SAUNDARANANDA 17.61: Arhathood -- A Bit of Nothing

arhattvam aasaadya sa sat-kriy"-aarho
nir-utsuko niSh-praNayo nir-aaShaH
vi-bhiir vi-shug viita-mado vi-raagaH
sa eva dhRty" aanya iv' aababhaase

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17.61
Having attained to the seat of arhathood,
he was worthy of being served:

Without ambition, without partiality,
without expectation;

Without fear, sorrow, pride, or passion;

Being nothing but himself,
he seemed in his constancy to be different.

COMMENT:
With this verse Ashvaghosha arrives at his expression of Nanda's attainment of the fourth fruit of the Dharma -- an enlightenment that Ashvaghosha seems to describe not so much as something as a bit of nothing.


EH Johnston:
By reaching Arhatship he became worthy of reverence, bereft of yearning, making demands on none, untroubled by hope, fear or grief, without conceit or passion, and so though the same he seemed to be another by his steadfastness.

Linda Covill:
With no yearning, no affection, no expectation, no fear, no grief, no pride, no passion, he was worthy of honour on reaching the worthy state; though it was him, he seemed different because of his steadfastness.

VOCABULARY:
arhattvam (acc. sg.) n. the dignity of an arhat; arhathood, arhatship
arhat: mfn. deserving; worthy; m. the highest rank in the Buddhist hierarchy
-tvaM: n. (abstract noun suffix) -ness, -hood, -ship
aasaadya = abs. aa- √ sad: to sit down, to sit near; to reach, obtain
saH (nom. sg. m.): he
sat-kriyaarhaH (nom. sg. m.): deserving of honour, worthy of being served
sat: mfn. real , actual , as any one or anything ought to be , true , good
kriya: f. action, work, labour; a religious rite or ceremony; religious action , worship
sat-kriya: mfn. doing good
sat-kriyaa: f. putting in order , preparation; f. a good action , charity; f. kind or respectful treatment; honouring (para-loka-sat-kriyaa " honouring in regard to the other world " , funeral ceremonies); f. any purificatory ceremony
arha: mfn. meriting , deserving, worthy of, having a claim or being entitled to

nir-utsukaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. careless , indifferent , tranquil
utsuka: mfn. (fr. su , " well " ud in the sense of " apart " , and affix ka) , restless , uneasy , unquiet , anxious ; anxiously desirous , zealously active , striving or making exertions for any object ; eager for , fond of , attached to ; regretting , repining , missing , sorrowing for; n. sorrow; n. longing for , desire
niSh-praNayaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. without affection , cold
praNaya: m. affection , confidence in (loc.) , love , attachment , friendship , favour; desire , longing for; an entreaty , request , solicitation
nir-aaShaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. without any hope or wish or desire , indifferent
aaShaa: f. wish , desire , hope , expectation , prospect

vi-bhiiH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. fearless
bhii: f. fear , apprehension , fright , alarm
vi-shug: without sorrow
shuc: f. (also pl.) pain , sorrow , grief
viita-madaH (nom. sg. m.): without pride
viita: mfn. gone away , departed , disappeared , vanished , lost (often ibc. = free or exempt from , without , -less)
mada: m. hilarity , rapture , excitement , inspiration , intoxication; f. sexual desire or enjoyment , wantonness , lust , ruttishness , rut (esp. of an elephant) ; f. , pride , arrogance , presumption , conceit
vi-raagaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. passionless , without feeling , dispassionate , indifferent
raaga: m. colour, redness, inflammation; passion

saH (nom. sg. m.): he
eva (emphatic)
dhRtyaa = inst. sg. dhRti: f. holding , seizing , keeping , firmness , constancy , resolution , will , command
anya: other, different; another
iva: like
ababhaase = 3rd pers. perfect bhaa: to appear as , seem , look like , pass for