Sunday, December 21, 2008

SAUNDARANANDA 3.7; Waking Up to the Footsteps of Buddhas

3.7
upavishya tatra kRta-buddhir
acala-dhRtir adri-raajavat
Maara-balam ajayad ugram atho
bubudhe padaM shivam ahaaryam avyayam

Sitting there, mind made up,

As unmovingly stable as the king of mountains,

He overcame the grim army of Mara

And awoke to that step
which is happiness,
which nobody can take away,
and which can never be destroyed.


COMMENT:
That step might be the backward step of turning light around, and letting it shine.

VOCABULARY:
upavishya: seated, sitting
tatra: there
kRta-buddhiH: mind made up, resolute

acala: not moving
dhRtiH: holding fast, standing still, stable
adri: mountain
raajavat: like the king

Maara-balam: Mara's army
ajayad: conquered, overcame
ugram: grim, violent, dreadful
atho: [connecting particle] and then

bubudhe: awakened, became aware of, came to an understanding of,
pada: step, footing, place, base ; the foot itself; position, standpoint; cause; state, stage
shiva: happy, auspicious
ahaarya: not to be taken away, not to be carried off, inalienable
avyaya: not to be lost, not to be destroyed, imperishable


EH Johnston:
Seating Himself determinedly there and as immovable in His steadfastness as the king of mountains, He overcame the fearsome hosts of Mara. Then He came to an understanding of the holy stage, which can neither pass away nor be lost.

Linda Covill:
Resolutely sitting there, as unmovingly constant as the king of mountains, he conquered Mara's fierce forces and awoke to the happy, unalterable and imperishable state.

2 comments:

Uku said...

Sitting there, mind made up,

As unmovingly stable as the king of mountains,

He overcame the grim army of Mara

And awoke to that step
which is happiness,
which nobody can take away,
and which can never be destroyed.


Inspiring! Thank you for sharing.

With palms together,
Uku

Mike Cross said...

Thank you, Uku.

The translation in the end is a direct and simple one -- it should not have been so difficult. But in fact it took a lot of effort to dig out, from the mud of my own mind, Ashvaghosha's immaculate jewel.