Thanissaro’s translation of the Sutta Nipata can be downloaded from his website.
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I did not write ‘cheap for me’. Considering the Dhamma as precious beyond price, it is cheap for anyone who loves the Dhamma more than anything else. (And can read English).
Indeed. A high school teacher (if s/he is lucky) will get the equivalent of a bit more than 50USD, likely a lot less. And not to forget that a genuine low income earner in Myanmar might not be able to read at all.
Fortunately if he or she can read, there is a translation into Burmese.
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The first time I got into reading suttas was with a class at a local Vihara. I was a student on a no-frills budget at the time. The $40 or more dollars at the time for Wisdom Pub’s Middle Length Discourses was equivalent to what I spend on groceries for the week. A bit much. I got by as other members of the group would photocopy the readings for me.
Now, that expense would be nothing for me. I mention it because I have noticed how easy it is to forget how little money meant so much to me at another time. I’m guessing the lack of appreciation for what it means to other people can be even worse if you never lived at that level.
No disrespect to anyone.
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A translation of the Apadāna verses by Jonathan Walters of Whitman College can be read or downloaded from this site:
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The intro says KN Tha Ap (Thera Apadana) was composed around 2 BCE. How early and [doctrinally] reliable is this work, compared to EBT? Compared to Thera-gatha? On a scale of 10 being pure EBT, and 1 being jataka tales, where would Tha Ap fall? Any comment, Bhante @Sujato, @Brahmali?
I just quickly read through Maha Moggallana’s verses, it’s talking about his past life with a previous buddha, who predicts his arahantship with Gotama.
Unfortunately with such canonical works like Jataka Tall Tales, Dhammapada commentary rebirth tall tales, KN Buddhavamsa teaching a bodhisattva path (through the use of many jataka type birth tall tales to “inspire belief and faith” in kamma and rebirth), it makes me very skeptical when I see previous Buddhas giving accurate forecasts so many aeons into the future. Rebirth and kamma, various psychic powers, are a hard enough sell as it is, the Theravadins made it a lot harder on themselves by canonizing things like Jataka Tales. Once we know part of the canon is obviously chock full of lies, it impugns everything in the canon, including the EBT. It’s amazing to me EBT has survived 2000+ years as a stowaway.
In any case, thanks to Jonathan Walters of Whitman College for doing that translation! Sadhu!
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Well, what’s striking is the almost total transformation from the Thera/Theri-gatha to the Apadanas. The gathas include one or two places where such legendary embellishment might be suspected, while the Apadanas are nothing but. I haven’t studied them in detail, but from what I know there’s little chance that anything in them is historically derived from the time of the Buddha.
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Thanks for sharing. They’ve done a really nice job! I look forward to reading it when I get the chance.
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