Oskar von Hinüber suggests here that the Theravāda tradition offers no support for a derivation of
sutta from sūkta. (In der Theravāda-Überlieferung findet die Annahme, daß sutta- eigentlich sūkta- entspräche, nirgends eine Stütze, wie die lange Erörterung zu sutta-, As 19, 15–26 mit aller
Deutlichkeit zeigt.)
However, the Atthasālini passage cited here (= Sp I 19 = Sv I 17) quotes and explains a mnemonic verse that offers 6 ways of taking
sutta; the second of these is precisely sūkta (Pali
suvutta):
"As revealing benefits, as well spoken (suvutta), as productive, as yielding,
as sheltering well, as a universal measuring cord, it is called sutta.”
"For a sutta reveals various benefits for ourselves and others. And in it these benefits are spoken well (suvutta) since they are spoken in accordance with the disposition of those who are to be trained …"
atthānaṃ sūcanato suvuttato savanato ’tha sūdanato |
suttāṇā suttasabhāgato ca suttan ti akkhātaṃ ||
taṃ hi attatthaparatthādibhede atthe sūceti. suvuttā c’ ettha atthā veneyyajjhāsayānulomena vuttattā ...
Rupert Gethin
--
Rupert Gethin
Professor of Buddhist Studies
University of Bristol
Department of Religion and Theology
3 Woodland Road ● Bristol BS8 1TB ● UK
Oskar von Hinüber (1994: “Die Neun Aṅgas,” p. 132) approvingly cites Mayrhofer’s judgment (EWA III/ 492) that the derivation from sūkta is “entbehrlich”; he
cites a long discussion of the term in Buddhaghosa’s Atthasālinī 19.15–26 as evidence against it.
Tim Lubin
Dear Jim,
See Max Walleser's 1914 book, footnote on p. 4:
K. R. Norman and Gombrich accepted this suggestion. I suppose Pollock got it from Gombrich.
Sheldon Pollock in The Language of the Gods in the World of Men (p. 52) suggests that the Buddhist term “sutta” does not derive from the Sanskrit sūtra, but
rather from sūkta. Sanskrit double consonant clusters do show regular assimilation, regressively and progressively, in Prakrit, where two different consonants
become a double of one of them. I’m interested in hearing learned opinion on Pollock’s suggestion. I had not noticed this interesting detail, when I first read this book some years ago.
Asian Philosophies and Cultures (Emeritus)
California Institute of Integral Studies
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