I am looking for an appropriate translation of maññati in the expression ‘atthamaññāya dhammamaññāya dhammānudhammappaṭipanno hoti’ [edit: it turns out the compounds should parsed as attham+aññāya and dhammam+aññāya]
It seems to me that maññati could mean ‘to learn’ or ‘to understand’, or even something else. The definition in PTSD is not very satisfying:
Maññati [man, Vedic manyate & manute, Av. mainyeite; Idg. *men, cp. Gr. me/nos mood, anger=Sk. manah mind; me/mona to think of, wish to, Lat. memini to think of, mens>mind, meneo; Goth. munan to think muns opinion; Oisl. man, Ags. mon; Ohg. minna love Ags, myne intention. Dhtp 427: man=ñāṇe, 524 bodhane] 1. to think, to be of opinion, to imagine, to deem Sn 199 (sīsaŋ . . . subhato naŋ maññati bālo) 588 (yena yena hi maññanti, tato taŋ hoti aññathā) J ii.258 (maññāmi ciraŋ carissati: I imagine he will have to wander a long time). – With (double) acc.: to take for, to consider as; na taŋ maññāmi mānusiŋ I deem you are not human Pv ii.41; yassa dāni kālaŋ maññati for this now may he think it time (in a phrase of departure), let him do what he thinks fit, we wait the Buddha’s pleasure, i. e. let it be time to go [so also BSk. manyate kālaŋ, e. g. Divy 50, 64 etc.] D i.189. <-> Esp. in phrase taŋ kiŋ maññasi (maññatha 2. pl.) what do you think of this? (the foll.), what is your opinion about this? D i.60; S iii.104 & passim. – Pot. 1;st sg maññeyyaŋ I should think PvA 40; 3rd sg. maññeyya S iii.103, and maññe Sn 206. The short form 1st sg maññe is used like an adv. as affirmative particle is inserted without influencing the grammatical or syntactical construction of the sentence; meaning methinks, for certain, surely, indeed, I guess, presumably. E. g. D i.137 (patapati m. paccatthike yasasā); S i.181 (m. 'haŋ); iv.289 (paveliyamānena m kāyena); J ii.275; Miln 21; Vism 90, 92 (mato me m putto); DhA i.107; ii.51; PvA 40 (m. goṇo samuṭṭhahe) 65 (tasmā m. sumuttā). – na maññe surely not DhA ii.84; PvA 75 (n. m. puññavā rājā).
to know, to be convinced, to be sure Sn 840 (=jānāti Nd1 192) 1049, 1142; Nd2 491 (=jānāti); DhA i.29 (maññāmi tuvaŋ marissasi).
to imagine, to be proud (of) to be conceited, to boast Sn 382 (ppr. maññamāna) 806, 813, 855 (maññate); J iii.530 (aor. maññi 'haŋ perhaps maññe 'haŋ? C. explns by maññāmi). – pp mata. – Note. Another Present form is munāti (q. v.) of which the pp. is muta.
Bhante, is then “aññāya” related to “ājānāti”, and if that is the case, do you have a suggestion about which action between to know and to understand would be most appropriate in this case?
some person is quick in attending to wholesome teachings, is able to retain in mind the teachings he has heard, and examines the meaning of the teachings he has retained. Having understood the meaning and the Dhamma, he practices in accordance with the Dhamma.
The presence of atthūpaparikkhī (examining the meaning) before atthamaññāya rules out ‘to know’ and points to ‘to understand’
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Bhante, is then “aññāya” related to “ājānāti”,[/quote]
Yes, it’s the gerund of ājānāti.
If I were a translator I would probably translate aññāya as “having apprehended”; not because “apprehended” means anything greatly different from “understood” or “known”, but merely to indicate to the reader that the word is a translation of a different verb from, say, jānāti or pajānāti. I might then add a footnote with an explanation of the term based upon the Mahāniddesa’s exegesis of the 19th verse of the Tuvaṭakasutta (snp4.14):
“Etañca dhammamaññāya, vicinaṃ bhikkhu sadā sato sikkhe,
Santīti nibbutiṃ ñatvā, sāsane gotamassa na pamajjeyya.”
(Sn. 933)
