Posting the latest update.
mvu-en 16 Jan 17.zip (623.6 KB)
Up to page 180.
Work on this has been a bit slow in the last few months due to pressing commitments which are now complete. 
Progress now returning to a more steady rate. 
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Mvu lists the 32 marks of a Great Man:
He has feet with level tread.
He has designs of wheels on the soles of his feet.
He has long toes and fingers.
He has broad and projecting heels.
He has sharply arched feet.
His legs are like the antelopeās.
His body is divinely straight.
He can touch his knees with his hands when standing erect.
His male organ is enclosed in a sheath.
His body is proportioned like the banyan tree.
His hands and feet are soft and tender.
His hands and feet are net-like.
His body is perfectly formed.
The down on his body grows in single hairs, one to each pore.
The down on his body grows straight upwards.
He has a smooth skin.
He has a [ ? ] skin.
He has the gait of a swan.
There is no hollow between his shoulder blades.
His body has the seven convex surfaces.
He has an exquisite sense of taste.
His skin is the colour of gold.
He has the bust of a lion.
He has regular teeth.
His teeth are perfectly white.
His bust is consistently rounded.
His tongue is long and slender.
His voice is like that of Brahma.
His eyes are blue.
His eyelashes are like a cowās.
Between his eyebrows he has a hairy mole.
His head is shaped like a royal turban.
No 17, āHe has a [ ? ] skinā is missing a description.
Iāve compared this list to others, eg, in Wikipedia, and found that the order and the descriptions of the lists donāt match.
As this project is not about updating or changing the original text, unless instructed otherwise, I am going to leave the blank text ā[ ? ]ā as is (ie, as it appears in the original text).
Can you give me the chapter number, iāll check the text.
āThe Birth of Dipamkaraā, p. 181 of the text.
The list, in the original, is in fact more or less an uddÄna, i.e. a list of key words in verse form. This explains the variations in sequence; as usual, things are mixed up to fit the metre.
The explanations in the translation are more or less inferred from those key words, based on the regular list, which, to be fair, is not much more descriptive.
The problematic term is a mistake, and should be deleted. The Sanskrit has just one term Ålakį¹£į¹acchavi (= Pali sukhumacchavi), i.e. āsmooth skinā.
mį¹du jÄlÄ ca pratipÅ«rį¹Ä ekÄ Å«rdhvÄgra paį¹camÄ
Ålakį¹£į¹acchavi haį¹sÄntarÄ ca utsadÄ ca te daÅa
It looks like this was partially duplicated in error. To be clear, it should be:
The down on his body grows straight upwards.
He has a smooth skin.
He has the gait of a swan.
Also, āa smooth skinā is also a typo!
If itās a duplicate and we remove it then that will leave us with 31 āmarksā instead of 32ā¦
Indeed, yes. There are some discrepancies. Contra my previous explanation that the change in sequence could be explained by metre, there are several cases where the terms are swapped to such a degree that this cannot be the only source.
In addition, the items vary somewhat.
- samÄ ā® Suppatiį¹Āį¹hitaĀpÄdo
- heį¹£į¹Ä ca ā® Heį¹į¹hÄ
- dÄ«rghÄ ca ā® DÄ«ghaį¹ guli
- ÄyatÄ ca ā® Äyatapaį¹hi
- ucchaį¹ga paį¹camÄ ā® Ussaį¹ khapÄdo
- eį¹i ā® Eį¹ijaį¹ gho
- vį¹hac ca ā® Brahmujugatto
- tiį¹£į¹hanto ā® į¹¬hitako
- koÅa ā® KosoĀhiĀtaĀvatthaĀguyho
- nyagrodha te daÅÄ ā® NigrodhaĀparimaį¹Āįøalo
- mį¹du ā® MudutaĀlunaĀhatthaĀpÄdo
- jÄlÄ ca ā® JÄlahatthapÄdo
- pratipÅ«rį¹Ä
- ekÄ ā® Ekekalomo
- Å«rdhvÄgra paį¹camÄ ā® Uddhaggalomo
- Ålakį¹£į¹acchavi ā® Sukhumacchavi
- haį¹s
- ÄntarÄ ca ā® Citantaraį¹so
- utsadÄ ca te daÅa ā® Sattussado
- rasaį¹ ā® RasaggasaggÄ«
- suvarį¹a ā® Suvaį¹į¹avaį¹į¹o
- sÄ«ho ca ā® sÄ«haĀpubĀbaddhaĀkÄyo or SÄ«hahanu?
- samÄ ā® Samadanto
- ÅuklÄ ca paį¹camÄ ā® SusukkadÄį¹ho
- samÄ ā® SamaĀvaį¹Āį¹akĀkhanĀdho
- prabhÅ«tÄ ā® PahÅ«tajivho
- brahmÄ ca ā® Brahmassaro
- nÄ«lÄ ā® AbhinÄ«lanetto
- gopakį¹£ma te daÅa ā® Gopakhumo
- Å«rį¹Ä ā® Uį¹į¹Ä
- uį¹£į¹Ä«į¹£a ÅÄ«rį¹£aį¹ ā® Uį¹hÄ«sasÄ«so
As you can see, two itemsābody is perfectly formed, gait of a swanāhave no Pali equivalents.
Meanwhile, two Pali terms have no equivalents in this list, namely: forty teeth (cattÄlÄ«sadanto (23)) and gapless teeth (aviraįø·adanto (25)).
In addition, the Pali mentions two qualities like a lion (chest and jaw) while the Sanskrit just says ālionā; from the context, the translator has guessed ābustā. This explains the missing item.
The Sanskrit text, luckily enough, numbers the list in groups of five. Each is correct, except, by coincidence, the same line we had a problem with before. Or is it a coincidence? Did the translator notice this and insert an empty item?
Ålakį¹£į¹acchavi haį¹s-ÄntarÄ ca utsadÄ ca te daÅa
Anyway, there has probably been some corruption in this line.
Oh, and the complication in this one tiny detail is a good reminder of why weāre not editing the translation!
Got it. Iāll leave it as ā[?]ā then. But imagine if after all this time you discovered that there were only 31 marks and not 32. Now that would create a stirā¦and a lot of work to re-write all those suttas/sutras!
I know, right? We must be careful, otherwise weāll make a lot of work for ourselves!
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@sujato, Bhante, do you know the correct way to write Trayastrimsa?
The text varies with different versions, eg: TrÄyastrimÅa, TrÄyastriį¹Åa and Trayasį¹rimÅa.
I assume they are all the same word but that they got the diacritics messed up.
Yes, it should be standardized to TrÄyastriį¹Åa.
Thanks
@sujato, Bhante, another one: Yama and YÄma.
Sometimes there appears āthe deva YÄma/Yamaā, and sometimes āYÄma/Yama devasā.
I assume both variations are the same and the correct way of spelling it is YÄma?
Actually, this is more complex than it seems. These are both correct in different contexts. Yama is the name of the god. YÄma is a patrynomic, meaning āof Yamaā and is used for the gods in his retinue.
In the same way, for example, the Sanskrit for Buddhist is Bauddha, i.e. you add a short a to the initial syllable to indicate belonging. a familiar example of this is āJainā; this is short for āJainaā, which means āfollower of the Jinaā.
See the entries for:
https://suttacentral.net/define/yama
https://suttacentral.net/define/yÄma
If you can clearly distinguish these contexts, great, if not, just leave it.
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Ok. Thanks. Perhaps the entries should be updated to explain this (as they donāt actually say Yama is the leader of the YÄma class of devas.)
@sujato Bhante, on multiple occasions Mvu refers to KÄÅi, for example āthe province of KÄÅiā and āthe king of KÄÅiā however, there are a number of times, e.g., one instance on page 57 of Vol 1, three instances on page 347 of Vol 3 where āKÄÅisā is used, however, I think it should read āKÄÅiā.
Are you able to concur?
Is it in the sense of āpeople of Kasiā?
No.
Vol 1 speaks of a city of KÄÅis rather than the province of KÄÅi āā¦set rolling the wondrous wheel of dharma in the city of KÄÅis.ā
All the other times (once in Vol. 2 and nine times in Vol. 3) the text speaks of a āking of KÄÅisā (compared to other instances where a āking of KÄÅiā is referred to). Example: āNow a worldly king of KÄÅis had designs to invade the kingdom KoÅalas.ā
So these look like mistakes.
Ok thanks. Iāll treat them as such.