In AN 9.36, Bodhi translates tattha ṭhito as ‘firm in this’:
So tattha ṭhito āsavānaṃ khayaṃ pāpuṇāti.
If he is firm in this, he attains the destruction of the taints.
@sujato translates it as ‘standing firm’:
Standing firm in that they attain the ending of defilements.
However in AN 4.123, in the context of the first jhāna, @sujato translates it as ‘set on that’:
Tattha ṭhito tadadhimutto tabbahulavihārī aparihīno kālaṃ kurumāno brahmakāyikānaṃ devānaṃ sahabyataṃ upapajjati.
If they’re set on that, committed to it, and meditate on it often without losing it, when they die they’re reborn in the company of the gods of Brahmā’s Group.
Consulting the PED, I find:
tattha:
A. 1. of place: (a) place where= there, in that place […]; often with eva: tatth’ eva right there, on the (very same) spot S I.116; J II.154; PvA 27. In this sense as introduction to a comment on a passage: in this, here, in this connection
And
thita:
[pp. of tiṭṭhati=Gr. στατόσ , Lat. status, Celt. fossad (firm)] standing, i. e. (seeṭhāna I) either upright (opp. nisinna, etc.), or immovable, or being, behaving in general. In the latter function often (with ger.) pleonastic for finite verb (cp.ṭhapita); – resting in, abiding in (–° or with loc.); of time: lasting, enduring; fig. steadfast, firm, controlled
I found the reference to abiding particularly interesting, since very often we find talk of abiding in jhāna, albeit with viharati.
Could this be a fair translation?
abiding in that
Or, taking into account ‘lasting, enduring’:
continued abiding in that
So then for the first passage:
So tattha ṭhito āsavānaṃ khayaṃ pāpuṇāti.
If he abides in this, he attains the destruction of the taints.
Or if we take on board the ‘lasting, enduring’ of thita:
If he continues in abiding in this, he attains the destruction of the taints.
This English is very different from ‘standing firm’. Which do you think is better supported by the Pāli? Or, any better suggestions?
And how about tabbahulavihārī in that second passage? The PED tells us of bahula:
full of, rich in, fig. given to, intent on, devoted to
vihārin:
dwelling, living; being in such & such a state or condition
And of course it relates to viharati:
to stay, abide, dwell, sojourn
I am not sure what the tab is doing here - can anyone help? But for now moving on…
Elsewhere @sujato translates viharati as ‘remains’:
“First, take a mendicant who, quite secluded from sensual pleasures … enters and remains in the first absorption.
Idhāvuso, bhikkhu vivicceva kāmehi … pe … paṭhamaṃ jhānaṃ upasampajja viharati.
And I believe ‘abide in’ is also an accepted translation by some for this context.
So rather than ‘meditate on it often’, how about this:
devoted to dwelling in it
or:
devoted to abiding in it
Remembering that that this is referring the first jhāna (and later for the rest of the four jhānas), this would give us:
If they’re abiding in that, committed to it, and devoted to abiding in it without losing it, when they die they’re reborn in the company of the gods of Brahmā’s Group.
This gives me a very different feel to this passage. What do you think?