Part 2
TECHNICAL TERMINOLOGY
Technical terminology of Buddhism ís important since it describes certain role models and their line of practice. It is therefore not a waste of time to give some attention to the little known word of araNa and its connection, or non-connection, with the character of the Arhat Subhúti.
[ Picture 1 shows the retroflexed n with the “under-dot”, (múrdhanya ) in the Devanágari script used to render Sanskrit litterature. In somewhat Latinised form this dot appears under the n. Since this blog version does not allow for such diacritics the retroflexed n in arana is rendered as a capital n: araNa.
Furthermore the diacritic marks, in Latinised form appearing as the flat stroke over long vowels (dírgha) such as a, i and u will be rendered as á, í, and ú. This might be confusing since some syllables that need to be stressed also receive this acute accent.]
“Die Streitlosigkeit des Subhúti” answers prof Otto Franke critique. In 1915 he objects against Walleser’s choice to translate araNa with “restfulness” (Streitlosigkeit). And by the way, I chose “restfulness” after considering Walleser’s interpretation. This interpretation of Max Walleser’s interpretation is mine. I might be wrong.
(The Pali language is written in different ways. We have Cambodian Pali, Lao Pali, Tai Pali, and Thai or Siamese Pali. The example here given is that of the “under-dot” n (múrdhanya ) as it is used in Srilankan Pali.)
RANA IN THE RGVEDA
Generally the Chinese Buddhist community holds he opinion that the name of Subhúti solely occurs in Mahayanistic manuscripts, not in those of the Southern tradition. The following sections will show that this is incorrect.
And another generally held conception is that the word araNa (the emphasis is on -Na) does not occur in the Classical Sanskrit in which Vedism and later Hinduïsm is rendered. This is partly incorrect insofar as the positive expression of araNa: raNa, is used several times in the Rgveda.(The prefix a- of araNa is the negative form of raNa – in my opinion –; it will prove to be important in following attempts to interpret and translate araNa correctly.)
In this Rgveda, a seminal work in Hinduïsm, particularly in RV III.7, we read the expression raNya-vácah that has been translated with “loving speech”. In section III. 5. 55 (see http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rvsan/rv05051.htm) we find the tree times repeated “á yáhy aghne atrivat sute raNa”. Though unaquainted with Vedism my rendering of this utterance goes into the direction of an “exalted” (raNa) “utterance” (sute) with regard to the deity or deified “fire” (agne / agni). Hence the above-mentioned raNya-vácah possibly is not “loving speech”, but “exalted speech”. These two examples, raNya-vácah and “á yáhy aghne atrivat sute raNa”, do not occur in Walleser’s paper.
RV VIII.2.42 mentions a “ráNasya naptyá” which Walleser translates as “Töchter der Freude” ( daughters of joy). We might decide that “daughters who speak or sing in exaltation” would be a better choice. And in this same paper we see raNa used with regard to “a drunken god Indra”. As far as I know drunkards, and I knew a few in younger years, they tend to “sing”, generally in an exalted way. Therefore it might be that Indra, after visiting the local Inn, burst out in exalted praises of whatever he wished to praise. (There’s both humour and seriousness in this section).
AraNa could therefore be considered a rejection of raNa: “exalted is refuted and answered with “unexalted”. This “unexalted” (araNa) however does not yet occur in any English language Buddhist translation.
In ony a few places in the Buddhist canon we come across araNa; it never attracted much attention, with the exception of the professors Walleser, Conze, Franke, Horner, and two or three contemporaries of Walleser, Franke and Conze.
It’s however the relatively recent interest in the art of the exalted bhadjan singing that allows us to interpret utterances such as “á yáhy aghne atrivat sute raNa” as a form of bhadjan, an exaltation of the godhead, whatever he or she or it represents, and we might interpret it as the strong emotion experienced by both the singer and the devoted listener of bhadjan.
cont.: https://4465bj.wordpress.com/2014/07/16/subhutis-arana-3/
Words in picture 