to
another, losing an article of luggage at each halt”.
• When producing a new copy, the scribe naturally
adds errors to the text.
• Copying is a source of both survival and
corruption.
• The very process that preserves the text, that is,
copying, also exposes it to danger.
• When writing is done on perishable materials, the
survival of a text over a long period of time is
possible, only if it is copied many times.
• Such a text is especially liable to corruption.
5
Witnesses to the Text
• The surviving copies are the witnesses to the
text.
• They bear witness in determining the text’s
hypothetical original form.
• The copies deviate from the hypothetical
earlier text.
• In recovering the original form of the words,
the textual critic should account for the
differences among the witnesses.
• He should retrace the steps of the ancient
scribes.
6
Collation
• Collation is the assembly of data into a
standard order.
• The critic collates the copies in order to
draw conclusions about the divergences in
them.
• The goal of collation is to recover an
earlier, more authentic, and therefore
superior, form of the text.
• Such restoration is known as a critical
recension.
7
Recencio & Emendacio
• Two main processes of the method:
• (1) Recension (recencio):
– the process to select the most trustworthy
evidence (manuscripts) on which to base the text
that which stands nearest to the original.
– This selection is only possible after a thorough
examination of all the available evidence.
• (2) Emendation (emendacio):
– the process to eliminate errors that are found
even in the best manuscripts.
– It is a deliberate but systematic attempt to
overrule the manuscript evidence.
8
Structure of the Text and Sutta Titles
• The uddānagāthās provide a structure to a text.
• The Sutta titles and section titles are given in the
uddānagāthā.
• These verses are often metrically corrupt or they are poorly
composed to fit every name of the vagga in the order of their
appearance into one verse.
• I followed Be supported by uddānagāthā when giving titles to
the suttas.
• The title of the sutta 3 of the Kosalasaṃyutta: jarāmaraṇa
goes against the uddānagāthā that reads rājā, apparently a
corruption due to metathesis of jarā.
• In the Mārasaṃyutta sutta 2 title hatthirājavaṇṇa goes against
the uddānagāthāta’s nāgo.
9
Suttas and Vaggas
• SN I contains 271 suttas divided into 28 vaggas.
• Uddānagāthās of 8 vaggas have no vagga fixing word like
dasamo, vaggo, dasa, pañcakaṃ, dvādasa, cuddassa. I call
them open vaggas, not closed.
• The order of appearance of each sutta is fixed in the
uddānagāthā as each name occurs.
• In two places navamaṃ and navamo are read in the
uddānagāthā further fixing the order.
• Four vaggas have 5 Suttas each, 3 vaggas have 12 Suttas
each, and one vagga comes with 14, and another with 11.
• The rest, 19 Vaggas, contain 10 Suttas each, which is
normally the standard number of suttas for a vagga.
10
Manuscripts
• The witnesses to our text were:
– the palm leaf manuscripts of SN in the scripts of Sinhala,
Burmese, and Lanna
– some existing editions and the variants recorded in them.
• In this purification process, six manuscripts of the text
were used.
• Readings of these witnesses were recorded manually
by writing down all variants against the base text
(Feer’s edition), one by one. (= collation)
•
Léon Feer, The Saṃyutta-nikāya of the Sutta-piṭaka, Volume I, PTS:
London, 1984.
• This helped identify the corruptions, mistakes and
intentional deviations accumulated in the transmitted
text over the period of its transmission.
11
S4: Sinhalese – India Office
• Two Sinhalese: S4. S5. (S2, that Feer had used only half was read
for the other half).
• S4 : The India Office Library of the British Library,
London: Or. 6599 (40)
– 454 ola-leaves (each leave cm.5.8 x cm.60.5) with 10 lines per
page; page numbering: both 1,2,3,4 etc and ka-kaḥ (16 folios),
kha-khaḥ etc; Sagāthavagga constitutes the first 58 leaves, from
ka to gḷ
– Buddhist era 2434 (A.D. 1890/1); Dambaliyadde Rājaguru
Mudiyanselāge Ukkurāla Näkätrāla
– namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa. evam me
sutaṃ. ekaṃ samayaṃ bhagavā (the first sutta) ….
saccasaṃyuttaṃ samattaṃ … (more personal things continue)
12
S5: Sinhalese - Colombo
• The Colombo National Archives? The Colombo Museum
Library?
– A microfilm copy of the Sagāthavagga portion, JOB NO
93/148. 3/3/2/172/93. SAṂYUTTA NIKĀYA. MF-P; not
Colombo Museum Library no. 70 (D.2); could be 71(A.R.I).
– Numbering: ka-kaḥ, kha-khaḥ etc; 8 lines per page.
Sagāthavagga = pages ka to cā
– Date & Scribe: unknown (beautifully written)
– namo tassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa. evam
me sutaṃ (the first sutta). ….
– ekādasasaṃyuttaṃ samattaṃ. sagāthavaggo. devatā
devaputto … vāsavo ti. evam me sutaṃ ekaṃ samayaṃ ….
saḷāyatanapaccayā phasso phassapaccayā.
13
B2: Burmese – India Office
• two Burmese: B2. B3
• B2: The India Office Library of the British
Library; Phayre Collection 10; catalogue
number: IOL I.O.PALI 10
– The first three Vaggas of the Saṃyuttanikāya;
264 ola-leaves; Numbering: ka to tāḥ
– Sakarāj 1203 (= A.D. 1841)
– More details: JPTS Vol. 1 (1882)
14
B3: India Office
• The India Office Library of the British Library;
catalogue number: IOL I.O.MAN.PALI 100
– ka-kaḥ (12 leaves), kha-khaḥ etc.; 244 ola-leaves
from ka to pī; 9 lines per page; a folio cm 6.5x49.
gold plated.
– Contains two separate sections: sagāthavagga: namo
tassa bhagavato … evaṃ me sutaṃ (first sutta) …
sagāthavaggo paṭhamo. (some writing in Burmese).
– nidānavagga: namo tassa bhagavato … evaṃ me
sutaṃ (first sutta of the vagga) …
nidānavaggasaṃyuttaṃ samattaṃ. Some writings in
Burmese (2 leaves).
15
L1: Northern Thai
• two Northern Thai (Lanna): L1. L2.
• A Northern Thai manuscript of the Commentary (C3)
• L1: A photo-copy supplied by Prof. Oskar von
Hinuber; film number: 04-017-00.
– ka-kaḥ (12 leaves), kha-khaḥ etc; 5 lines per page;
5.0x56.5cm; ka—tho
– A.D. 1549 by Javanapañña
– subhamatthu svasḍī jayas tu antarāyaṃ. namo tassa
bhagavato … evam me sutaṃ (the first sutta) …
sagāthavaggo ekādasa saṃyutto samatto pariniṭṭhito.
pāṭhasagāthāvaggavaṇṇanā niṭṭhitā.
16
L2: Northern Thai
• Microfilm number: 100.00. title no. 7 of film no. 14 of
Vat Lai Hin microfilms. Contents: no. 95-101.8.
(accompanies a commentary)
– ka-kaḥ (12 leaves), kha-khaḥ etc; ka to ḍā (follios ga to jaḥ are
missing).
– A.D. 1543
– First part (ka to khaḥ): sakkatvā buddharatanaṃ sakkatvā
dhammaratanaṃ sakkatvā saṅgharatanaṃ. namo tassa bhagavato …
evam me sutaṃ (first sutta) … kismiṃ loko samuppanno kismiṃ ku.
– Second part: ti idaṃ hi na jāyati na jiyyati …. sakko devānamindo
sudhammāya sabhāyaṃ deve tāvatiṃse a.
C3
• In the same microfilm of L2
– Spk I 31—89 (PTS); Spk I 122—315 (PTS).
– The rest of the text is missing.
17
Printed Editions
• Four editions of the text and the PTS commentary were
used throughout:
• R = Léon Feer’s PTS Edition (1884) & the variants
recorded in it: B1 (Paris), S1 (Copenhagen), S2 (British
Musem), S3 (Dr. Morris);
• Se = Sinhalese Buddha Jayanti Tipiṭaka Granthamālā
edition (1960), and its two manuscripts: Ss1
(Pälmaḍulla) and Ss2 (Galle);
• Sa = Sinhalese edition by Bandaramulle Amarasiha
Thera (1926) of Alutgama. This was used only up to the
end of Kosalasaṃyutta as its readings agreed with our
Se and S4 and S5;
18
• Be = Burmese Chaṭṭhasaṅgāyanā edition (1957). This
edition is based on: Sī = sīhaḷapotthake, Syā =
syāmapotthake, Kaṃ = kambojapotthake, I =
iṅgalisapotthake, Ka = katthaci marammapotthake,
Ṭha = aṭṭhakathā; ? = siyā nu kho porāṇapāṭho ti
takkitapāṭho;
• Te = King Rāma V Memorial Thai Edition (1926—28).
On the title page we read: ahiṃsakattherena
medhādhammarasena ādo sodhito
Tissadhammattherena dhammapiṭakena puna sodhito
rājappamukhena syāmaraṭṭhavāsinā mahājanena
muddāpito.
• C1 = The PTS commentary, Sāratthappakāsinī
Saṃyuttanikāya-aṭṭhakathā, edited by F.L. Woodward
(1929), and its variant recorded from C2 Thai (Khmer)
manuscript (Paris).
19
Abbreviations
• For convenience and to reduce the bulkiness
of footnotes, some abbreviations as shown
below were adopted:
• L = L1.L2; S = Se.S1.S2.S3.S5; B = Be.B1.B2.B3.
More examples:
• S1-5 = S1.S2.S3.S5; S15 = S1.S5; S12 = S1.S2;
S1-3 = S1.S2.S3; S13-5 = S1.S3.S4.S5; B13 =
B1.B3; B23 = B2.B3; C13 = C1.C3; C1-3 =
C1.C2.C3
20
Corruptions in the Text
• We edit a text because we believe that there
are errors.
• If you can imagine an error, a scribe has
probably made it.
• Some likely errors that scribes add to the text
have been classified into:
– visual and psychological,
– accidental and deliberately made,
– involuntary, semi-voluntary and voluntary, etc.
• I will highlight a few that I came across in
the SN I.
21
Careless Reading and Careless Writing
• A group of errors generated through either careless reading of
the exemplar or careless transcribing of letters.
• Letters which resemble one another are often subjected to
this error.
• In our text, the confusions between va and ca, yo and so
(p.183), manāpapariyantiṃ and manappariyantiṃ (p.183),
uppanno and upapanno (p.208), pahāta- and bahūta- (p.212),
and sahassaṃ > saṃgassaṃ (S1.S3.S4) (v.708) belong to this
category.
• Such confusions could also occur when the exemplar
manuscript is in an unfamiliar writing.
• For example, nhā- of nhāna- could be from Sinhalese nahā(e.g. nahāna-) or vice versa for in the Sinhalese script
conjunct consonants are placed side by side, rather than one
hanging below the other.
22
Writing style that lacks word breaks
•
•
•
•
– a bold correction to SN I
The puzzling words, nāgavatā, sīhavatā, ājānīyavatā,
nisabhavatā, dhorayhavatā and dantavatā (Sutta no.
38)
The commentator innovated the meaning nāvgavatā ti
nāgo viya.
A Lannā manuscript reads: sīho vatā.
Emended the text to: nāgo va, tā ca pan’ uppannā
sārīrikā vedanā …adhivāseti; sīho va, tā ….
• Later correction: just adding a space to read: nāga va,
tā ca ….
• The Commentator who misread and misinterpreted is the
culprit. He should have glossed: nāvgavā ti nāgo viya.
23
Grammar Correction
• corrected rāja-kosaṃ to rājā kosaṃ.
• The corrected sentence (p.207) reads: <tass’ eva
kammassa vipākāvasesena idaṃ sattamaṃ aputtakaṃ
sāpateyyaṃ rājā kosaṃ paveseti>
– [By the remaining maturation of that same action, this is
the seventh time that he has had no children and the king
enters his property into the treasury].
• Only S4 reads <rājā kosalaṃ>; others rāja-kosaṃ.
Here the corruption process was rājākosaṃ (no word
break) > rājakosaṃ.
• The variants for paveseti are Te.L1.B2 pavesenti;
B1.B3 pavesanti; S4 pasevaseti; others paveseti.
– Paveseti > pavesenti (bad memory)> pavesanti (dropping
diacritic)
– Paveseti > pasevaseti (metathesis and correction)
24
Phonetic Confusions via Mishearing
• Phonetic confusions occur when a copyist
transcribes his manuscripts at someone else’s
dictation.
• The variant jaṅgamānaṃ pāṇānaṃ [moving
animals] for jaṅgalānaṃ pāṇānaṃ [forest animals]
(p.195).
• The writing of non-aspirate for aspirate, dental for
retroflex, and vice versa also belongs to this
category of mistakes.
• See p. 225: nippoṭhento [crushing] (Be.Ce) >
nipphoṭhento (Sa.C1), nippothento (Te.B2.B3),
nipphothento (B1.L1.C3), nipphoṭento (R.S4.S5),
and p. 211: khañjo [lame] > kañjo (S4).
25
Unfamiliar to Familiar Words
• Substituting synonyms or familiar words for
unfamiliar ones corrupts the archaistic
character of the text.
• Notice subhagiyā of v. 409c: tādisā subhagiyā
putto [son of such a noble woman] having
subhariyā (R.Te.B2.B3) and bhariyā (L1) as
variants.
• Another example: in the verse 28,
brahāraññaṃ [great forest] has the variant
mahāraññaṃ.
26
Haplography
• The omission of words or syllables with the same
beginning or ending.
• mama bhattābhihāre [while I am taking my
dinner] has the variant mamābhihāre [at my
offering].
• the long ā of bhattā- and bh of both bhattā- and –
bhihāre have contributed in generating this error
or variant.
• On p. 211, the variant lohitamālā vā lohitamālā
gaccheyya (S4) for lohitamālā vā lohitamalaṃ
gaccheyya.
• When copying the second lohitamalaṃ, the copyist
read the lohita- and took another look and read
the ending of the first -mālā again.
27
Missing Superscripts
• Omission of letters and the superscript vowel
signs is a frequent error type which sometimes
breeds further corruptions.
• v. 517: gotamā ti has the variant: gomā ti (O
cattle owner) which also corrupts the metre.
• On p. 207, three readings could be line up as
seṭṭhittaṃ > seṭṭhattaṃ (S2.S3.S4) (loss of
diacritic)> seṭṭhaggaṃ (B1.B2.B3), last being
the second stage of corruption.
• Such errors could be due to faulty hearing as
well.
28
Missing One or Two Syllabic Words
• Omissions or insertions of seemingly
unimportant words such as ca, pi, kho, ati,
adhi, etc could also be noticed.
29
Glosses Coming into the Text
• The insertion of interlinear or marginal
glosses or notes.
• v. 256d: sucetaso asito tadānisaṃso ti has
a variant anissito for asito.
• Tuṭṭhubha metre requires asito here.
• the word anissito could be an interlinear
or marginal gloss coming into the text.
30
False Recollections
• When the scribe sees a familiar word or phrase or
passage in his exemplar, it may suggest to him
something else and then what he writes down is what
is in his mind, rather than what is before his eyes.
• p. 277, we read: atha kho ragā ca māra-dhītā
bhagavato santike imaṃ gāthaṃ abhāsi.
• the variants: gāthāya ajjhabhāsi (Be.Te); imāya
gāthāya ajjhabhāsi (B2.B3); imā gāthāyo abhāsi (L2).
• v. 514d reads: acchejja nessati maccu[rāja]ssa pāran
ti.
• Tuṭṭhubha detects detects –rāja- of maccurājassa does
not fit here, and so we could decide that the original
reading was maccussa.
31
Transposition
• Transposition of one or more syllables, words, phrases,
lines or passages.
• the copyist finds he has accidentally omitted a line and
then writes the omitted portion in the margin, usually
adding a sign to show where it should come.
• The succeeding copyist overlooks this sign and
permanently misplaces the portion of the text.
• verse 397: naḷhaṃ na taṃ (B2) appears for na taṃ
daḷhaṃ.
• The copyist first copied na of na taṃ but then positioned
his eyes on ḷhaṃ of the exemplar and copied ḷhaṃ and
then again he positioned his eyes on na taṃ and copied
na taṃ creating this corruption.
32
Orthographic Spellings
• We also find the copyists making their
choice between two orthographic
spellings:
• nahāyeyya <> nhāyeyya (Te.S5.B2.B3)
(p.204),
• byādhayissanti <> vyādhayissanti
(R.S4.S5) (v. 709c).
33
Metre as a Tool
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Suttapiṭaka contains over 20,000 verses
SN I has 945 verses.
a text with verses (sagāthaka).
731 (77%) verses in the simple Śloka (vatta) metre with
its several variations known as vipulā.
124 (13%) in Tuṭṭhubha.
The rest (10%): Vetālīya (22 verses), Vegavatī (9),
Tuṭṭhubha-Vatta (5), Tuṭṭhubha-Jagatī (16), Jagatī-Vatta
(1), Brahati-Vatta (2), Ariyā (Āryā) (4), and Panti (2).
At the time I noted from the classical metrical point of
view, 21 verses as metre unknown.
Norman points out their meters are known.
I now agree with some of his identifications.
34
Vatta Metre
• consists of 4 (sometimes 6, rarely 5) pādas with 8
syllables (akkhara) in each line, organized in
dissimilar pairs (prior and posterior) which are
repeated to make up a verse.
• 9 syllables possible due to resolution (two shorts
in the reading counted as one long).
• The prior line: (1) U or ― or UU (2) U or ― (3) U
or ― (4) U or ― (5) U (6) ― (7) ― (8) U or ―;
• the posterior line: as before except the cadence
(5) U (6) ― (7) U (8) U or ―.
• In the prior line (2) U (3) U (4) U as well as (2) U
(3) U (3) ― are avoided.
• The posterior line also follows the same rule and
in addition, it avoids also (2) ― (3) U (4) ―.
35
Meter as a trustworthy guide
The verse 52 reads:
• sattiyā viya omaṭṭho - ḍayyamāno va matthake
―U―U/U―――
―U――/U―U―
• sakkā-diṭṭḥi-pahānāya - sato bhikkhu paribbaje ti.
―――U/U――U
U――U/U―U―
– [A monk should wander about as if pricked by a dagger, as if his head
were on fire, mindful, in order to give up the personality belief].
• Its pāda c has 6 variants: L1: sakkā-diṭṭhi-pahānāya; L2: sakkādiṭṭhi-ppahānāya; S2.S4: sakkāya-diṭṭhi-ppahānena; B2.B3:
sakkāya-diṭṭhi-pahānena; R.Te.Se.S5.Be: sakkāya-diṭṭhi-pahānāya;
Thag: bhava-rāga-pahānāya.
• Sakkāya does not scan as Vatta (normal); so the truncated form
sakkā (-āya > -ā, see von Hinuber #142) was chosen, and the
reading is found in L1.L2.
• This verse and what goes before (51) are found in Thag 39—40,
1162—3 with the reading bhava-rāga-pahānāya in 40c and 1163c.
36
Tuṭṭhubha-Jagatī mixture
• The verse 54:
yo appaduṭṭhassa narassa dussati - suddhassa
posassa anaṅganassa
――U――UU―U―U― (12) ――U――UU―U―― (11)
tam eva bālaṃ pacceti pāpaṃ - sukhumo rajo
paṭivātaṃ va khitto.
U―U――UU―U―― (11) ――U―UU――U―― (11)
– [Whoever offends against an unoffending man, a
purified man without blemish, the evil rebounds upon
that self-same fool, like fine dust thrown against the
wind].
• Its pādas bcd scan as Tuṭṭhubha, with c scanning
pacceti UU―U (pati-eti) and d scanning sukhumaṃ
―― (sukhumaṃ); but pāda a scans as Jagatī.
37
Change or Not?
• The issue is whether to keep the pāda a as Jagatī or change it to
a Tuṭṭhubha. Here we find the same verse in Dhp 125, Thag 783,
Sn 662, Ja III 203, Pv 24, Vism 301—2, and also a parallel in Udv 28:9 where pāda a scans as Jagatī:
• yo hy apraduṣṭasya narasya duṣyate - śuddhasya nityaṃ
vigatāṅganasya,
――U――UU―U―U― (12)
――U――UU―U―― (11)
• tam eva bālaṃ pratiyāti pāpaṃ - kṣiptaṃ rajaḥ prativātaṃ
yathaiva.
U―U――UU―U―― (11)
――U―UU――U―― (11)
• Further, nearly 16 verses in this combination of Tuṭṭhubha-Jagatī
are found in SN I, a variation, as noted by A.K. Warder, that we
find in the middle period of the formation of the Pāli canonic
texts. So we cannot change the last word of pāda a to suit to
Tuṭṭhubha line.
38
• Tuṭṭhubha = 11 syllables to a line:
(1) U or ― or UU (2) ― (3) U (4) ― (5) U or
― (6) U (7) U or ― (8) ― (9) U (10) ―
(11) U or ―;
• Jagatī = as Tuṭṭhubha but has an extra
short syllable in penultimate positing:
(11) U (12) U or ―.
39
Confirming the Readings
• The metre helps confirming the readings in the manuscripts.
• The verse 403 is in Vetālīya, a mattāchandas, which is not so
common metre in SN I:
• manujassa sadā satīmato - mattaṃ jānato laddhabhojane
UU―UU/―U―U― (14)
―――UU/―U―U― (16)
• tanu tassa bhavanti vedanā - saṇikaṃ jīrati āyu pālayan ti.
UU―UU/―U―U― (14)
UU――UU/―U―U― (16)
– [If a man is always mindful, and knows moderation in the food he takes, his
pains diminish, and the food is digested slowly, preserving his longevity].
• The metre confirms that we should read satīmato not the variant
satimato; o of jānato should be read short though it is an open
syllable.
• Though the Ja II 294 reads tanū tassa in line c, here we should read
tanu tassa.
• The variant tanukassa is definitely due to the familiar word tanuka
[very small] and also due to the careless handwriting making it
difficult to distinguish between ta and ka.
40
Vegavati and Vetālīya
• A rare metre in SN I is Vegavatī and it differs from Vetālīya
only with reference to the cadence. Notice the verse 712
where again o of open syllable should be read short.
aratiñ ca ratiñ ca pahāya - sabbaso gehasitañ ca vitakkaṃ
UU―UU/―UU――
(14)
―UU―UU/―UU―― (16)
vanathaṃ na kareyya kuhiñci - nibbanato arato sa hi bhikkhu.
UU―UU/―UU――
(14)
―UU―UU/―UU―― (16)
– [Giving up liking and disliking entirely, and thought connected with
the householder’s life, one should not crave for anything. For he is a
monk who is without craving, without delight.].
– Notice Thag 1214d: nibbanathā avanatho sa hi bhikkhu.
41
The words that do not scan
• Certain Pāli words create metrical
problems. For example, aparaddho (verse
446; see Sn 891b and Thag 78b) does not
scan.
42
Parallel Readings
• Parallels were used as a support in editing the text.
– Parallels of SN I are found in Six Jātaka volumes,
Suttanipāta, Theragāthā, Therigāthā, Dhammapada,
Itivuttaka, Udāna, Vinaya I and II, Aṅguttaranikāya I, II,
III, and V, Majjhimanikāya II and III, Dīghanikāya II,
Saṃyuttanikāya II and Milindapañha.
– Further, parallels in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit texts:
Udānavarga and the Mahāvastu, are also found.
• I have added <no> to read v. 523a: itthibhūto <no>
kiṃ kayirā [what difference does it make to be a
woman?, no of nu, emphatic and interrogative
particle], going against all manuscript evidence but
following Thīg 61.
• As it is in Pathyā vatta verse, we should read <no>
short (U), perhaps <nu> and disregard the
svarabhakti vowel of kayirā to have ――.
43
Repetitions
•
Within the SN I, the following two verses appear in four different suttas:
–
•
kiṃsu jhatvā sukhaṃ seti kiṃsu jhatvā na socati
kissassa eka-dhammassa vadhaṃ rocesi Gotamā ti.
–
•
(1) As conversation between a deity and the Buddha (Sutta 71); (2) between Māgha (a god)
and the Buddha (84); (3) between Bhāradvājagotta (a brahmin) and the Buddha (187); (4)
between Sakka and the Buddha (267).
[After killing what does one sleep well? After killing what does one not grieve? O Gotama,
what is one thing which you approve of killing?]
kodhaṃ jhatvā sukhaṃ seti kodhaṃ jhatvā na socati
kodhassa visamūlassa madhuraggassa devate/ vatrabhū/brāhmaṇ/ vāsava
vadhaṃ ariyā pasaṃsanti taṃ hi jhatvā na socati.
–
–
[After killing anger, one sleeps well; after killing anger, one does not grieve. O deity, noble
ones praise the killing of anger which has poison at its root and honey on top; indeed after
killing it, one does not grieve.]
In GDp 288—9: ki nu jatvā suho śayadi – ki nu jatvā na śoyadi, kisa nu ekadhamasa – vadha
royeṣi godama. kodhu jatvā suha śayadi – kodhu jatvā na śoyadi, kodhasa viṣamulasa –
masuragasa bramaṇa, vadha ari’a praśajadi – ta ji jatva na śoyadi. See Brough’s note on
these verses at GDp where he says that jhatvā is a synonym of hantvā and questions PED’s
connecting jhatvā with jhāpeti (to burn). Cf. Ja V 141: kiṃ sū vadhitvā na kadāci socati …;
kodhaṃ vadhitvā na kadāci socati …
44
Introductory Passage
• Introductions are mostly repetitive.
Sometimes the same verses are repeated
in two suttas differing only the
introductions (see for example, the suttas
250 and 251 occurring in the
Sakkasaṃyutta).
45
Two New Verses
• Two verses found in Lanna manuscripts were placed in
the SN I for the first time in an edition.
• The verse 70 (parallel at Ja II 233) is one.
• gharā nānīhamānassa gharā nābhaṇato musā
gharā nādiṇṇadaṇḍassa paresaṃ anikubbato
evaṃchiddaṃ durabhibhavaṃ ko gharaṃ paṭipajjhatī ti.
– [There is no home for him who makes no effort; no home for
the one who does not lie; no home for him who does not use
violence towards others or cheat them. Who would like to follow
home life with such defects, hard to sustain?]
• This constitutes a question put to the Buddha by a deity,
but lost in the other manuscript traditions.
• Other traditions made one verse from the answer a
question by changing the word te to ke or ko.
46
The verse 138
• The verse 138 was added to the text, though
I now somewhat regret.
• jīvitaṃ byādhi kālo ca deha-nikkhepanaṃ
gati
pañc’ ete jīva-lokasmiṃ animittā na ñāyare.
– (Life, sickness, time of death, laying down the
body, passing to the next life, these five things in
this world of the living are not recognized
because they come unheralded.).
• This verse was also added based on the two
Lanna manuscripts. A parallel is found at Ja
II 58.
47
Verse 2
•
•
corrected going against all mss except L2.
nandībhavaparikkhayā saññāviññāṇasaṅkhayā
vedanānaṃ nirodhā ca upasanto carissatī ti.
evaṃ khvāhaṃ āvuso jānāmi sattānaṃ nimokkhaṃ pamokkhaṃ vivekan ti.
– [Through extinction of delight and becoming, through destruction of
apperception and consciousness, and through stopping sensation, one will live
tranquil. That is how I understand the deliverance, freedom, detachment of
beings.]
•
•
•
Of pāda c, L2: vedanānaṃ nirodhā ca upasamā; L1.R.Se.Be.Te.B3.S1-5.N:
vadenānaṃ nirodhā upasamā; B1.B2: vedanā nirodhā upasamā. Pāda d,
L2: esa upasanto carissatī ti. All others omit.
The verse here is corrupt; hence the metre is difficult to restore.
Further, the last pāda is very doubtful since it is found only in L2. The
parallel with Sn 175c, suggests emendation of pāda a to
nandībhavaparikkhīṇo. The word parikkhayā could be due to the influence
of -saṅkhayā in the next pāda.
48
Conclusion: What My Editing Experience
Taught Me
• The editor of the Pāli canonic texts should not
attempt to see a coherency and consistency
throughout the text; rather he should collect all
the existing variants that appear in the most
trustworthy and representative manuscripts and
use his or her common sense to visualize the
process of corruption in the existing variants in
order to select the plausible earliest reading that
which has given rise to others.
• Trying to apply one or a fixed set of rules to edit
the whole text with the aim of putting together a
coherent piece of text would be disastrous to a
Pāli canonic text that is multifarious, flexible,
dynamic and creative in terms of its structure,
language, and the content.
49
• For example, the SN I is a geyya text consisting both prose and
verse, and considering its inclusion of verses in early metres,
particularly the Vatta, it is reckoned as one of the earliest texts,
perhaps that could be placed just below the Aṭṭhaka and the
Pārāyana Vaggas of Suttanipāta, of the Pāli canon.
– As Warder’s Pāli Metre suggests, these verses demonstrates the
transition period from early Vedic metres to classical ones.
• SN I is a collection of Suttas containing verses, arranged under
different groups known as saṃyuttas, compiled into one text over a
period of time.
– This is evident from its imbalanced size of different saṃyuttas.
• Pāli language bears close affinity to a few vernacular dialects at the
time, and the SN I contains also some eastern characteristics such
as bhikkhave (vocative plural), sa, nāga (nominative singular) etc.
• Much of its content is about prescribed rules of law, good actions,
and good behavior (dhamma) that are in tune with the profound
laws of nature, the continuity of processes by way of arising and
ceasing, with no everlasting entities (dhamma).
50