Buddha's age in DN16, caturāsīti vatthakoṭisahassāni in DN17

I was twenty years of age - should read I was twenty-nine years of age

in SuttaCentral

1 Like

Yikes! The next line is missing, too. It should be:

I was twenty-nine years of age, Subaddha,
when I went forth to discover what is skilful.

In DN17 in the following passage is 8,400,000,000 correct ? I am guessing its 84,000.

He had 84,000 milk-cows with silken reins and bronze pails. He had 8,400,000,000 fine cloths of linen, silk, wool, and cotton. He had 84,000 servings of food, which were presented to him as offerings in the morning and evening.

Yep. caturāsīti vatthakoṭisahassāni

1 Like

Interesting because Rhys David translates it as -
“Of those four and eighty thousand myriads of suits of apparel too, Ānanda, one was the suit of apparel which, at that time, I wore—to wit, one of delicate texture, of linen, or cotton, or silk, or wool.

and Bhikku Bodhi translates it as 'his eighty-four thousand bales of clothing was of the finest linen.

Maybe they’re were shy of using super large numbers? :sweat_smile:

1 Like

And Walshe also gets it wrong.

Where is this from? At AN 9.20 he has:

eighty-four thousand koṭis of cloths

with the note:

Mp says that conventionally one koṭi is twenty pairs of cloth, but here ten garments is meant.

But this is unlikely; the commentary is rationalizing. The exact number meant by koṭi might be questionable, but it always means a very large number.

https://suttacentral.net/define/koṭi

1 Like

Its in Bhikku Bodhi’s DN translation ( in two locations) Page 287/288 and Page 290 . I am copying the relevant text. Pages from LONGDISCOURSESOFTHEBUDDHA.pdf (460.3 KB)

Page 287/288 Mahasudassana Sutta: Sutta 17

2.5. ‘Of King Mahāsudassana’ s eighty-four thousand cities,
his capital Kusāvatī was the chief; of his eighty-four thousand
palaces Dhamma was the chief; of his eighty-four thousand
gabled halls the great gabled chamber was the chief; his
eighty-four thousand couches were of gold, silver, ivory, sandal-
wood, covered with fleece, wool, spread with kadali-deer
hide, with head-covers, with red cushions at both ends; of his
eighty-four thousand elephants adorned with gold ornaments,
with gold banners and spread with gold nets, Uposatha the
royal tusker was chief; of his eighty-four thousand carriages,
covered with lion-skins, tiger-skins, leopard-skins or with
orange-coloured cloth, adorned with gold ornaments, gold
banners and spread with gold nets, the chariot Vejayanta
was the chief; of his eighty-four thousand jewels the JewelTreasure
was the chief; of his eighty-four thousand wives
Queen Subhaddā was the chief; of his eighty-four
thousand householders the Householder-Treasure was the
chief; of his eighty-four thousand Khattiya retainers the Counsellor-
Treasure was the chief; his eighty-four thousand cows
had tethers of fine jute and milk-pails (?) of silver; his
eighty-four thousand bales of clothing were of the finest linen,
cotton, silk and wool; his eighty-four thousand rice-offerings
were there for the taking by those in need, evening and
morning.

Page 290 Mahiīsudassana Sutta: Sutta 17

2.15. 'And of those eighty-four thousand cities I dwelt in
just one, Kusāvatī, … [ 198] of the eighty-four thousand wives I
had, just one looked after me, and she was called Khattiyāni
or Velārnikāni; 496 of the eighty-four thousand bales of cloth I
had just one … ; of the eighty-four thousand rice-offerings
there was just one measure of choice curry that I ate.

The Sinhala translation says ‘koti 84,000’ ? So I think SC translation seems fine if koti mean 100,000.

That translation is by Maurice Walshe, not Bhikkhu Bodhi.

1 Like

Thanks, yes, I was starting to wonder if I was living in a parallel reality!

And by the way: have a wonderful vassa! :pray:

1 Like

You too, bhante. :pray:

1 Like

Sorry . My Mistake. ! I thought all the Wisdom Publication Sutta translations are by Bhikku Bodhi.