Metaphor and Literalism in Buddhism: The ... - misterdanger.net

THE DOCTRINAL DEVELOPMENT OF NIRVANA
existence of nirvana: ‘because it does not appear in that, it [nirvana] is nonappearance’.
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As explained earlier, 168 atthaN paleti in the PArAyana stanza is synonymous
with atthaN gacchati or atthaWgama. Although these words usually refer
to ‘annihilation, disappearance’ as opposed to samudaya and synonymous
with cessation (nirodha), they can also refer to the setting of the sun in the
sense that it goes to asta, the Sanskrit equivalent of the Pali attha, meaning
‘home, the western mountain behind which the sun is supposed to set’.
If this literal interpretation of these words is applied to the PArAyana
stanza, it could further mean that the TathAgata after death does not go to
nothing but goes to somewhere, like home or the western mountain, as a
kind of resting place. Although it is impossible to explain grammatically
how the phrase tam Agamma derived from atthaN paleti or atthaN gacchati,
its literal meaning fits perfectly with the Theravadins’ later position on nirvana:
it is the cessation consisting in non-arising and exists separately
(pAMiyekka) from the mere destruction of passion, hatred and delusion.
In other words, the underlying idea behind the phrase ‘on coming to this’
(tam Agamma) in the SammohavinodanC could have been inspired by the
literal meaning of atthaN paleti, which was applied to nirvana without a
remainder of clinging (anupAdisesanibbAna) in the PArAyaOa stanza.
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