nibbaana of the Enlightened one is, indeed, the
release of mind.'
(12)Suma^ngala-vilaasinii, Part II, p.595 ( PTS,
London, 1971)
P.396
To know the reason behind the denial of attaa we
have first to be clear about the exact implication
of the term attaa. Scholars differ as to the precise
sense in which this term has been used. But before
their views were discussed it is necessary to point
out that the praak.rt word attaa is the same as
aatman in Sanskrit. This philological identification
has led to philosophical misunderstanding among the
scholars. Some scholars automatically take attaa to
be the Aatman of the Upani.sads. They think that
the philosophical implications of these two
termsattaa and aatman-are identical and consequently
the doctrine of anattaa came to mean for them the
refutation of the Upani.sadic Aatman. The scholars
belonging to this
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(13) P.Steinthal in his edition of the Udaana (PTS,
London, 1982) , p.80 adopts the following
reading of the relevant verse:
'duddasam anattam naama, na hi saccam
sudassanam
patividdhaa tanhaa jaanato, passato n'atthi
ki~ncanan ti'.
In his translation F.L.Woodward reads 'anantam'
(infinite) in place of anattam (Verses of
Uplift, The Minor Anthologies of the Canon, Pt.
II, PTS London, 1985, p.98). I prefer the
reading 'anattam' due to the following
considerations: Steinthal gives the variant
reading 'anattam' given in the commentary
(anatatan ti paa.thati) called Paramattha-dii
panii which was copied in Sinhalese script for
the PTS. This transcript which he calls 'C'
often gives right information and corrects the
incorrect readings of the other manuscripts
(see, Stienthal, Udana, p.VIII).This commentary