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

[JKirkpatrick]

Hi all,

This has been an interesting thread. Having looked up a few words in the Pali-Eng. dictionary, I found the following: 

Refuge: 
Tāṇa 
Tāṇa (nt.) [from Vedic root trā, variation of *ter in tarati. Orig. bringing or seeing through] shelter, protection, refuge, esp. as tt. of shelter & peace offered by the Dhamma. Mostly in combn with leṇa & saraṇa (also dīpa & abhaya), in var. contexts, esp. with ref. to Nibbāna (see Nd2 s. v.): D i.95 


Dīpa 1 & 2

Dīpa1 [Ved. dīpa to Ved. dī, dīpyate; Idg. *dei̯ā to shine (see dibba, deva); cp. Gr. di/alos, dh_los; see also jotati] a lamp J ii.104 (˚ŋ jāleti to light a l.); DhA ii.49 (id.), 94 (id.)
   -- acci the flame of a lamp ThA 154; -- āloka light of a l. J i.266; vi.391; DhA i.359; VvA 51; -- (˚ŋ)kara making light, shining, illuminating Nd2 399 (=pabhaŋ kara Sn 1136; but cp. Dh 236 under dīpa2); Vism 203. -- tittira a decoy partridge (cp. dīpaka˚) J iii.64; -- rukkha lit. lamp -- tree, the stand of a lamp, candlestick DhA iv.120; -- sikhā the flame (lit. crest) of a l. Vism 171; DhA ii.49.

Dīpa 

Dīpa2 (m. & nt.) [Ved. dvīpa=dvi+ap (*sp.) of āpa water, lit. "double -- watered," between (two) waters] an island, continent (mahā˚, always as 4); terra firma, solid foundation, resting -- place, shelter, refuge (in this sense freq. combd w. tāṇa lena & saraṇa & expl. in Com. by patiṭṭhā) -- (a) lit. island: S v.219; J iii.187; VvA 19; Mhvs vii.7, 41. -- continent: cattāro mahādīpā S v.343; Vv 2010 (=VvA 104); VvA 19; PvA 74 

Plus:

Dīpaka 1 & 2

Dīpaka1 (=dīpa1) (a) f. dīpikā a lamp, in daṇḍa˚ a torch DhA i.220, 399, -- (b) (˚ -- ) an image of, having the appearance of, sham etc.; in -- kakkara a decoy partridge J ii.161; -- tittira same J iii.358; -- pakkhin a decoy bird J v.376; -- miga a d. antelope J v.376. [these hunting glosses are a surprise]

Dīpaka2 (=dīpa2) a (little) island J i.278, 279; ii.160.

Thinking this over, one can view a river as samsara because it is so often used as a metonym for samsara, as in the raft teaching. Therefore, the sandbar (to me a 'doab' is too vast to serve the purpose here), standing above the river as it flows around it instead of over it, makes sense as refuge and as solid ground (nothing solid about river/samsara, right?). 
In India the rivers don't run full during the dry season, lowering in depth and producing  sandbars and what could be called small islands. These are indeed viewed as solid ground by locals (even if not always solid ground), in that in dry season these grounds are cultivated. They are solid. People put up huts and live on them while cultivating crops.

So I have to admit that, given the dictionary renderings of these terms, those who view the refuge as 'island' (in the sense in which it could have been understood by the Buddha's audiences' knowledge of their habitat, rivers etc.), the English rendering is very difficult to displace by the terms 'lamp' or 'illumination'.

Having myself seen the Ganga in retreat with its beaches and long sandbanks in cultivation, it's much more meaningful to me now to imagine the chaar(s) (as they are called in Bengali) as representing islands in the sutta.

Joanna 














 

-----Original Message-----
From: buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com [mailto:buddha-l-bounces at mailman.swcp.com] On Behalf Of Joy Vriens
Sent: Saturday, May 08, 2010 5:18 AM


Hi Joanna,
The evidence of the traditional reading given by Lance Cousins seems quite compelling, but the metaphor doesn't work for me. I don't find it convincing at all.

E.g. the island as a metaphor for refuge. Especially in the case of a river island amidst two floodwaters. Imagine the water level is rising, a little island is left in the middle which is supposed to serve as a secure refuge? What a strange advice! I would say get away from that river.

And a temporary refuge when one is surprised by a sudden waterflood?
This temporary refuge being the only refuge?  Moreover, the comparison between crossing Samsara and crossing a river?

Perhaps an island in the middle of the ocean? With the rising sea level and tsunamis etc.? With no other refuge than that (Ananna Sharana)? Doesn't look very safe to me. Certainly not the first image of a refuge to pop up. A mountain would be more like it, say the summit of Mount Meru. And even then. Why would one pick a metaphor of a geographical item belonging to a planet that one knows will be destroyed, reappear, destroyed again? Light on the other hand...

Next the metaphor of Dhamma as an island. Paticcasamuppāda as an island? Isolated from everything? What about its notion of interconnectedness?

I remember a metaphor in the Saddharmapundarikasutra, where merchants go to fetch jewels, become exhausted in the middle of their journey and lose hope in the middle of the desert. Their leader then creates a magic city (Las Vegas) for refuge. Not exactly an island, but something similar and with a negative connotation.

And then, as you say, the recommendation to be like islands given to members of the Sangha at the moment of the Buddha's death, when unity is required.

I am not convinced. Couldn't it be that with commerce over sea being more developed at the time the Sanskrit commentaries were written, and dvipa being a very common word, that this meaning came to mind first?
The first meaning at a given time is not necessarily the first meaning at another time.

That will make four cents with yours,

Joy

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