“netti”と“Netti-pakarana”

抄録

In this short article, I treat the discussion between Arabinda Barua and Bhikkhu Ñanamoli concerning the positioning of the Petakopadesa and Nettipakarana. Arabinda Barua said that the Nettipakarana is earlier than the Petakopadesa because the word “netti” appears in the Petakopadesa. He considered the word “netti” to indicate the Nettipakarana. To this claim, Bhikkhu Ñanamoli said that the word “netti” is a noun, not a proper name.
Here, I re-examined the following two questions: (1) Whether the word “netti” in the Petakopadesa indicates the Nettipakarana. (2) Whether the word “netti” in the Petakopadesa and the Nettipakarana is a [common] noun or a proper noun.
My conclusion is as follows: The word “netti” in the Petakopadesa means “sasanassa pariyetthi” (investigation of the teaching), without indicating the Nettipakarana as a text. Therefore, the claim of Arabinda Barua is not upheld. The word “netti” should be considered a [common] noun as long as “sasanassa pariyetthi” is meant. However, there is a possibility that the group of verses which described a summary of “sasanassa pariyetthi” was called “netti”. In this regard, the word “netti” may be a proper noun. Therefore, one revision is necessary to the position of Bhikkhu Ñanamoli.