Well thank you, but I don’t know if I’d go that far! I do think it’s important to take care of all the little details.
I come across these little mistakes all the time. Of course I find them in my own translations as well, but then I get to fix them!
Here’s another one I just noticed. When speaking of the resurrection of the “sacrificial pillar” (yūpa) they both follow the commentary’s mistake and call it a “palace”, a point I have discussed before here and here.
They then go on to further misconstrue the (admittedly long and complex) passage.
Atha kho, bhikkhave, saṅkho nāma rājā yo so yūpo raññā mahāpanādena kārāpito, taṁ yūpaṁ ussāpetvā ajjhāvasitvā taṁ datvā vissajjitvā samaṇabrāhmaṇakapaṇaddhikavaṇibbakayācakānaṁ dānaṁ datvā metteyyassa bhagavato arahato sammāsambuddhassa santike kesamassuṁ ohāretvā kāsāyāni vatthāni acchādetvā agārasmā anagāriyaṁ pabbajissati.
Here is Walshe’s translation, which in meaning is similar to RD.
Then King Sankha will re-erect the palace once built by King Mahāpanāda, and having lived in it, will give it up and present it to the ascetics and Brahmins, the beggars, the wayfarers, the destitute. Then, shaving off hair and beard, he will don yellow robes and go forth from the household life into homelessness under the supreme Buddha Metteyya.
They say Saṅkha “dwelt in” the palace, which of course makes little sense if it is a sacrificial post. But the verb is ajjhāvasati which in this sutta always means “reign”. Erecting the post evokes the horse sacrifice, which is pre-eminently the way kings established empire. The point is, of course, that this does the same job without killing.
Then, again thinking that it is a palace, they say he gave it to the needy. But what would the needy want with a post? In fact they misconstrued the syntax, as there are two separate acts of giving: ajjhāvasitvā taṁ datvā vissajjitvā, then dānaṁ datvā. The first refers to giving up the realm, i.e. abdicating the throne, the second to giving charity to the needy.
Then King Saṅkha will have the sacrificial post once built by King Mahāpanāda raised up. Having reigned, he will abdicate, offering charity to ascetics and brahmins, paupers, vagrants, nomads, and beggars. Then, having shaved off his hair and beard and dressed in ocher robes, he will go forth from the lay life to homelessness in the Buddha Metteyya’s presence.