tath" opakaraNaiH kaayaM
dhaarayanti pariikShakaaH
na tat-snehena yaavat tu
duHkh'-aughasya titiiRShayaa
- = - - - = = =
= - = - - = - =
- = = = - = = -
= = = - - = - =
14.17
So too, by various means,
Do men of insight sustain the body,
Not because they are so fond of it
But because they mean to cross a flood of suffering.
COMMENT:
The subject of the previous verse is kashcid , someone, anyone. The subject of this verse is pariikShakaaH, men of insight, men who look around them and look into what they see -- not human sheep who take things at face value, or who gullibly believe the conventional wisdom, but provers, examiners, judges, independent thinkers, individuals who test things out in their own experience.
A person in the former group -- someone, anyone -- would wish to avoid suffering. What ordinary person wouldn't wish to avoid suffering?
But men of insight eat food not with the intention of avoiding suffering, and not with the expectation of meeting a bit of suffering: they eat food to sustain the body because they mean to cross a veritable flood of it.
This verse also does not say, as I read it, that men of insight mean to cross, as if it were an abstract cliche, "the flood of suffering."
I would like to see myself as belonging to the latter category of man, the insightful as opposed to the superficial. But the truth, on closer inspection of my history and tendencies, might be that without this teaching of the Buddha my tendency would always be to be fond of my own body and to wish, as any ordinary person would wish, not to come across too much suffering in my life -- maybe a puddle or two, the odd meandering river would be all right. Most lakes of physical suffering I will have a go at swimming through. When I set off for Japan in 1982, packing my karate kit, it was with that kind of spirit of self-challenge. But a flood of emotional suffering? I wasn't prepared for that.
EH Johnston:
So men of insight support the body by the usual means, not out of love for it, but simply to cross the flood of suffering.
Linda Covill:
likewise clear-sighted men support the body with a means of subsistence, not because they are so fond of it but because they intend to cross the flood of suffering.
VOCABULARY:
tathaa: so, likewise
upakaraNaiH = instr. pl. of upakaraNa (fr. upa- √kR, to bring near, furnish with): n. the act of doing anything for another , doing a service or favour , helping , assisting , benefiting ; instrument; expedient ; means of subsistence , anything supporting life
upa: towards , near to (opposed to apa , away) , by the side of , with , together with, under;
kR: to do; to bring
kaayam (acc.): the body
dhaarayanti = 3rd pers. plural causitive of dhR: to hold , bear (also bring forth) , carry , maintain , preserve
pariikShakaaH = nom. pl. of pariikShaka (from pari- √iikSh to look round , inspect carefully): m. a prover , examiner , judge
na: not
tat: it
snehena (inst.): out of fondness
yaavat: insofar as
tu: but
duHkha: suffering
aughasya (gen.): of the flood
titiiRShayaa = inst. of titiirShaa (from desiderative of tR): desire of crossing
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