SAUNDARANANDA 12.8: White vs Red Alert

mahataam api bhuutaanaam
aavRttir iti cintayan
saMvegaac ca sa-raago 'pi
viita-raaga iv' aabhavat

12.8
"Even the most exalted of creatures

Are subject to return!"
So he reflected,

And from his shock,
Although he was given to redness,

He seemed to blanch.

COMMENT:
Men of wisdom through the ages have observed that change is the ultimate reality.

Startled at the dawning of this realisation, Nanda became like a rabbit on the alert, ears pricked up.

Physiologically, startle can manifest as the agitated redness of the panic reflex or as the shocked whiteness of fear paralysis (the latter being the deeper and more primitive response); or as a combination of both as the two opposing responses struggle against each other for supremacy.

It would seem from this verse that Ashvaghosha understood very clearly and explicitly these two opposing responses to a fearful stimulus, both of which are associated with a heightened sense of alertness.

EH Johnston:
He reflected that even the greatest beings return to this life and, though full of passion, he became as it were free from it in consequence of agitation of mind.

Linda Covill:
He thought about the return to earth of even the greatest beings, and though he was a passionate man, in his shocked agitation he seemed devoid of passion.

VOCABULARY:
mahataam = genitive plural of mahat: great, high, eminent
api: even
bhuutaanaam = genitive plural of bhuuta: n. that which is or exists , any living being

aavRttiH = nominative singular of aavRtti: f. turning towards , entering , turning back or from , reversion , retreat , flight ; recurrence to the same point ; turn of a way , course , direction ; revolving , going round ; worldly existence , the revolution of births
iti: thus
cintayan = imperfect of cint: to think about , reflect upon , direct the thoughts towards

saMvegaat (ablative, from saM-vij, to tremble or start with fear): because of shock/panic
ca: and
sa-raagaH = nominative singular of saraaga: having colour ; reddened ; enamoured , impassioned , passionate
api: even, although

viita-raaga: mfn. free from passions or affections , dispassionate , desireless , calm , tranquil ; colourless , bleached ; m. a sage with subdued passions (esp. applied to a Buddhist or jaina saint)
iva: like
aabhavat: he was, he became