Why the Monks took no Delight in the Buddha’s Words

Authors

  • Richard Gombrich Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v2i1.83

Keywords:

lectio difficilior, Pali Canon, Upaniṣadic context

Abstract

Records of the Buddha’s sermons in the Pali Canon often end with a statement that the monks delighted in the Buddha’s words. However, the first sermon in one collection, the Majjhima Nikaya, says that they did not delight in them. though this reading is ancient, most modern editors have emended by removing the negative. this article argues that a careful study of the preceding text reveals why the negative is correct.

Author Biography

  • Richard Gombrich, Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies

    Richard Gombrich is Boden Professor of Sanskrit Emeritus at Oxford University and an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He is Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, Wolfson College, Oxford OX2 6UD

References

Demiéville, P., Durt, H., and Seidel, A. 1978. Répertoire du canon bouddhique sino-japonais: edition de Taisho (Taisho shinshu daizokyo). Rev. and enlarged edn. Paris: Adrien-Maisonneuve; Tokyo: Maison franco-japonaise.

Gombrich, R. F. 1987. ‘Three Souls, One or None: The Vagaries of a Pali Pericope.’ Journal of the Pali Text Society 11: 73-78.

— 1992. ‘The Buddha’s Book of Genesis?’ Indo-Iranian Journal 35: 159-78. doi:10.1007/BF00164930

— 1995. Buddhist Precept and Practice: Traditional Buddhism in the Rural Highlands of Ceylon. London: Kegan Paul International.

— 2006. How Buddhism Began. 2nd edn. London and New York: Routledge.

Ñanamoli, Bhikkhu, and Bodhi, Bhikkhu. 2001. The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha: Translated from the Majjhima Nikaya. Rev. edn. Oxford: Pali Text Society in association with Wisdom Publications.

Trenckner, V. (ed.). 1888. Majjhima-nikaya, vol. I. London: Pali Text Society (several times reprinted).

Published

2008-10-10

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Gombrich, R. (2008). Why the Monks took no Delight in the Buddha’s Words. Religions of South Asia, 2(1), 83-87. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v2i1.83