SAUNDARANANDA 12.32: Ideas in Action

satyaaM gamana-buddhau hi
gamanaaya pravartate
shayyaa-buddhau ca shayanaM
sthaana-buddhau tathaa sthitiH

= = - - - = = -
- - = = - = - =
= = = = - - - =
= - = = - = - =

12.32
As long as an idea of moving is there

One mobilizes for the act of moving;

And with an idea of staying at rest
there is an act of staying at rest;

With an idea of standing,
likewise, there is standing up.

COMMENT:
If chanda in the previous verse is translated as "tendency," then as a translation of buddhi in this verse "intention" might fit well. But the reason I have provisionally chosen "idea" comes from my experience over the last 15 years in Alexander work. Before entering into Alexander work I had not begun to understand the tangible, practical power of an idea.

It might be more accurate to say that 45 years ago, on some level, my old dog Kim began to teach me the tangible power that an idea can have, and then my experience in rugby, weight training, and karate began to teach me the tangible power than an idea can have, but then when my top 2-inches became over-stimulated by the way I reacted to the content and style of teaching of Gudo Nishijima, and his "true Buddhism," I veered off in totally the wrong direction.

Except it might not be accurate to say that my veering was total, because something in me remained aware that the wrong direction was the wrong direction. And that little seed of awareness eventually led me back to Alexander work.

So dogs can really teach human beings a lot, it seems to me, about the tangible power that an idea can have in channeling energy in a consciously chosen direction. Unless we really learn this in practice, whether under a dog, or under a true human teacher, or under a tree in the garden, we are liable to dissipate our energy in non-constructive ways, by our unconscious reactions to more or less unconscious intentions. Q.E.D.

EH Johnston:
Thus if a man wants to move, he makes the action of moving ; if to lie down, of lying down ; if to stand, of standing.

Linda Covill:
For when one has a mind to walk, one undertakes the actions for walking; likewise lying down occurs when one has a mind to lie down, and standing when one has a mind to stand.

VOCABULARY:
satyaam (locative of satii) = f. present participle of as: to be
gam: to go, move
- ana: action noun suffix
gamana: the act of going , moving
buddhau = locative of buddhi: mind, idea, intention

hi: for
gamanaaya (dative): for the purpose of walking, in order to walk
pravartate = 3rd person singular of pra-√vRt: to roll or go onwards (as a carriage) , be set in motion or going ; to set out , depart , betake one's self ; to produce , create , accomplish , devise , invent , perform , do , make

shayyaa: a bed, couch, sofa; lying, reposing, sleeping
buddhau = locative of buddhi: idea, intention
ca: and
shayanam = accusative of shayana: the act of lying down or sleeping, rest, repose, sleep

sthaana: the act of standing
buddhau = locative of buddhi: mind, idea, intention
tathaa: likewise
sthitiH (nominative): f. standing upright