Nettipakaraṇa

The nature of the Nettipakarana was a matter of some disagreement among scholars. Initially, Western scholars classified it as a commentary, rather than as a canonical text. Further study and comparison with a closely related text, the Petakopadesa eventually revealed that it was a guide to interpretation and the composition of definitive commentaries. However, A. K. Warder disagreed, maintaining that it covers all aspects of interpretation, not just this. Consensus among contemporary scholars is that it was primarily intended as a guide to interpreting and providing explanation of canonical texts, similar to the Petakopadesa, whose content it resembles. K.R. Norman concludes that the Nettipakarana is not a continuation of the Petakopadesa, but a rewritten version that eliminates unimportant content and provides improved and clarified versions of material shared by both sources. It is included in the Burmese Phayre manuscript of the Canon, dated 1841/2, the inscriptions of the Canon approved by the Burmese Fifth Council, the 1956 printed edition of the Sixth Council, the new transcript of the Council text being produced under the patronage of the Supreme Patriarch of Thailand and the Sinhalese Buddha Jayanti edition of the Canon. A recent Burmese teacher has not regarded it as canonical. ==Structure and Content==

The Nettipakarana is divided into two divisions (vāra): • Sangahavāra: 'Summary', a short section consisting of only five verses that identifies its author as 'Mahakaccāna'. • The sixteen hāras (conveyings, or modes of conveying) are : Desanā (teaching), vicaya (investigation), yutti (construing), Padatthāna (footings), Lakkhana (characteristics), Catuvyūha (fourfold array), Āvatta (conversion), Vibhatti (analysis), Parivattana (reversal), Vevacana (synonyms), Paññatti (descriptions), otarana (ways of entry), sodhana (clearing up), adhitthāna (terms of expression), parikkhāra (requisites), and samāropana (co-ordination). • The five naya (guidelines) are : Nandiyāvatta (conversion of relishing); tipukkhala (trefoil); sīhavikkīlita (play of lions) ; disālocana (plotting of directions); ankusa (the hook). • The eighteen mūlapadas consist of nine Kusala and nine akusala. • Akusala: Tanhā (craving), avijja (Ignorance), Lobha (greed), Dosa (Hatred), Moha (Delusion), Subha saññā (perception of attractiveness), Nicca saññā (perception of permanence), Sukha saññā (perception of pleasant). Attasaññā (perception of self) • Kusala: samatha (calming of mind), vipassanā (insight), alobha (non-greed), adosa (non-hatred), amoha (non-delusion), asubhasaññā (perception of unattractiveness), Dukkhasaññā (perception of stress), Aniccasaññā (perception of impermanence), and Anattasaññā (perception of non-self) Niddesavāra The Niddesavāra repeats the hāras and nayas of the previous section along with 12 padas ('terms'), of which six refer to linguistic forms and six to meaning and describes their relations. Patiniddesavāra The Patiniddesavāra forms the main body of the text and is itself divided into three parts. Each section illustrates technical terms from previous sections by quoting the verses that contain them and illustrating them with quotations from the Sutta Pitaka. In some cases, terms are dealt with in a different order or using different terminology from that presented in previous chapters. A colophon at the end of the text again attributes it to Mahākaccāna. == Editions, Translations and Commentaries ==

The Sri Lankan scholar Dhammapala wrote a commentary on this text in the fifth century. An English translation titled The Guide by Bhikkhu Nanamoli was published in 1962 by the Pali Text Society. A Pali Text Society edition of the Pali text, together with extracts from Dhammapala's commentary, was published in 1902 by Edmund Hardy. == Notes ==