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Upajāti (Haṁsī)
kalair-hi
cāmīkara-baddha-kakṣair-nārī-karāgrābhihatair-mṛdaṅgaiḥ
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varāpsaro-nṛtya-samaiś-ca
nṛtyaiḥ kailāsa-vat-tad-bhavanaṁ rarāja || 2.30
2.30
For, with sounds of
gold-studded tambourines
Being softly beaten by
women's fingers,
And with dancing
like the dancing of the
choicest heavenly nymphs,
Those digs were
fabulous as Mount Kailāsa.
COMMENT:
There is a real
mountain that goes by the name of Mount Kailash, from the Sanskrit
kailāsa. A few years ago I saw a documentary that showed Tibetans, as
described in the Wiki entry, circumnavigating the mountain only by
means of prostrations. It looked like it might be good fun,
especially if it were done without any superstitious belief or
expectation along the lines of making merit, ensuring a higher status
re-birth, et cetera.
I think the Kailāsa of
today's verse, however, is not the real mountain revered in Tibetan
Buddhism but is rather the older and more fabulous Hindu one in which
was supposed to abide Kubera, the Wealth-Giver mentioned in the last verse of Canto
One, BC1.89.
Generally I come to
France, and often I approach the round black cushion, aspiring to a
bit of nothing. But sometimes, on a good day, when circumstances are
incredibly quiet and I don't seem to be pulling my legs into my
pelvis at all, I have moments of not aspiring to anything. After
undergoing many such reps of deluded aspiring to nothing and not
aspiring to anything, do I become better able to discern the difference between
the two conditions? Or not?
On the surface today's
verse is about gorgeous women playing tambourines. But on the basis
of not aspiring to anything, I don't mind confessing that am impious
bloke like me does not have to dig very deep to suppose what else
today's verse might be suggesting.
Speaking of digging,
bhavanam means home or dwelling, and at the same time it has a
secondary meaning of a place where something grows. How to translate
the related word bhāvana which means something like “development
[of the mind]” is a problem I struggled with long and hard in
translating Saundara-nanda (see for example SN16.5). Much of Canto 16
is devoted to setting out how such development may take place,
through the use of an appropriate nimitta
(subject/object/cause/stimulus).
To capture this
secondary sense of growth, I considered as a translation of
tad-bhavanam, “those adolescent's quarters,” but in the back of
my mind the word I was looking for was “digs.” The serious
dictionary says “digs” is a dated and informal terms for rented
accommodation. But dated and informal or not, to my ear it fits –
because digging and growth are connected on many levels in various
fields, and not only in fields of potatoes.
VOCABULARY
kalaiḥ (inst. pl.
m.): mfn. indistinct; low , soft (as a tone) , emitting a soft tone ,
melodious (as a voice or throat)
hi: for
cāmīkara-baddha-kakṣaiḥ
(inst. pl. m.): with a girdle of gold studs
cāmīkara: n. gold
baddha: mfn. bound ;
girt with ; (with instr. or ifc.) inlaid or studded with , set in
kakṣa: mf. a girdle ,
zone , belt , girth ; mf. hem , border , lace; mf. the periphery ,
circumference
nārī-karāgrābhihataiḥ
(inst. pl. m.): beaten by women's fingertips
nārī: f. a woman
karāgra: n. tip of the
finger
kara: 'doer', hand
agra: tip
abhihata: mfn. struck;
beaten (as a drum , &c )
mṛdaṅgaiḥ (inst
pl.): m. (prob. fr. mṛdam + ga , " going about while being
beaten "; a kind of drum , tabour
varāpsaro-nṛtya-samaiḥ
(inst. pl. n.): on a par with the dancing of the choicest celestial
nymphs
vara: mfn. "
select " , choicest , valuable , precious , best , most
excellent or eminent among
apsaras: f. celestial
nymph
nṛtya: n. dancing ,
acting , gesticulation , pantomime
sama: mfn. level with,
like
ca: and
nṛtyaiḥ (inst.
pl.): n. dancing , acting , gesticulation , pantomime
kailāsa-vat: like Mt.
Kailāsa
kailāsa: m. N. of a
mountain (fabulous residence of kubera and paradise of śiva ; placed
in the himālaya range and regarded as one of the loftiest peaks to
the north of the mānasa lake)
vat: an affix added to
words to imply likeness or resemblance
tad-bhavanam (nom. sg.
n.): that dwelling ; his home
bhavana: n. a place of
abode , mansion , home , house , palace , dwelling ; n. coming into
existence , birth , production; n. the place where anything grows
(ifc.= field cf. śāli-bh°) ;
rarāja: to be
illustrious or resplendent , shine , glitter ; to appear as or like
(iva)
妓女衆圍遶
奏合天樂音
勿隣穢聲色
令生厭世想
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