Another release of translations since the last update includes a first attempt at translating a few Ekottarika Sutras on the four abodes of mindfulness and the fruits of the ascetic life. I also cleaned up my old translation of MA 17 and released it.
Also, I managed to navigate the mysteries of domain names and DNS entries to give the Github site the dharmapearls.net domain and my blog a subdomain (blog.dharmapearls.net). I’m hoping to resurrect the blog and start posting musings a few times a month again.
The most interesting thing about updating this translation was coming to the conclusion that Gāminī is indeed a god. The BDK translation is a head scratcher because they seem to deliberately change the reading in this sutra to make it sound like a human interlocutor is being described instead of a god. The names, however, are more mysterious, and I can only say that my version is a best guess.
DA 27 The Fruits of the Ascetics
The Dirgha Agama generally agrees with the Theravada parallel with a few added details that dovetail with the Ekottarika version, too. It’s worth comparing the three versions (DN 2, DA 27, and EA 43.7) to get a sense of how much different versions of traditional stories like this one varied.
EA 12.1 The Four Stations of Mind
The Ekottarika’s version of the four abodes of mindfulness agrees with the version in MN and MA, but with less expansion, especially in regard to the mindfulness of body practices.
This sutra was a minor parallel to one part of SN 56.11, the section at the start about the two extremes to be abandoned.
EA 43.7 The Fruits of the Ascetics
This version of DN 2 and DA 27 is remarkable mainly in the way Ajatasatru is depicted compared to the other two versions of this sutra. He’s depicted as discussing the need to repent with Jivaka as he weighed whether to visit the Buddha. Overall, he’s less a caricature of evil and more a character genuinely wanting to reform himself.