Dear Jim,

I have a brief critique of the sukta hypothesis in "Protestant Presuppositions and the Study of the Early Buddhist Oral Tradition," JIABS 42 (2019), 464n24.

Nathan McGovern

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Dear all,

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.

James Ryan

Asian Philosophies and Cultures (Emeritus)

California Institute of Integral Studies

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