Homestretch of our Mikvah Sugyah

Last night - Monday night - we did a review of our sugyah to date - after a lengthy break since Tuesday of last week.

Here are how the forces lined up:
R. Yehuda/Rav - hold that even if three lugin of drawn water are intact and then are invaded by a kortov of wine, and then fall into the mikvah, the mikvah is kosher
R. Chiya's baraita - הורידו את ה מקוה - in the exact same case, the baraita invalidates the mikvah
Rava - this is not a contradiction against Rav, but a machloket between the Tannaim, and Rav lined up with the lenient view.

Tanna Kamma: invalidates such a mikvah (like the Tanna of the baraita of R. Chiya)
R. Yochanan Ben Nuri: says such a mikvah is kosher (like Rav)

How do we know that TK of the upcoming mishna rules like the Tanna of R. Chiya's baraita? The TK seems to base his leniency for a mikvah on the fact that there was under 3 lugin of drawn water that fell in....but (inference): were TK to have been dealing with a full 3 lugin to begin with, he would invalidate the mikvah.

The Gemara now questions the basis of linking Rav ONLY to RYBN and linking R. Chiya's baraita to TK.  Couldn't it be, asks the Gemara that Rav EVEN lines up with TK?

The Gemara attempts to show - through R. Pappa's question - how this would occur:
Rav Pappa was uncertain as to whether Rav had the girsa/edition of a "Chaser Kortov" in the wine case (reisha) of the mishna.  One possibility is that the TK DID in fact have the girsa of "less a kortov" as we do in the mishna in front of us...  If so, Rava's linkage between Rav and RYBN - and not TK - was correct.  If, however, Rav did not have TK saying "chaser kortov" in the wine case- rather a full 3 lugin.......then the ruling of TK on the wine case is lenient EVEN IF THE WINE DROPPED INTO A FULL THREE LUGIN.  Put this way, Rav is consistent not only with RYBN, but even with the Tanna Kamma.


Since, the Gemara says, R. Pappa was entertaining such a possibility - and Rava was the rebbe of Rav Pappa, in whose name he often relied before making halachhic pronouncements - how could it be that Rava lined up Rav with RYBN and not Tanna Kamma, when Rava's student, Rav Pappa, still considered Rav as potentially consistent with Tanna Kamma?


The Gemara's answer:
Rava was nevertheless certain of Rav's edition of the reisha of the mishna, while R. Pappa remained uncertain...