[Buddha-l] Re: Men and women of good family

[L.S. Cousins]

Steven,

>Where does the "good" in this "translation" come from?

 From the commentary and other later texts by implication.

>It see it neither in "kula-" (= "family") or "putra" (= "son"). 
>"Good" doesn't come through in the Tibetan translation of this term 
>either.

A kula is an extended family or clan. Putra originally is being used 
generically for both genders. At the end of a compound it means 
'member of'. So the expression means 'member of a clan', 'clansman'. 
It is not clear whether originally there were people who were not 
members of a clan. If there were such people, it might mean 'member 
of a recognized family'. More probably, it means 'member of a clan' 
i.e. not a renunciant (who in some sense is no longer a member of any 
clan).

Later, i.e. in Pali commentaries and Sanskrit discourses, it means a 
family of high status. But the typical Buddhist analysis is applied 
i.e the real high status comes from faith and other forms of 
purification.

Kuladhiita(r) is found in Pali commentaries in opposition to 
kulaputta but hardly at all in the Canon in this sense. Sanskrit 
kuladuhit.r is common in later Sanskrit texts but rare or absent in 
the earlier Central Asian recensions of the Sanskrit discourses. 
Presumably it is introduced when the earlier non-gender specific 
sense is no longer universally understood.

Lance Cousins