SAUNDARANANDA 11.51: Pain & Pleasure

tiivraM hy utpadyate duHkhaM iha taavan mumuuRshataaM /
kiM punaH patataaM svargaad ev' aante sukha-sevinaaM //11.51//

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For intense already is the pain that arises

In those facing death in this world.

How much worse is it for pleasure-addicts

When they finally fall from heaven?

COMMENT:
The sukha-sevinaam of line 4 means being addicted or devoted to pleasure, which Ananda sees as a fault, as opposed, for example, to the virtue of being devoted to practice or work on the self.

But lest it be misunderstood as a killjoy ascetic view, this verse might be best understood in light of previous verses in which Ananda has spoken of such work on the self as inherently enjoyable, viz: Therefore if you want enjoyment, let your mind be directed within./ Tranquil and impeccable is enjoyment of the inner self and there is no enjoyment to equal it.//11.34// In it, you have no need of musical instruments, or women, or ornaments; / On your own, wherever you are, you can indulge in that enjoyment.//11.35//

Intense emotional pain, it seems to me, is generally associated with pulling my head back and down and thinking what might have been. And so an antidote to such emotional pain might be to direct the head forward and up, in such a way as the back keeps tending to lengthen and widen.

I wonder, then, if it is possible, even at the point of death, to keep looking forward, directing the head forward and -- if one is sitting or standing -- upward.

Dogen in his instructions for sitting-meditation for everyone, seems to point to such a possibility, relying on the power of working on the self.



EH Johnston:
For think how bitter is the suffering in this world of those at the point of death ; how much worse then is the suffering of the devotees of pleasure who fall at the last from Paradise?

Linda Covill:
People at death's door here in this world feel violent sorrow; how much more so the pleasure-addicts when they finally fall from heaven!

VOCABULARY:
tiivram (nom. sg. n.): mfn. strong , severe , violent , intense , hot , pervading , excessive , ardent , sharp , acute , pungent , horrible
hi: for
utpadyate = 3rd pers. sg. ut- √ pad: to arise , rise , originate , be born or produced ; to come forth , become visible , appear
duHkham (nom. sg.): n. suffering, sorrow

iha: ind. in this place , here, in this world, now
taavat: ind. at once , now , just ; indeed, truly; already (opposed to " how much more " or " how much less ")
mumuuRshataam = gen. pl. m. pres. part. desid. mR: to wish or be about to die , face death

kim punar: ind. how much more? how much less?
patataam = gen. pl. m. pres. part. pat: to fall
svargaat (abl. sg.): m. heaven

eva: (emphatic)
ante (loc. sg.): m. end , limit , boundary , term; end of life, death
sukha-sevinaam (gen. pl. m.): addicted to pleasure
sukha: n. pleasure, ease, comfort
sevin: mfn. (only ifc.) going or resorting to , frequenting , inhabiting; addicted to , fond of , enjoying , practising , employing