A Redaction-Critical Study of Petavatthu

Abstract

Applying the methods of Biblical criticism particularly Redaction criticism this paper presents a redaction-critical study of Petavatthu-pāḷi (the seventh book of Khuddakanikāya in the Pāli canon). While doctrinal, chronological and philological aspects of the Petavatthu have been studied so far, the method of Redaction Criticism has not been employed in studying this text. This paper attempts to fill that lacuna. Redaction Criticism is meant to detect the redactor’s or editor’s intervention in an author’s original work. The two terms ‘editor’ and ‘redactor’ are used synonymously in this paper while the term ‘author’ refers to the creator of the original work. The redactor intends to facilitate the reader’s comprehension of the text by ‘filling in the blanks’ or adding material that would allegedly interconnect disparate statements in the original text. As specialists in Redaction Criticism assert, such seams or stitches, though meant to clarify the original text, might end up interrupting its flow. Modelling on John 3 and Mark 16, the interventions of the redactors (saṅgītikārā) in the Petavatthu-pāḷi, is examined. The commentary on the Petavatthu is also consulted as a possible aid to detect the editorial interventions.