SAUNDARANANDA 13.16: Yes, You Can!

parituShTaH shucir maNjush
caukShayaa jiiva-saMpadaa
kuryaa duHkha-pratiikaaraM
yaavad eva vimuktaye

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

13.16
As a person who is contented, pristine, pleasant,

Through making a living cleanly and well,

You can thwart suffering

All the way to liberation.

COMMENT:
In this verse, as I read it, the Buddha is giving his positive affirmation that, primarily by virtue of negative means, the possibility exists of living happily and agreeably, being true to oneself.

"The wrong inner patterns are the doing that must be stopped," said Marjory Barlow. I understand duHkha-pratiikaaram, the thwarting of suffering, in accordance with that preventive principle.

The deeper the roots of the wrong inner patterns, the deeper we are required to dig in order to thwart suffering. And digging deep is never easy. What I hear the Buddha saying in this verse is that what is never easy is not impossible.

To do this digging, no sophisticated technological tool is needed, not even a spade. The discontent induced by a computer programme saying "Not Responding," while one is impatiently striving to complete some computer task, need not come into it. What is required is a human body, time and space, and a real understanding of what it means to be tainted. Not to be tainted, as I understand this practice on the basis of Alexander work, entails the giving up of an end-gaining idea that unconsciously triggers the tangle of wrong inner patterns which is associated with faulty sensory appreciation. In order to transcend the influence of faulty sensory appreciation, therefore, and be one who is content, pristine, and pleasing, a return to "simple, conscious living" is required.

With this in mind, in an hour or so I shall set off for France. The last words I shall type before I set off are from FM Alexander's book Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual:

I venture to predict that before we can unravel the horribly tangled skein of our present existence, we must come to a full STOP, and return to conscious, simple living, believing in the unity underlying all things, and acting in a practical way in accordance with the laws and principles involved.


EH Johnston:
Contented, upright, pleasing in voice and pure in livelihood, you should practise the remedy for suffering till you reach emancipation.

Linda Covill:
contented, pure and lovely through making your living in a successful and clean manner, counteract suffering until the moment of liberation.

VOCABULARY:
parituShTaH (nom. sing. m.): one who is completely satisfied , delighted, very glad
shuciH (nom.): clear , clean , pure (lit. and fig.) , holy , unsullied , undefiled , innocent , honest
maNjuH (nom.): beautiful , lovely , charming , pleasant , sweet

caukShayaa = instrumental f. of caukShaa: pure , clean (persons)
jiiva: mf(/A)n. living , existing , alive; living by ; m. life , existence
sampadaa = instrumental of sampad: f. success , accomplishment , completion , fulfilment , perfection

kuryaaH (2nd person singular, optative of kR): you can do
duHkha: suffering
pratiikaaram (accusative): opposition , counteraction , prevention , remedy

yaavat: until, as long as
eva: (emphatic)
vimuktaye = dative of vimukta: mfn. unloosed , unharnessed ; set free , liberated