The virtues enumerated in the previous canto cover five of the six paaramitas, transcendent virtues or accomplishments, viz.:
- daana (free giving) e.g. 2.12
- shiila (moral integrity) e.g. 2.1
- kShaanti (forbearance) e.g. 2.21
- viirya (manliness, directed energy) e.g. 2.5
- prajnaa (wisdom) e.g. 2.28).
This opening section in Canto 3 takes us to the point where Gautama, recalling his happy youthful experience while sitting under the rose-apple tree, gives up the idea of asceticism and intuits the supremacy of the remaining paaramita, which is dhyaana, i.e. the zen of sitting-zen.
Among several memorable lines in this part, two lines that stand out for me are:
ayam apy a-maarga iti maarga-kovidhaH
He who intuited the path intuited:
"This also is not it."
"This also is not the path,"
concluded he who intuited the path.
dhyaana-viShayam avagamya param
Understanding the sphere of meditation to be supreme
Intuiting the sphere of Zen to be the ultimate
As always with the best lines, certainty that one has hit the target turns out to be a sin.
Any way up, it is clear from these first five verses that sitting-dhana is not asceticism...
Not hedonism,
Not asceticism,
Beyond even Buddhism
And yet a kind of supremacy, of which I am part...
This to be recognized, as far as possible, not through the filter of conceited egoism.
3.1
tapase tataH kapilavaastu
haya-gaja-rath'-augha-saMkulaM
shriimad abhayam anurakta-janaM sa
vihaaya nishcita-manaa vanaM yayau
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3.1
For ascetic practice, then, he left Kapilavastu --
A teeming mass of horses, elephants and chariots,
Majestic, safe, loved by its citizens --
And started resolutely for the forest.
VOCABULARY:
tapase (dat. sg.): n. ascetic practice
tataH: ind. from that place, thence, then, after that
Kapilavaastu (acc. sg. n.): Kapilavastu
haya-gaja-rath'-augha-saMkulam (acc. sg. n.): crowded with horses, elephants and chariots
haya: horse
gaja: elephant
ratha: chariot
ogha: stream, flood, heap, mass
saMkula: crowded together, filled with, thronged; thick, dense
shriimat (acc. sg. n.): mfn. beautiful , charming , lovely , pleasant , splendid , glorious ; possessed of fortune , fortunate , auspicious , wealthy , prosperous , eminent , illustrious , venerable
a-bhayam (acc. sg. n.): free of fear, safe, secure
anurakta-janam (acc. sg. n.): with devoted citizens
anurakta: devoted, attached, fond
jana: people, population
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
vihaaya = abs. vi- v haa: to leave behind , relinquish , quit , abandon
nishcita-manaaH (nom. sg. m.): with resolute mind
nishcita: determined, resolute, decided
manas: mind
vanam (acc. sg.): the forest
yayau = 3rd pers. sg. perfect yaa: to go
3.2
vividh'-aagamaaMs tapasi taaMsh ca
vividha-niyam'-aashrayaan muniin
prekShya sa viShaya-tRShaa-kRpaNaan
an-avasthitam tapa iti nyavartata
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3.2
In the approach to ascetic practice
of the various traditions,
And in the attachment of sages
to various restrictive rules,
He observed the miseries of thirsting for an object.
Seeing asceticism to be unreliable,
he turned away from it.
VOCABULARY:
vividh'-aagamaan (acc. pl. m.): various traditions
vividha: varying, of various kinds
aagama: m. arrival, learning, sacred tradition, received wisdom ; m. anything handed down and fixed by tradition (as the reading of a text or a record , title-deed , &c )
tapasi (loc. sg.): ascetic practice
taan (acc. pl. m.): them, those
ca: and
vividha-niyam'-aashrayaan (acc. pl. m.): attaching to various restrictions
vividha: varying
niyama: restriction, restrictive rule ; any fixed rule or law , necessity , obligation
aashraya: attachment to, devotion to, refuge in, recourse to
muniin (acc. pl. m.): sages
prekShya = abs. prekSh: look on (without interfering), observe
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
viShaya-tRShaa-kRpaNaan (acc. pl.): miseries of thirsting for an object
viShaya: object of sense-perception, object
tRShaa: thirst, great eagerness to get something, craving to gain something
kRpaaNa: n. wretchedness , misery
an-avasthitam (nom. sg. n.): mfn. unsettled , unsteady , loose in conduct
avashtita: mfn. standing near; steady , trusty , to be relied on
tapaH (nom. sg.): n. ascetic practice
iti: thus
nyavartata = 3rd pers. sg. imperfect ni- v vRt: to turn back , stop ; to turn away , retreat , flee
3.3
atha mokShaa-vaadinam araaDam
upashama-matiM tath" oDrakaM
tattva-kRta-matir upaasya jahaav
ayam apy a-maarga iti maarga-kovidhaH
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3.3
Then Arada, who spoke of freedom,
And likewise Udraka,
who inclined towards quietness,
He served, his heart set on truth, and he left.
He who intuited the path intuited:
"This also is not it."
VOCABULARY:
atha: then
mokShaa-vaadinam (acc. sg. m.): liberation-champion
mokShaa: freedom, release
vaadin: mfn. saying , discoursing , speaking , talking , speaking or talking about ; m. a speaker , asserter , (ifc.) the teacher or propounder , or adherent of any doctrine or theory
aaraaDam (acc. sg.): m. N. of a teacher of Shaakya-muni
upashama-matim (acc. sg. m.): inclined to quiet
upashama: cessation, extinction, quiet
mati: inclination, purpose, thought, design
tatha: likewise
uDrakam: (acc. sg. m.): Udraka
tattva-kRta-matiH (nom. sg. m.): he whose heart was set on truth
tattva: truth, the truth
kRta-mati: mind made up, heart set on
upaasya = abs. (upa- vaas): to sit by the side of , sit near at hand (in order to honour or wait upon); attend, honour, serve
jahau = 3rd pers. sg. perfect haa: to leave, abandon
ayam (nom. sg. m.): this
api: also
a-maargaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. pathless ; m. a bad road , (also figuratively) an evil path
iti: thus [he intuited]
maarga-kovidhaH (nom. sg. m.): he who intuitively knew the path
maarga: path
kovidha: knowing well, apprehending intuitively
3.4
sa vicaarayan jagati kiM nu
paramam iti taM tam aagamaM
nishcayam an-adhigataH parataH
paramaM cacaara tapa eva duSh-karaM
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3.4
Of the different traditions in the world,
he asked himself,
Which one was the best?
Not obtaining certainty elsewhere,
He entered after all
into ascetic practice that was most severe.
VOCABULARY:
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
vicaarayan = nom. sg. m. causative pres. part. vi- v car: to cause to go or roam about ; to cause to go astray , seduce; to move hither and thither (in the mind) , ponder , reflect , consider ; to doubt , hesitate ; to examine , investigate , ascertain
jagati (loc. sg.): the world
[NB EHJ's Sanskrit text has kiM nu; LC has kiM tu but LC's translation indicates kiM nu]
kiM nu: whether indeed? (a stronger interrogative than kim alone)
nu: ind. now , still , just , at once ; so now , now then ; indeed , certainly , surely (often connected with other particles...)
kiM tu: but, however, nevertheless
paramam (acc. sg. m.): (superlative of para) the highest, the greatest, the most [solid], the best
iti: thus [he asked -- which was the greatest]
tad tad (acc. sg. m.): this and that, various, different
aagamam (acc. sg.): m. received wisdom, tradition
nishcayam (acc. sg.): m. inquiry , ascertainment , fixed opinion , conviction , certainty , positiveness
an-adhigataH (nom. sg. m.): being in a state of not finding
adhigata: found , obtained , acquired ; gone over , studied , learnt
parataH: ind. = abl. of para, from others, elsewhere
paramam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. (superlative of para) the greatest, the [harsh]est
cacaara = 3rd pers. sg. perfect car: to do, effect, move
tapaH (acc. sg.): n. ascetic practice
eva: (emphatic) that same [practice] after all
duSh-karam (acc. sg. n.): difficult to practise
3.5
atha n'aiSha maarga iti viikShya
tad api vipulaM jahau tapaH
dhyaana-viShayam avagamya paraM
bubhuje var'-aannam amRtatva-buddhaye
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3.5
Having ascertained, then, that this was not the path,
He abandoned that extreme asceticism too.
Understanding the sphere of meditation to be supreme,
He ate good food in readiness to realise the deathless.
VOCABULARY:
atha: then
na: not
eSha (nom. sg. m.): this, this here
maargaH (nom. sg.): m. path
iti: that ["this is not the path"]
viikShya = abs. vi- viikSh: to see, understand, ascertain
tad (acc. sg. n.): that
api: also
vipulam (acc. sg. n.): large, extensive, great, extreme
jahau = 3rd pers. sg. perfect haa: to leave, abandon, desert, quit
tapaH (acc. sg.): n. ascetic practice, asceticism, austerity
dhyaana-viShayam (acc. sg. n.): the realm of Zen/dhyana/meditation
dhyaana: n. meditation , thought , reflection
viShaya: sphere of sensory experience, objective world, realm
avagamya = abs. ava- √ gam: to go down , descend to (acc. or loc.) ; (with acc.) to come to , visit , approach ; to reach , obtain ; to hit upon , think of , conceive , learn , know , understand , anticipate , assure one's self , be convinced
param (acc. sg. n.): farther; superior, higher; ascendant; best, highest, supreme, utmost; transcendent beyond.
bubhuje = 3rd pers. sg. perfect bhuj: to eat
var'-aannam (acc. sg.): choicest food
vara: choicest, best, most excellent
aana: n. food or victuals , especially boiled rice ; n. food in a mystical sense (or the lowest form in which the supreme soul is manifested , the coarsest envelope of the Supreme Spirit)
amRtatva-buddhaye (dat. sg.): in order to realise the deathless
amRta: n. immortality, deathlessness ; n. the nectar (conferring immortality , produced at the churning of the ocean) , ambrosia
- tva: (abstract noun suffix)
buddhi: f. the power of forming and retaining conceptions; comprehension , apprehension , understanding
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