The Sutta-Nipata: A New Translation from the Pali Canon [Paperback]

H. Saddhatissa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 17, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0700701818 | ISBN-13: 978-0700701810

This is one of the oldest collections of Buddhist discourses in the Pali canon; by far one of the most popular as well as the most important. Written in a mixture of prose and verse, it presents a code of conduct and provides the basis for a system of moral philosophy. A prime source work.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (January 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0700701818
• ISBN-13: 978-0700701810
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars controversial...., January 29, 2007

By 

Red Eyes - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Sutta-Nipata: A New Translation from the Pali Canon (Paperback)

This is an excellent rendering of the SUTTA NIPATA, one of the most profound texts from the Theravada Tipitika, and more specifically, the Sutta Pitaka.

Along with Dhammapadda, Satthipattana Sutta,Metta Sutta and The Udana, many consider Sutta Nipata to represent THE peak teachings within early Buddhism.

For the most literal of renderings, most would reccommend the Pali Text Society version -- but some now consider it a little dry, couched in early 20th Century British idiom, though none would say this detracts from the PTS's deep accuracy and authenticity and faithfulness to the original Pali script.

A second favourite -- I believe -- is the late Maurice Walshe's version. Walsh, an English ( gentle )man and long term supporter of the UK Sangha, was a highly respected German scholar, and had a natural sympathy with Indo European terminology: he was also a highly regarded expert on the medieval German mystic, Meister Eckhart,and an ex Bhikkhu himself, so some would say he was ideally suited to a translation of Pali texts.

Saddhatissa's version proved slightly, briefly, controversial with the "experts" and key scholars, because it was claimed Saddhatissa had rendered the Pali verse in a somewhat poetic, perhaps contemporary style, and that he had been slightly liberal with key psychological core terms from the original Pali.

This of course, is a significant charge -- who on earth amongst the serious meditators wants a "new age" and crystals version of this classic text?

But such a fear is surely unfounded -- Saddhatissa was a highly respected Bhikkhu in the Theravadin tradition, who lived the sincere, semi ascetic life of a reclusive monk -- first in Sri Lanka and then in a small, highly respected meditation /Vipassana /Samatha monastery, in a sleepy suburb of London.

Saddhatissa ( now deceased ) was clearly deeply acquainted with these texts, and was a long term, serious meditator -- and whilst he has taken some liberty with the translation, this is clearly the work of a sincere contemplative, intent of producing a version which speaks to today's serious meditators, and not directed towards the dusty, scholarly corridors of Oxford University library. PTS have already done that after all, and most admirably.

This is a deeply beautiful, transforming rendering of the Sutta Nipata, and I reccommend it highly -- this proved to be a life transforming text for me, and directed me firmly on the path of the contemplative life about 20 years ago.

( I was acquainted with Maurice Walsh, and I was trained in Vippassana and Samatha by Saddhatissa's successor in the same monastery where Saddhatissa had served as the abbott ).

3.0 out of 5 stars Not a reliable translation, February 19, 2012

By 

Adam Katz (Manhattan, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Sutta-Nipata: A New Translation from the Pali Canon (Paperback)

The translation in this book is indeed smoothly readable, but what are you reading? In Bhikkhu Bhodi's lectures on the Sutta Nipata, he assigned this text, but was forced to retranslate words in *just about every single line* because the translator had failed to accurately render the intent of the Pali text. These are minor errors; however, they are also not superficial, but rather fundamental misconstruals. Bhikkhu Bhodi even theorized that this translation was not the work of Ven. Saddhatisa himself, but an English editor, due to the fact that a learned monk such as Ven. Saddhatisa would not have been expected to make such errors. Certainly, it is valuable to have the text in English, but perhaps the only way to learn what the Buddha meant to convey is through more extensive study of the etymologies and contexts surrounding the Pali text.