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Abstract
This paper focuses on the scholastic technique of the Theravāda scholar-monk Chapaṭa Saddhammajotipāla (Burma, fifteenth century CE). Chapaṭa is the author of several scholastic treatises in Pāli, the most voluminous of which is the Suttaniddesa, a commentary on the Pāli grammar of Kaccāyana (ca. sixth to seventh century CE). I offer a general introduction to the Pāli grammatical tradition and especially to the Pāli grammatical tradition of Burma, together with an introduction to the life and works of Chapaṭa. I also offer the first annotated translation of a passage from the Suttaniddesa and in this way I show how the scholastic technique of Chapaṭa is based on a precise (and sometimes fastidious) use of quotations, mainly from other Pāli or Sanskrit grammatical texts, but also from Buddhist literature. I finally give a preliminary assessment of typology and purpose of every different type of quotation. Although this paper consists mainly of preliminary work, it is the first essay entirely devoted to the Suttaniddesa, which is one of the most important grammatical works in the Theravāda tradition.
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Abbreviations
- A:
-
Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī = Katre, 1989.
- Abhid-s-nṭ:
-
Abhidhammatthasaṅgaha-saṅkhepavaṇṇanā.
- Chapaṭa:
-
Chapaṭa Saddhammajotipāla.
- CPD:
-
Critical Pāli Dictionary (http://pali.hum.ku.dk/cpd/search.html).
- CSCD:
-
Chaṭṭha Saṅgāyana CD (www.tipitaka.org).
- DP:
-
A Dictionary of Pāli.
- Gv:
-
Gandhavaṃsa = Minayeff, 1886.
- Kacc:
-
Kaccāyana.Kaccāyana.
- Kacc-v:
-
Kaccāyanavutti.
- Kacc-nidd:
-
Kaccāyanasuttaniddesa.
- Kā :
-
Kātantravyākaraṇa.
- Kā-v:
-
Kātantravṛtti.
- Mmd:
-
Mukhamattadīpanī.
- Mmd-pṭ:
-
Mukhamattadīpanīporāṇaṭīkā.
- MBD:
-
Mahābhāṣyadīpikā = Abhyankar & Limaye, 1970.
- PED:
-
Pali-English Dictionary = Rhys Davids & Stede, 1925.
- PLB:
-
Pāli Literature of Burma = Bode, 1909.
- PLC:
-
Pāli Literature of Ceylon = Malalasekera, 1925.
- Rūp:
-
Rūpasiddhi.
- S.:
-
Sanskrit.
- Sadd:
-
Saddanīti = Smith, 1928.
- Sās:
-
Sāsanavaṃsa = Bode, 1898.
- VP:
-
Vākyapadīya.
For the rest of the Abbreviations, I follow the Critical Pāli Dictionary. The list of abbreviations is available online at: http://pali.hum.ku.dk/cpd/intro/vol1_epileg_ abbrev_texts.html.
Primary Sources
A = Katre, 1989.
Abhid-s, Paññānanda Bhikkhu ed., Jinālaṅkāra Press, Colombo, 1899.
Be, Kaccāyanasuttaniddesa, Jambūʹ mitʿ chve piṭakatʿ puṃ nhipʿ tuikʿ, Yangon, 1912.
Ce, Kaccāyanasuttaniddesa, ed. Medhankara, Colombo, 1915.
Cāndra = Cāndravyākaraṇa.
CSCD Tipiṭaka (Roman), s.v. “Padarūpasiddhi,” http://www.tipitaka.org/romn/ (accessed 21/04/2012).
Kacc, Kaccāyana and Kaccāyanavutti, ed. O.H. PIND, PTS (forthcoming).
Kacc-nidd = Be.
Kacc-v = Kacc.
Kaccāyanabheda = Saddā ṅay 15 caung pāṭh.
Kā = Saini, 1987.
Kārikā = Saddā ṅay 15 caung pāṭh.
Kāśikā = Kāśikāvṛtti, with two commentaries: Nyāsa or Pañcikā of Jinendrabuddhi, Padamañjarī of Haradatta Miśra, vols. I–VI, Varanasi, 1965–1967.
Vyākaraṇa-mahābhāṣya, ed. Kielhorn, Bombay, 1880–1885.
Mmd = Nyāsapāṭh (= Mukhamattadīpanī), Yangon, Sudhammavatī cā pum nhip tuik, 1933.
Mmd-pṭ = Thanbyin Ṭīkā, Kavi Myeh Hman Press, Yangon, 1917.
Rūpasiddhi = CSCD Tipiṭaka.
Saddā ṅay 15 caung pāṭh (“15 Minor Grammatical Works”), Icchāsaya Press, Yangon, 1964.
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Ruiz-Falqués, A. The Creative Erudition of Chapaṭa Saddhammajotipāla, a 15th-Century Grammarian and Philosopher from Burma. J Indian Philos 43, 389–426 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9242-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9242-7