Like the Rhinoceros, or Like Its Horn? The Problem of Khaggavis??a Revisited

Abstract

The P?li expression khaggavis??akappo may either mean ‘like the rhinoceros’ or ‘like the horn of the rhinoceros’. It occurs in the refrain eko care khaggavis??akappo at the end of each stanza of the Khaggavis??a-sutta and its parallels, and the refrain has been translated by some as ‘one should wander alone like the rhinoceros’ but by some, including K. R. Norman, as ‘one should wander alone like the horn of the rhinoceros’. K. R. Norman has however set out his reasons for regarding ‘like the rhinoceros horn’ as the correct translation, and ‘like the rhinoceros’ as wrong. The present article critically discusses Norman’s reasons, concluding that the expression khaggavis??a may be regarded as a deliberately ambiguous compound meaning both the rhinoceros and its horn, or perhaps as a single expression meaning ‘rhinoceros’. The zoological facts are considered, as well as the difficult etymology of khaggavis??a, its contextual meaning, its meaning in Jain parallels, and its discussion in P?li commentaries. The article concludes that ‘like the rhinoceros’ is in fact a correct translation.