[Buddha-l] anti-antithesis

[jkirk]

Looking up naraka in the Monier Wms online we get:

naraka(Nir. ; %{nara4ka} TA1r.) m. or n. hell , place of torment Mn. MBh. 
&c. ; (distinguished from %{pAtAla} q.v. ; personified as a son of Anr2ita 
and Nirr2iti or Nirkr2iti Ma1rkP. ; there are many different hells , 
generally 21 Mn. iv , 88-90 Ya1jn5. Pur. &c.) ; m. N. of a demon (son of 
Vishn2u and Bhu1mi or the Earth , and therefore called Bhauma , ............

Now it says it's distinguished from pAtAla, which I always thought was hell 
but maybe it only means the nether regions?  As the demon son son of Vishnu 
and Bhumi, Bhauma, one I guess could yell, Bhauma! instead of Hell! when 
hitting one's thumb.

pAtAla  n. (rarely m. ; ifc. f. %{A} ; perhaps fr. 2. %{pAta} as %{antarAla} 
fr. %{antar} ; cf. Un2. i , 116) one of the 7 regions under the earth and 
the abode of the Naagas or serpents and demons (cf. RTL. 102 n. 1 &c. ; 
sometimes used as a general N. for the lower regions or hells ; in MBh. also 
N. of a town in the serpent-world) , Arun2Up. MBh. Ka1v. &c. ; an excavation 
, hole in the earth MBh. ; ... N. of the attendant of the 14th Arhat of 
present Ava-sarpin2i1.

This one is even more interesting------the serpent abode; lower reigons or 
hells (pl); a hole in the ground;
and suddenly what seems Buddhistic: "N. of the attendant of the 14th Arhat 
of present Ava-sarpin2i1."
Nothing turn up for Ava-SarpiNii but one suspects it's another name for a 
Naga-land.
Does anyone know who this Arhat was (presumbly Buddhist)?

Closest  Paatyaala gets in the Pali dictionary is:
Patapeti
Patapeti [Caus. II. of pateti] to cause to fall, to cause an abortus Vin 
ii.108; DA i.134.

Patala [cp. Epic Sk. patala an underground cave] pro- clivity, cliff, abyss 
S i.32, 127, 197........

An underground cave would correspond to a hell region, as also a place to 
where one falls.
But uttering Paataala or naraka seems rather insipid as a curseword.
I could go for Bhauma!
Joanna
====================





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Richard Hayes" <rhayes at unm.edu>
To: "Buddhist discussion forum" <buddha-l at mailman.swcp.com>
Sent: Monday, September 25, 2006 5:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Buddha-l] anti-antithesis


> On Mon, 2006-09-25 at 16:56 -0600, Jim Peavler wrote:
>
>> Could someone mention Buddha?
>
> One of the people who shaped my way of thinking back in the days when my
> way thinking could still be shaped was an Indian filmmaker who told me
> that the surest way to assess a man's religion is by the way he swears
> when he becomes angry. (There is no reliable test for women, he assured
> me, since women never swear. This was some decades ago. Things may have
> changed since then.)
>
> Being a Lusthaus-certified Wannabe Buddhist, I've tried for most of my
> life to learn how to swear like a real Buddhist. For example, when I hit
> my thumb with a hammer, I try to include the full list of disgusting
> things the human body is made of: head hair, body hair, nails, teeth,
> skin...and so on, until I get to SHIT!
>
> My cantankerous father used to swear by saying "Judas Priest!" I tried
> to get into the habit of saying "Devadatta Bhikkhu!" but without much
> success. It sounded too contrived somehow.
>
> An old rancher I used to work for in Alberta swore by making Jesus the
> agent of a series of sexual practices that the historical Jesus is
> unlikely ever to have performed. Unfortunately, my fondness for the
> Buddha stood in the way of my trying to blurt out the Buddhist
> counterparts. I figure there's a good chance that rancher is now
> experiencing the blazes of hell. Anyone who has survived an Alberta
> winter knows what a blessing that would be.
>
> All my efforts to get into the habit of saying "Narakaghanaani" instead
> of "Hell's bells" came to naught, as did my efforts to learn to say "Oh
> for Gautama's sake!"
>
> Once upon a time I read that Sri Lankan Buddhists say "Buddho maa!"
> which is said to mean something like Mother Buddha. (Don't they know in
> Sri Lanka that girls can't be buddhas?)
>
> Lacking the proper vocabulary to swear like a proper bhikkhu, I have
> pretty much decided to become a never-returner in this life. A
> never-returner, as every Buddhist knows, has no anger and thus has no
> further need to cuss.
>
> Thanks for whipping us back into civility, Jim! It's a naraka of a lot
> less fun to be civilized, but at least we don't have to send the women
> and children out of the room before opening up our buddha-l mail.
>
> -- 
> Richard Hayes <rhayes at unm.edu>
> University of New Mexico
>
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