SAUNDARANANDA 8.36: Women as Especially Inscrutable Beings

pradahan dahano' pi gRhyate
vi-shariiraH pavano 'pi gRhyate
kupito bhujago 'pi gRhyate
pramadaanaaM tu mano na gRhyate

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8.36
A burning fire can be held,

The bodiless wind can be caught,

An angry snake can be captured,

But the mind of women cannot be grasped.

COMMENT:
Implicit in this verse, as I read it, is the striver's vanity. His vanity is to think that whereas the mind of women cannot be grasped, the mind of men (along with a torch in one's hand, the wind in a sail, and a snake in a bag) can be grasped. The striver seems to think that the mind of men can be grasped in particular by him, who while modestly recognizing his lack of expertise in regard to physical problems, recognizes himself as a bit of an expert on mental matters. Hence:

So if this pain is physical / Be quick to tell a doctor all about it, // For when a sick man hides his illness / It turns before long into something serious. // But if this suffering is mental tell me, / And I will tell you the cure for it; // Because, for a mind shrouded in gloom and darkness, / The healer is a seeker who knows himself.// [8.4 - 8.5]

In the end, what is mind?

The striver's words are froth on beer.

Still, I shouldn't be too hard on the silly sod, since the striver might be me...

I sit in full lotus and wish to allow my neck to be free, to allow the head to go forward and up, to allow the spine to lengthen and the back to widen.... Ha! Do I hell!

Every follower of the Buddha -- at least those of us who are not yet fully enlightened -- has the opportunity to see in the character of the striver that part of himself or herself which does not truly wish to allow, because it is too busy striving to achieve.

Before starting work on the present translation, while I was in the unhappy process of seeking out some useful role for myself which might be untainted by organizational trying to be right, I was asking myself: What have I got to offer? What have I really learned? And I found that the only thing I really knew for sure was that things had gone badly wrong with my teacher's effort to "promote true Buddhism throughout the world," and I had been part of that process. That was the thinking that led me to write a blog called "ERRATA", the opening post of which read as follows:

The quest for authenticity

And turning of the light

Turns into, all too easily,

Trying to be right,

Which, sure as two plus one is three,

Makes neck and shoulders tight.



Quod Erat Demonstrandum


In retrospect, my life has had its fair share of disappointed expectations, but it has all been very good preparation for understanding -- if nothing else -- the character of Ashvaghosha's striver.


EH Johnston:
The blazing fire can be held, the bodiless wind can be held, the furious snake can be held, but the minds of women cannot be held.

Linda Covill:
One can grasp a blazing fire, one can grasp the bodiless wind, one can grasp an angry snake -- but one cannot grasp the female mind.

VOCABULARY:
pradahan = nom. sg. m. pres. part. pra- √ dah: to burn , consume , destroy
dahanaH (nom. sg.): m. fire
api: also, even
gRhyate = 3rd pers. sg. passive grah: to grasp , lay hold of ; to catch , take captive ; to receive into the mind , apprehend , understand , learn

vi-shariiraH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. bodiless
vi-: without
shariira: n. the body
pavanaH (nom. sg.): m. " purifier " , wind or the god of wind , breeze , air
api: also, even
gRhyate = 3rd pers. sg. passive grah: to grasp , lay hold of ; to catch , take captive ; to receive into the mind , apprehend , understand , learn

kupitaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. provoked , incensed , offended , angry
kup: to be moved or excited or agitated ; to swell , heave or boil with rage or emotion , be angry
bhuja-gaH (nom. sg.): m. (fr. bhuja + ga) " going in curves " , a snake
api: also, even
gRhyate = 3rd pers. sg. passive grah: to grasp , lay hold of ; to catch , take captive ; to receive into the mind , apprehend , understand , learn

pramadaanaam (gen. pl.): f. woman
tu: but
manaH (nom. sg.): n. mind
na: not
gRhyate = 3rd pers. sg. passive grah: to grasp , lay hold of ; to catch , take captive ; to receive into the mind , apprehend , understand , learn