MN 8 - effacement formula - "may" or "will"?

Q & A
1

In Ven. Bodhi’s translation, “will” is used in the first part of formula and “shall” is used in the second, e.g.

‘Others will be cruel; we shall not be cruel here’: effacement should be practised thus.

In Ven. @sujato’s,

‘Others will be cruel, but here we will not be cruel.’

And in Horner’s:

‘Others may be harmful; we, as to this, will not be harmful’, so is expunging to be done.

Can someone explain to me, a person with next to no knowledge of Pali grammar, why Vens. Sujato and Bodhi have “will” for the first part whereas Horner has “may”? An ELI5, if you will. It seems to me that saying others will do something vs. saying others may do something are two different meanings.

Thanks in advance.

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2

Hi Mkoll

Surprisingly, it’s not a matter of Pali grammar but English grammar which accounts for this.

The Pali for the text is -

Pare vihiṃsakā bhavissanti, mayamettha avihiṃsakā
bhavissāmā’ti sallekho karaṇīyo.

‘Others will be cruel; we shall not be cruel here’: effacement should be practised thus.

Bhavissanti = 3rd person plural for the future tense (they will)
Bhavissāma = 1st person plural for the future tense (we will)

They are both of the same meaning in Pali, the difference being the person.

As I understand it, “shall” is used in English with first person pronouns, “will” being used for the others.

I’m not sure if Horner’s reading is a little off.

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