Tuesday, September 29, 2020

DN 21: Let's keep it platonic. Does B. Sujato know the difference between lust (kāma) and friendliness (metta)?

Because he translates both of these terms as 'love':  lust (kāma) and friendliness (metta).   

https://suttacentral.net/dn21/en/sujato


In the verse section of DN 21, the Gandhaba (Fairy god being) was praising the Buddha, Dharma, and his love interest. 


Sakko ce me varaṃ dajjā,
If Sakka were to grant me just one wish,
tāvatiṃsānamissaro;
as Lord of the holy Thirty-Three,
Tāhaṃ bhadde vareyyāhe,
my darling, you’re the only one I’d wish for,
evaṃ kāmo daḷho mama.
so strong is the love for you from me.

elsewhere in the verse:

Sakyaputtova jhānena,
Absorbed, the Sakyan meditates (does jhana),
ekodi nipako sato;
at one, self-controlled, and just mindful,
Amataṃ muni jigīsāno,
the sage aims right at the deathless state—
tamahaṃ sūriyavacchase.
like me, oh my Sunshine, aiming for you!
Yathāpi muni nandeyya,
And just like the sage would be rejoicing,
patvā sambodhimuttamaṃ;
were he to awaken to the truth,
Evaṃ nandeyyaṃ kalyāṇi,
so I’d be rejoicing, lady,
missībhāvaṃ gato tayā.
were I to end up as one with you.    


One of these days, 

but not today and not in this sutta, I'm probably going to run into a sutta where 'love', metta, kāma all collide in a horrible ambiguous accident. 50 points to the first person who can find this glorious accident. 


As you may know, B. Sujato really loves the word 'love', using the same ambiguous word to translate sensual lust (kāma), friendliness/goodwill (metta), desire/wish, good (kalyana), and probably several more distinct pali words that would really appreciate distinct unambiguous translations. 


No comments:

Post a Comment