shraddh"-aaNkuram imaM tasmaat
saMvardhayituM arhasii
tad-vRddhau vardhate dharmo
muula-vRddhau yathaa drumaH
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12.41
This shoot of confidence, therefore,
You should nurture;
When it grows the Dharma grows,
As a tree grows with the growth of its root.
COMMENT:
This verse returns to the metaphor of a tree's growth. The verse is so succinct, even the most dutiful and non-poetic servant of the Buddha might be able to admire the pithy elegance of this verse, which translates itself so easily into English -- apart from the divisive issue of how to translate shraddhaa. I am afraid the following comment is not so succinct. The gold, as always, is in the bold.
The main substance of the Buddha's teaching in this Canto, as Nanda stands before the Buddha, head partially lowered in shame, is to praise Nanda for the confidence that has begun to grow in him. What is this shoot of confidence, which Nanda seemed to voice in 12.16?
Clearly, the shoot of confidence the Buddha has identified has got nothing to do with the smug self-confidence of the opinionated. "This shoot of confidence" (shraddh"-aaNkuram imaM) does not refer to empty self-confidence. Neither, as I read it, does it mean a shoot of mere religious faith, because Nanda has already begun to experience for himself, with the shock of seeing the impermanence of celestial nymphs, the real truth of the teaching he has asked to hear. Nanda doesn't just believe in the truth of the Buddha's teaching: he is not a naive optimist in search of a Holy Grail. Just as the man digging for water evolved out of and was born from water; just as the man twirling the firestick has eaten his daily bread, and survived all his winters, by virtue of fire; and just as the farmer is no stranger to corn, Nanda has already gained real experience of the teaching that eradicates all suffering. And the experience has shaken him to his marrow. The shock of it has caused his usually ruddy complexion to turn white.
So what the Buddha is praising is not religious belief in what must be taken on faith, being not subject to verification by experiment. Nor is the Buddha praising strident confidence in an empty self. The Buddha is praising the emerging confidence of the shameful -- the real confidence of one who has begun to see the wrongness of his former approach.
FM Alexander used to say, "To know when we are wrong is all that we shall ever know in this world."
And this wrong that is all we can know, Alexander argued, I think correctly, is rooted in a combination of (1) an end-gaining idea (such as optimistic belief in permanent bliss among nymphs), and (2) faults in our sensory system.
Allowing this shoot of abashed confidence to grow, therefore, involves reliance on some means which is (1) opposed to reliance on end-gaining, and which (2) circumvents reliance on ever-unreliable senses. This latter theme of circumventing the senses will be taken up in 12.42 & 12.43, and in Canto 13.
But the starting point, in Nanda's case for one, was the shoot of confidence that was rooted in his knowing when he was wrong.
I labour the point because a lot hangs, as I see it, upon whether one translates shraddh"-aaNkuram imaM as "this shoot of confidence" or as "this shoot of faith." Religious faith is generally a kind of optimism in the existence of a state where everything will be all right -- eternal bliss will be enjoyed among celestial nymphs; or true Buddhism will pervade the Universe. Alexander work, in total contrast rests upon a confidence in which one is not afraid of being wrong. Religious faith is a basis for trying to be right. Confidence in seeing where I have been going wrong is a basis for eliminating those wrong ideas and sensory delusions which led me astray. The two approaches are not just different; they are opposite.
What is proclaimed as "Buddhism" or "True Buddhism" or "the true Dharma" generally fits, in my experience, into the former category, and the direction it leads in is not growth of real confidence but attachment to fixed dogma, defensiveness, fear of being shown to be wrong, an "us and them" attitude tending to scorn and hatred of the other, and so on.
If I try again to say what I want to say, more succinctly, from my foolish heart:
A fool speaks truth to power when it's rendered deaf by fears;
When Buddha spoke to Nanda he was, shamefully, all ears.
EH Johnston:
Therefore take heed to cherish this shoot of faith; for as it grows the Law grows, as a tree grows with the growth of its root.
Linda Covill:
Therefore you should nurture this shoot of faith; when it grows, dharma grows, just as a tree grows when its roots grow.
VOCABULARY:
shraddhaa: confidence, trust, belief
aaNkuram (accusative): shoot
imam (m. accusative of ayam): this
tasmaat: from that, therefore
saMvardhayituM = infinitive of saMvardhayati: to cause to grow , rear , bring up , foster , cherish , augment , enlarge , strengthen , beautify , make prosperous or happy
arhasi: please, you should
tad: its
vRddhau = locative of vRddhi: growth
vardhate = 3rd person singular of vRdh: to grow
dharmaH (nominative, singular): teaching, law, Dharma
muula: root
vRddhau = locative of vRddhi: growth
yathaa: just as
drumaH (nominative, singular): tree
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