SAUNDARANANDA 15.43: Giving Up an Idea (e.g. about fire)

praheyaH sa tvayaa saumya
n' aadhivaasyaH kathaM cana
viditvaa sarvam aadiiptaM
tais tair doSh'-aagnibhir jagat

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

15.43
You are to give it up, my friend:

And not entertain it in any way,

Knowing the whole world to be blazing

With the manifold fires of the faults.

COMMENT:
However full of faults the many-tentacled monster of my misuse may be, it is perfectly harmless, so long as I don't trigger it into action by failing to inhibit some daft idea, such as a utopian thought.

Observing the world to be ablaze, people who don't inhibit their daft utopian ideas want to join a fire brigade, or they go on marches crying out for the government to do something about global burning --
"What do we want?"
"Extinction of fires!"
"When do we want it?"
"NOW!!!"

But what kind of fire is this fire?

Is it a fire which, without the spark of an inauspicious idea, could never have started at all?

Is it a fire in which, when an idea is given up, a blue lotus blooms?

Is it a fire which can be useful for forging the gold of trillions of golden keys?

In working on the self, Marjory Barlow used to say, being happy to be wrong is the golden key.

Through 2008 I suffered from a burning pain in my stomach. It is still liable to flare up temporarily -- for example, when the receipt of a donation reminds me of donations received in a past life. But it occured to me as I sat this morning that this burning is a fire that I have used and can continue to use to forge Ashvaghosha's gold. I have this fire, I have this rich source of gold, and Marjory Barlow took pains to let me know what shape the golden key takes. So using this fire, and this gold, I can forge golden keys for many people to unlock their own neck, head, back, arms and legs.



EH Johnston:
It must be abandoned, my friend, and not be entertained by any means, since you know the whole world to be blazing with the fires of the various vices.

Linda Covill:
shun it, my friend. Do not dwell on it in any way, knowing that the whole world is ablaze with the various fires of defilement.

VOCABULARY:
praheyaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. (from pra-√haa) to be sent away or dispatched
pra-√haa: to leave ; to desert , quit , abandon , give up , renounce , violate (a duty) , break (a promise) ; to send off , throw , hurl
saH (nom. sg. m.): it
tvayaa (inst.): by you
saumya (voc.): my friend

na: not
aadhivaasyaH = nom. sg. gerundive from adhi- √vaas: to scent , perfume.
kathaM cana: in any way, by any means

viditvaa = abs. vid: to know , understand , perceive , learn , become or be acquainted with , be conscious of , have a correct notion of; to mind , notice , observe , remember
sarvam (acc. sg. n.): all
aadiiptam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. set on fire , blazing up

taiH taiH = inst. pl. tad tad: this and that , various , different
doSha: m. fault , vice , deficiency; wickedness; damage , harm , bad consequence , detrimental effect ; alteration , affection , morbid element , disease (esp. of the 3 humours of the body)
agnibhir = inst. pl. agni: fire
jagat (acc. sg.): n. the world