shocataa piiDyamaanena
diiyate shatrave yathaa
na bhaktyaa n' aapi tarSheNa
kevalaM praaNa-guptaye
= - = = - = = -
= - = = - = - =
- = = = - = = -
= - = = - = - =
14.18
Just as one under siege, in sorrow,
Gives in to a rival king,
Not out of devotion, nor through thirsting,
But solely to safeguard life,
COMMENT:
A literal translation of the first two lines of this verse (given that the instrumental case can denote the agent in a passive construction) might be "Just as the-sorrowing-and-being-pressed yields to the overthrower."
The verse suggests to me the response of a king of an ancient city-state who is concerned, as any true leader invariably is, not so much to save his own skin as to save the lives of those he leads.
In the same way, 14.16 could describe the wish of a raft-builder to cross over not only himself but also others.
Master Dogen's teaching is that the bodhisattva vow is to cause others to cross to the far shore before crossing over oneself. I would like to read these verses as a confirmation of my understanding of that teaching. But my wanting the Buddha to be saying that might be a kind of bias of which a translator should be wary. Implicit in this verse in particular, as I read it, is the primary concern for others before oneself. Still, in this metaphor of the beleaguered king and in the previous metaphor of the raft, there is no explicit distinction between saving self and saving others.
As I sat this morning, having prepared the above comment yesterday, the question arose of what gold might be buried in this verse for me, who is not a beleaguered king, but who is sitting as an individual citizen of a more-or-less free country.
At the same time, there was George's totally vital question of yesterday: "What is your intention when you sit? To what kind of stimulus you inhibit your faulty reaction?"
The praana which the protagonist of this verse wishes to safeguard is the breath of life, i.e., life itself. And when one examines honestly and in detail what oppressive force beleaguers the breath of life, what enemy prevents the breath of life being breathed as fully and freely as a baby breathes it, the original enemy might be tarSha, thirsting.
The literal meaning of tarSha is thirsting. In the search for understanding of what thirsting actually means in practice, in the moment of action and in the moment before action, my intuition from daily practice of sitting-zen in Japan led me back to study the Alexander Technique in England.
To say I have no regrets might not be the whole truth. To say that Alexander work has caused me to become free of thirsting for a kind of kingdom would not be the whole truth. But in the end what kingdom is more valuable than the breath of life? And what principle is more precious than the preventive principle of truly allowing the breath of life to be breathed?
EH Johnston:
Just as a man who is being oppressed gives in grief to an enemy, not out of devotion to him or of desire for anything, but merely to preserve his life,
Linda Covill:
Just as a grief-stricken man under duress hands over his goods to his enemy, not out of affection nor because he wants something but solely to safeguard his life,
VOCABULARY:
shocataa = inst. of pres. part. of shuc: to shine , flame , gleam , glow , burn ; to suffer violent heat or pain , be sorrowful or afflicted , grieve ; to bewail , lament
piiDyamaanena = inst. of passive pres. part. of piiD: to press , squeeze ; to hurt , harm , injure , oppress , pain , vex ; to beleaguer (a city)
diiyate = 3rd pers. sg. passive of daa: to give , bestow , grant , yield , impart
shatrave = dative sg. shatru: " overthrower " , an enemy , foe , rival , a hostile king (esp. a neighbouring king as a natural enemy)
yathaa: just as
na: not
bhaktyaa = inst. of bhakti: f. attachment , devotion
n' aapi: not either, nor
tarSheNa = inst. of tarSha: m. (from √tRSh; to thirst for) thirst , wish
kevalam: ind. only , merely , solely
praaNa: m. the breath of life , breath ; life
guptaye = dative of gupti: f. preserving , protecting , protection
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