Working Through Bhikkhu Bodhi's Anguttara study guide

[BKh]

The question below was posted in this thread viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5094&p=193219#p193193 and it seemed like it would be useful to have a specific thread dedicated to people wanting to work through the study guide that Bhante Bodhi has created to accompany his new translation of the Numerical Discourses.

I'd like to use Bhikkhu Bodhi's Thematic Guide from the NDB Digital Preview pdf but the PTS version has a different chapter numbering system. Does anyone have a link regarding converting one to the other?

Regarding the PTS translation numbering system: Except for chapters one and two, the PTS translation uses a similar numbering system to what is in the new translation (and therefore in the study guide). That is, within each chapter the suttas are numbered sequentially from 1 to the end. These sequential numbers can be found in the header on each right hand page. Remember we are talking about the PTS translation here.

For example the first citation in the study guide is 3:39. So if you go to the first volume of the PTS translation and look at the top of page 129 you will see "III, 4, 38". The III stands for chapter 3, the 4 is a sub-devision within the chapter that can be ignored, and the 38 is the sutta number. Just like in a dictionary, these headers just get you in the right neighborhood. So when you look down on the page you see "§39 Pride." And there's your sutta. Except that it's not.

There are some slight variations in how suttas are counted in the AN, so often times sutta numbers will be off by one or two. That's what's going on here. The actual sutta referred to is the previous one, §38.

The first two chapters are a little trickier and may need something like suttacentral.net to make the correspondence.

[BKh]

Here is a page with the link to the thematic guide. It's a PDF:

http://www.wisdompubs.org/Pages/display ... n=&image=1

[dhammapal]

Thanks Bhante!

I wonder if Bhikkhu Bodhi's numbering could differ slightly from Access to Insight. On page 120 in the Thematic Guide, Kamma and its results refers to AN3:34. On both Access to Insight and PTS AN3:34 is the next sutta on Hatthaka of Alavi. Should the Thematic Guide say AN3:33?

Thanks / dhammapal.

[BKh]

I wonder if Bhikkhu Bodhi's numbering could differ slightly from Access to Insight.

Yes, there is definitely that possibility. But it usually won't be by more than one or two.

On page 120 in the Thematic Guide, Kamma and its results refers to AN3:34. On both Access to Insight and PTS AN3:34 is the next sutta on Hatthaka of Alavi. Should the Thematic Guide say AN3:33?

[FYI for future readers: the page numbers in the Thematic Guide preview PDF seem to be different from those of the final publication.]

Remember, the thematic guide is written specifically for Bhante's new translation. In his translation it is 3:34. I've been through the guide and I don't think there was more than one questionable citation. If there were any typos, the guide preview will probably get re-released once the book goes to the printers.

In this case the numbering is off from the PTS starting, I believe, from 3:33. Sometimes a Pali manuscript will combine two suttas into one. Whenever things like this happen, Bhante has given details in his notes, saying things like "From this point on my numbering exceeds Ee by one."

We get a clue of what is going on by looking at the title on Accesstoinsight:
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka ... x.html#an3

AN 3.33: Nidana Sutta — Causes {A i 134; Thai 3.34; BJT 3.34}

BJT refers to the Buddha Jayanti Tipitaka from Sri Lanka. You can see there that it is listed as 3.34. The first citation, A i 134, refers to the PTS Pali page number, which I believe you will find a the top of the left hand page in your PTS English translation. (coincidentally, it will also be on the top left of Bhante's translation)

This is the detailed explanation of AccessstoInsight's numbering, found at the top of the page I linked to above. I'm including it here just for reference:

The suttas are numbered here by nipata (book) and sutta, with the suttas numbered sequentially from the start of each nipata, using as a guide the Woodward & Hare PTS English translations of the Anguttara Nikaya (The Book of the Gradual Sayings). Because suttas in the Anguttara have often been numbered inconsistently in different Tipitaka editions and translations, I have also provided alternate reference numbers in the braces {} that follow the sutta descriptions. For all suttas, these alternate references include the volume and starting page number in the PTS romanized Pali edition of the Anguttara Nikaya (example: A i 60 = PTS Anguttara Nikaya volume one, page 60). For suttas in the Ones and Twos, whose numberings are particularly problematic, I have also included the nipata, vagga (chapter), and number of the sutta, with suttas counted from the start of each vagga (example: II,iii,5 = Book of the Twos, third vagga, fifth sutta).

When in doubt you can check on the suttacentral.net listings. Here is the AN 3 page:
http://suttacentral.net/disp_sutta.php? ... ubdivision

I believe the person who set this up used Bhante Bodhi's manuscript for the AN to do the numbering.

If you could keep track of these citation anomalies as you go through and then post them here it would be really helpful for others. Feel free to post with more questions.