[Buddha-l] 9. Attadiipaa Sutta (Joy Vriens)

[Richard Hayes]

On May 8, 2010, at 3:13 AM, L.S. Cousins wrote:

> In the corresponding Sanskrit version 
> of the Mahāparinirvāṇasūtra we have dvīpa which means 'island' or 
> 'continent' or 'doab'.

My Pali teacher, A.K. Warder, used to point out that in Pali, 'dīpa' is rarely used in the sense of 'light' but that for 'light' one usually finds 'padīpa' (Skt pradīpa). He also observed that references to the desirability of isolation and self-reliance are plentiful in the canonical literature. He therefore felt the evidence was strongly in support of taking 'dīpa' in the sense of 'island' rather than 'light'. The further evidence you put forth convinces me he was probably right.


Richard Hayes