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**EnvellFen** · 08-12-2012, 06:00 AM

go back to the old text and read them to find the answers there.

Yes. But the old texts are translations & we may not know the meanings of words as Buddha spoke them.

For example, the Visiddhimagga is a text from the 5th century. The meaning of words in Visiddhimagga is probably far more accurate than our knowledge today.

Now, this word birth (játi) has many meanings.

For in the passage “[He recollects … ] one birth (játi), two births” (D I 81) it is becoming.

In the passage, “Visákhá, there is a kind (játi) of ascetics called Niganthas (Jains)” (A I 206) it is a monastic order.

In the passage, “Birth (játi) is included in two aggregates” (Dhátuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed.

In the passage, “His birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in the mother’s womb” (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking.

In the passage “As soon as he was born (sampatijáta), Ánanda, the Bodhisatta …” (M III 123) it is parturition.

In the passage “One who is not rejected and despised on account of birth” (A III 152) it is clan.

In the passage “Sister, since I was born with the noble birth” (M II 103) it is the Noble One’s virtue.

Visiddhumagga So, the question arises, when we read the word 'birth' in the translations of the old texts, for example, what does it mean to us?

08-12-2012, 06:00 AM	#15
EnvellFen Join Date Nov 2005 Posts 507 Senior Member	go back to the old text and read them to find the answers there. Yes. But the old texts are translations & we may not know the meanings of words as Buddha spoke them. For example, the Visiddhimagga is a text from the 5th century. The meaning of words in Visiddhimagga is probably far more accurate than our knowledge today. Now, this word birth (játi) has many meanings. For in the passage “[He recollects … ] one birth (játi), two births” (D I 81) it is becoming. In the passage, “Visákhá, there is a kind (játi) of ascetics called Niganthas (Jains)” (A I 206) it is a monastic order. In the passage, “Birth (játi) is included in two aggregates” (Dhátuk 15) it is the characteristic of whatever is formed. In the passage, “His birth is due to the first consciousness arisen, the first cognition manifested, in the mother’s womb” (Vin I 93) it is rebirth-linking. In the passage “As soon as he was born (sampatijáta), Ánanda, the Bodhisatta …” (M III 123) it is parturition. In the passage “One who is not rejected and despised on account of birth” (A III 152) it is clan. In the passage “Sister, since I was born with the noble birth” (M II 103) it is the Noble One’s virtue. Visiddhumagga So, the question arises, when we read the word 'birth' in the translations of the old texts, for example, what does it mean to us?
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