A Tibetan misunderstanding of Skt.?

[John Dunne]

Jonathan Silk posted a query about the translation of *yujyate* as *rnal
'byor ma lags so*. It is hard to evaluate this translation without more
context, but if the *ma* is construed as the feminine final syllyable of
*rnal 'byor*, it seems best to assume that the manuscript of the suutra
used by the Tibetan translators differs from the manuscripts (or edition)
that you are reading. However, in some suutra passages, responses to
questions asked by the Buddha replace the copula *yin* with *lags*, in
which case the *ma* is not a feminine final syllable of *rnal 'byor* but a
negative for the copula *lags* (this assumes an original *na yujyate*); I
have seen this in other passages. 

As for *rnal 'byor*, some dim memory tells me that I have seen it used in
some peculiar context to translate a conjugated form of *yuj* (probably
*yujyate*), but frankly, I cannot remember where. Perhaps Jonathan could
post the reference to the suutra he is reading -- it might jog my memory!



John Dunne
Study of Religion
Harvard University