Sunday, June 26, 2022

sattannaṁ bodhi-pakkhiyānaṁ dhammānaṁ: seven Buddha wings of ☸Dharma

 I love it when I can translate word for word in order from pāḷi to English.

sattannaṁ bodhi-pakkhiyānaṁ dhammānaṁ: seven Buddha wings of ☸Dharma

This way when you chant the pāḷi, it takes no time to decode/translate the meaning of a phrase compared to the usual of having to unscramble the word order and figure out what goes where and applies to whom. 


My translation is not grammatically accurate, 

but it's certainly much more poetic and exciting than the usual boring translations like:


Seven [sets of] Dhamma that aid in awakening.


Buddha = awakened one

Bodhi = awakening.


pakkhi = bird, literally 'with wings'

pakkhiya, figuratively, means belonging to a faction 


So if we want to be more accurate, 

my translation would be something more along the lines of

sattannaṁ bodhi-pakkhiyānaṁ dhammānaṁ: seven Buddhafication wings of ☸Dharma (if we want a little poetic license)

or if we want to be clinical and boring:

seven [sets of] Dharma that are part of the faction to awakening.



But occasionally, being poetic may be justified when it doesn't distort the meaning

sattannaṁ bodhi-pakkhiyānaṁ dhammānaṁ: seven Buddha wings of ☸Dharma


Sounds like a Dharma super weapon or a Buddhist motorcycle gang.


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