Terms for Negation ?

[Stephen Hodge]

Dear All,

Thanks for the various suggestions on- and off-list. They have been helpful 
in general terms and will be of use in the future. However, I do not think 
they help with the term I am seeking to establish.

Birgit:  The word in question is T: bzlog-pa with C: 遮, which normally 
retroverts to "vyāvartana". In this instance, it occurs in one passage 
forming part of Ch14 of the Mahāyāna Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra which contains a 
varṇa-patha allocated various doctrinal significations letter by letter. 
This version is interesting since it has no connection with the

well-known A RA PA CA NA ones from NW India, nor, in terms of content, with 
those found elsewhere following the standard sequence of sounds. Most 
noteworthy is that it was originally based on a shorter Prakrit varṇa-patha, 
as can be seen in many of the term or explanations allocated to the 
individual letters.

The specific lemma with "bzlog-pa" is:

aṃ zhes bya ba ni nga'i bstan pa la <rung ba ma yin pa> thams cad <bzlog pa 
dang> | gser dang dngul spangs pa ste | <de bas na> bzlog pa'i don du aṃ 
zhes bya'o ||

Here I believe that "aṃ" is understood as the negative prefix "an-" ~ hence 
my enquiry. The bracketed portions do not belong to the hyparchetype, but 
are interpolations from two textual lineages that have been merged to form 
the extant Tibetan text.

Birgit: Why have you put quotes around retrovert ? I am curious. Are you not 
very familiar with the term ? True, it is not used much in Buddhist circles 
though it ought to be. The terms retrovert and retroversion are widely used 
in Biblical Studies, esp LXX research, to describe exactly what I, and you 
too on occasion, am doing with Buddhist materials. See for example, Emmanuel 
Tov's "Text-Critical Use of the Septuagint in Biblical Research" which could 
be studied with benefit by any Buddhist scholar working with Tibetan or 
Chinese translation material, though the need for a knowledge of Hebrew and 
Greek may be a deterrent for some.

Best wishes,

Stephen Hodge