Rules Concerning Speech In Ayaranga And Dasaveyaliya Suttas

SR No.: 269485
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Collette Caillat
Publisher: Collette Caillat
Total Pages: 15
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 6

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Collette Caillat
Similarly, Gaut DhS 9.22 remarks: "....in speaking of) a rainbow (he shall use the word) mani-dhanus (the jewelled bow) instead of Indra-dhanus' "a prescription which is in agreement with Baudh DhS 2.3.6. 11-12, and Vas DhS 12.32.*
The prohibitions and injunctions detailed above are likewise given in the other DhS. The implied justification can be deduced from the following observation, by ApDhS:
nāsau 'me sapatna' iti bruyāt; yady 'asau me sapatna' iti bruyad dvişantam bhrālṛvyam janayet
"In company) he shall not say, 'This person is my enemy'. If he says 'This person is my enemy', he will raise for himself an enemy, who will show his hatred" ÁpDhS 1.11.31.15).
Now, these remarks are made in a khaṇḍa which warns against dangerous words and acts, and points to those which are conducive to welfare (1.11.31.6; 14, etc.); similarly, khanda 32 dissuades from visits to countries inhabited by inferior men, from mixing in assemblies and crowds (1.11.32. 18-19); it also advises the snātaka not "to cross a river swimming" and not to use "ships of doubtful (solidity)" (26-27). To revert to speech: we can include in this review a rule laid down for both the snataka and the householder, who are advised not to "talk of a doubtful matter as if it were clear" (2.5.12.21, cf. 1.11.32.22). This last recommendation leads us back to the observance of truthfulness, which should not be interpreted as an encouragement to use cruel words. On the contrary, Manu
stresses:
hīnāngānatiriktāngānvidya-hinänvayo-'dhikān
rupa-draviṇa-hīnānsca jati-hīnāca nākṣipet,
1. manidhanur itindradhanuḥ.
2.
Compare, a little differently, Mn 4.59.
On beliefs connected with rainbow, M. Mauss, Theorie de la magie", reprinted in Sociologie et anthropologie, Paris, 1950, p. 32; S. H. Webster, Le tabou, (French translation), Paris, 1952, p. 227 and n. 1.For the same warning, Prof, Gonda kindly refers me to several other texts: ParG 2.7.13, Vaikh Dh 3.2.12, Ath Paris 72.1.6, and to the old saying in The Netherlands, that it is a bridge for the deceased to go to heaven, (cf. H. Bachtold-Staubli, Handwörterbuch des deutschen Abersglaubens. Berlin, 1927-1942, 6 vol., s. v. Regenbogen).
3. 1.11.31.17 in the text, but 15 in the translation.
4. bähubhyan ca nadi-taranam (scil. varjayet), (26); cf. 1.2.5.9; 1.5.15.11 (and
the note SBE 2, p. 55): 1.11.32.26; also Mn 4.77.
navam ca samfayikim (scil. varjayet), (27).
na sambaye pratyakṣavad brüyāt.
5.
6.