Hello, I have a question on the language in this passage from SN 35.92
And what is a duality? Kiñca, bhikkhave, dvayaṁ? It’s just the eye and sights, the ear and sounds, the nose and smells, the tongue and tastes, the body and touches, and the mind and thoughts. Cakkhuñceva rūpā ca, sotañceva saddā ca, ghānañceva gandhā ca, jivhā ceva rasā ca, kāyo ceva phoṭṭhabbā ca, mano ceva dhammā ca—
As I put in the title of this post, what is ceva? Is it “and” or can it be read as “like” as in eye-like sights, ear-like sounds … etc.
it is ‘ca’ + ‘eva’ - ‘ca’ means ‘and’ and ‘eva’ is an emphatic particle with a range of meanings (based on context), but usually something like ‘just’, ‘merely’, ‘only’. Bhante has translated it as ‘just’ in your example.
Great thanks. Then I have another question. In Japanese there is something called a noun modifying clause, which is a carry over from Chinese. So, I instinctively read cakkhuñceva rūpā as cakkhuñceva modifying rūpā. Is this syntax in Pali? Or how should I read the linking of ceva to cakkhu, etc.?
