Hello! I am totally new to sutta study and am rapidly becoming fascinated. I joined an online study group looking at AN6.55 earlier today, and we all puzzled over the meaning of a sentence early in the sutta where Soṇa is talking to himself and says, “Yet my mind is not freed from defilements by not grasping.”
We all agreed that the double negative made the statement somewhat difficult to understand, and I am wondering if I am interpreting it correctly if I restate it thus: “Yet my mind is not freed from defilements because of the fact that I continue to grasp.” That’s a bit long-winded perhaps, but I am struggling to make sure my restatement itself is not misinterpreted!
Any help would be much appreciated.
Thank you,
Howard Katz
“Atha ca pana me na anupādāya āsavehi cittaṁ vimuccati. “
Yes, that is an accurate rendering, but indeed awkward.
Because grasping still happens, my mind is not freed.
I see Ven. Bodhi translated, “yet my mind has not been liberated from the taints by non-clinging.“
Literally, the Pali says, yet/ for me not / by non-clinging / from asavas/ mind/ liberated.
‘mind is not freed from asavas through the means of no- grasping. ‘ ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_negative
A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. This is typically used to convey a different shade of meaning from a strictly positive sentence (“You’re not unattractive” vs “You’re attractive”). Multiple negation is the more general term referring to the occurrence of more than one negative in a clause. In some languages, double negatives cancel one another and produce an affirmative; in other languages, doubled negatives intensify the negation. Languages where multiple negatives affirm each other are said to have negative concord or emphatic negation
Your interpretation seems correct to me.
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