2301
Further Explanations
Foreword
The explanation of the word
Anudīpanī
:
anu
means “further” and
dīpanī
means
“explanation,” hence “further explanations” of what is not explicit in the
original writing is called the Further Explanations. After Ven. Ledi Sayādaw
had written an exegetical work, the Explanation of the Ultimate Truth
(
Paramattha-dīpanī
) on the Collection of Meaning in the Abhidhamma
(
Abhidhammattha-saṅgaha
), he composed another work, entitled the Further
Explanations (
Anudīpanī
), to explain again what is vague in the Explanation of
the Ultimate Truth.
Similarly, an expository work under the title of the Further Explanations on
some words or passages of the Great Chronicle which deserve elaboration or
explication is written here separately as a supplement. Had the expositions been
included in the original work, readers might have found it confusing. This
would have been a distraction for readers. Therefore, it is deemed necessary to
compile comprehensive notes on important points and topics in the text as the
Further Explanations (
Anudīpanī
) for the benefit of the serious students of the
Great Chronicle.
It is hoped that, by going through the Further Explanations, difficult subjects in
the Chronicle would become more easily understandable and profound
meanings of some usages would become clearer. Therefore, it is suggested that
after reading the Chronicle, readers should study the Further Explanations with
great interest. May they understand easily the deep and important meanings,
which might otherwise remain unrevealed or overlooked.
Miscellaneous Topics
The Commentarial Classification of Teachers
[Because of its general importance in understanding the methods of the
commentaries I have moved this section out of the First Treatise on the
Perfections, where it was originally given as part of an obscure discussion
of the foundations (
adiṭṭhāna
) and placed it at the head of the Further
Explanations.]