[Buddha-l] mogha, moha, mughda

[Joy Vriens]

Dan,

Thanks for the research and analysis, the Vedic meanings are interesting and some of them would even more or less fit in with Pya's "hollow man". 
 
>Now, going with the drama of the sutta, one could say that doing so is part 
>of the lesson, since Sati has claimed that his theory is the Buddha's own 
>teaching, and Buddha asks him at the beginning "To whom have you ever heard 
>me say that?" So by making him sit there and observe an ACTUAL teaching 
>situation, he is provided with a more accurate model. And one could even 
>argue that such chastisement is an effective, or even necessary antidote to 
>Sati's clinging to his interpretation. Whether such pedagogy is infallible 
>or sometimes counterproductive is a legitimate question, but even putting 
>that aside, it still remains hard to deny that Buddha is using chastisement 
>and a form of name-calling (moghapurisa) to make his point. (As I mentioned 
>to Joy, I don't take "son of a fisherman" as a put-down). 

I agree with Margaret, Lance and you that "son of a fisherman" is not a put-down in itself, but in combination with the joke of being entangled in a net, it is not innocent either. I consider it equivalent to making a joke with someone's name. Sati is a bikkhu like any other bikkhu and has given up his social obligations. Perhaps he even never worked as a fisherman himself. Yet the Buddha comes up with the exemple of being ensnared in a net. If we consider that a witty and clever and perhaps even funny remark and congratulate the Buddha for his esprit, then we also have to recognise that it is witty and funny, because Sati is a fisherman's son... 

Joy