Pubbaṇhasutta (AN 3.155) ends with the siloka Arogā sukhitā hotha, saha sabbehi ñātibhī”ti. Shouldn’t the instrumental form of the word ñāti be ñātībhi instead of ñātibhī? Is it for metrical reasons? Thank you in advance for your time and advice.
1 Like
I think the punctuation obscures what is happening. I believe it is
ñātībhi + iti = ñātibhīti
1 Like
Yes, when (i)ti follows a word ending in a vowel that vowel is lengthened.
If you have access to the Gair and Karuna textbook, please see Lesson 1, section 3.3.
2 Likes
That’s correct. Also, the final syllable of a verse line never needs to be lengthened (e.g. from i to ī) for metrical reasons, because it is counted as long by default in the metre. So that couldn’t be the case here.
But perhaps the question was about the previous i in ñātībhi versus ñātibhi. I think both forms are valid even outside of verse. But the short i fits the Siloka standard meter, so maybe chosen for that reason. However, the long ī would also be metrically valid, although creating an less common metre.
2 Likes
The grammatically possible forms are ñātibhi, ñātībhi, ñātihi and nātīhi.
But in practice the forms we actually encounter in canonical Pali texts are ñātīhi and ñātibhi.
Ñātīhi is the invariable form in Pali prose, but every once in a while you’ll also meet with it in verse.
Ñātibhi is the commonest form in Pali verse.
In the passage you quote the form is actually ñātibhi, as can be seen from those occurrences of the verse in suttas where it is not followed by iti.
The lengthening of the final vowel, then, is a matter of sandhi rather than metri causa:
ñātibhi + iti = ñātibhīti
2 Likes
Hi Pulec,
Welcome to the D&D forum! We hope you enjoy the various resources, FAQs, and previous threads. We encourage you to use the search function for topics and keywords you are interested in.
We also ask you to please take a moment now to familiarize yourself with the forum guidelines: Forum Guidelines. May some of these resources be of assistance along the path.
If you have any questions or need further clarification regarding anything, feel free to contact the moderators by including @moderators in your post or a PM.
Regards,
Alexandra (on behalf of the moderators)
Thank you very much!
1 Like