The Udana Commentary (Paramatthadipani nama Udanatthakatha): By Dhammapala.

• Author: McDermott, James P.
• Position: Review

By DHAMMAPALA. Translated by PETER MASEFIELD. Two volumes. Sacred Books of the Buddhists, vols. 43, 45. Oxford: THE PALI TEXT SOCIETY, 1994-95. Pp. xvi + 1171.

The Udanatthakatha is an exhaustive commentary explaining the terminology of the Udana and unraveling the complexities of its grammar. In his exposition, the Pali commentator Dhammapala sees himself as "adhering to the method of the Ancient Commentary, as well as to the five Nikayas . . . without contravening the opinion of the residents of the Mahavihara which is quite pure, unconfused, (and) a recondite interpretation of (its) meaning" (p. 2). In short, he is seeking to demonstrate that the canonical text, the word of the Buddha (buddhavacana), "fully supports the system . . . espoused by the residents of the Mahavihara (p. xvi) in the fifth century C.E.

In a work of such scope, it is inevitable that other scholars find places they would have handled differently. To point such passages out extensively would be little more than quibbling. Nonetheless, an illustration or two does not seem totally out of place. For example, on p. 48 [Ud-a 26], Dhammapala speaks of a river whose water flows free of mud, duckweed, green scum, and the like, using the adjective nela (lit., "faultless"), which Masefield, referring to Dhammapala's exposition at Ud-a 313, here translates as "drivel-free." In the latter context, drivel is exactly what is meant; but in the former, the English word "drivel" is simply inappropriate and the river water is better described as clear, pristine, or even unobstructed. Similarly, on p. 1009 and again on p. 1016 [Ud-a 388 and 393], uses verbal forms of the term "slope" to speak of a tendency or inclination towards the attainment of Nibbana. While appropriate as a translation for forms of the word ninna in other contexts, the use of the English verb "slope" to speak of such an inclination is at best awkward. A less literal alternative, such as "be disposed toward," would seem preferable. A final example of a somewhat different sort: given official monastic attitudes toward sex and right speech, the choice of the word "horny" as a translation of "avassuta" on p. 26 [Ud-a 12] would seem too slangy. The Pali-English Dictionary's "lustful," "filled with desire" would appear stylistically preferable.

At the outset of this commentary on the canonical Udana...