Hello! I would like to respectfully propose two alternative translations. I would appreciate it if Ven. @Sujato could give his opinion since I am a fan to his work in translating the Suttas.
I am comparing the rule on eating for Novice Monks as stipulated in the Vinaya (SuttaCentral) and the natural quality of an Arahant in reference to their eating conduct as stipulated in the Sutta (SuttaCentral).
There is one thing that exists in both of those references namely vikālabhojanā, which means abstaining from eating at the wrong time. Meanwhile, these two things namely ekabhattikā and rattūparatā exist only in the Sutta reference.
In that Sutta reference, Ven. Sujato translates ekabhattikā as “eat in one part of the day” and rattūparatā as “abstaining from eating at night”. I believe these two meanings have already been ‘covered’ when translating virato vikālabhojanā. On the other hand, the qualities ekabhattikā and rattūparatā exist naturally in Arahants. This indicates why The Buddha did not include them as rules for Novice Monks.
I also believe that Arahants by nature eats modestly and knows that eating only one meal a day is enough to support their physical body. Therefore, I respectfully propose these two alternative translations:
- The term ekabhattikā would be translated as “eating only one meal a day”, and
- The term rattūparatā would be translated as “eating modestly” or similar - being derived from the terms ratta* and uparata rather than ratti and uparata.
*The term ratta also literally means “infatuated with lust” so the term rattūparatā literally means “having given up (eating) infatuated with lust (regarding foods)”.
Thank you.