DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45392#0357
The Pali Canon
“ He replied, ‘ Lord, I did.’
“Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him: ‘ O man, did
it not occur to you, being a person of mature intelligence
and years: “ I am also subject to old age, and in no way
exempt. Come now, I will act nobly, in deed, word, and
thought?’”
“ He replies: ‘ Lord, I could not. Lord, I did not think.’
“Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him: ‘ O man,
through thoughtlessness you failed to act nobly in deed,
word, and thought. Verily it shall be done unto you, O
man, in accordance with your thoughtlessness. ... It
was you yourself who did this wickedness, and you alone
shall feel its consequences! ”
From the literary point of view we may remark three
characteristics of the Suttas so far considered. First
of all, the repetitions, of which an example will be found
in the Fire Sermon quoted above. It is almost impossible
to put such texts before a modern reader without con-
densation, and without the use of the conjunction ‘and,’
and without pronouns, as they are in the original, to say
nothing of the tedious reiteration of every phrase and
every shade of thought.
“ The periods of these addresses,” says Professor Olden-
berg, “ in their motionless and rigid uniformity, on which
no lights and shadows fall, are an accurate picture of the
world as it represented itself to the eye of that monastic
fraternity, the grim world of origination and decease,
which goes on like clockwork in an ever uniform course,
and behind which rests the still deep of the Nirvana. In
the words of this ministry, there is heard no sound of
working within ... no impassional entreating of men to
come to the faith, no bitterness for the unbelieving who
remain afar off. In these addresses, one word, one
s 273
“ He replied, ‘ Lord, I did.’
“Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him: ‘ O man, did
it not occur to you, being a person of mature intelligence
and years: “ I am also subject to old age, and in no way
exempt. Come now, I will act nobly, in deed, word, and
thought?’”
“ He replies: ‘ Lord, I could not. Lord, I did not think.’
“Then, O Brethren, King Yama says to him: ‘ O man,
through thoughtlessness you failed to act nobly in deed,
word, and thought. Verily it shall be done unto you, O
man, in accordance with your thoughtlessness. ... It
was you yourself who did this wickedness, and you alone
shall feel its consequences! ”
From the literary point of view we may remark three
characteristics of the Suttas so far considered. First
of all, the repetitions, of which an example will be found
in the Fire Sermon quoted above. It is almost impossible
to put such texts before a modern reader without con-
densation, and without the use of the conjunction ‘and,’
and without pronouns, as they are in the original, to say
nothing of the tedious reiteration of every phrase and
every shade of thought.
“ The periods of these addresses,” says Professor Olden-
berg, “ in their motionless and rigid uniformity, on which
no lights and shadows fall, are an accurate picture of the
world as it represented itself to the eye of that monastic
fraternity, the grim world of origination and decease,
which goes on like clockwork in an ever uniform course,
and behind which rests the still deep of the Nirvana. In
the words of this ministry, there is heard no sound of
working within ... no impassional entreating of men to
come to the faith, no bitterness for the unbelieving who
remain afar off. In these addresses, one word, one
s 273