−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑−¦¦⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
gautamaṁ
dīrgha-tapasaṁ maharṣiṁ
dīrgha-jīvinam |
−−−−¦⏑−−−¦¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
yoṣit
saṁtoṣayām-āsa varṇa-sthānāvarā satī || 4.18
4.18
The
great seer Gautama Dīrgha-tapas
Was
long on asceticism and in longevity,
But
a girl pleasured him
Who
was low in colour and standing.
COMMENT:
A
high-minded ascetic named Dīrgha-tapas features at the beginning of
the 1st
canto of Saundara-nanda:
In high-mindedness, he was like a second Dīrgha-tapas; / And he was like a third in the mould of Kāvya and Āṅgiras, in religious thought. // SN1.4 //
When he says that the girl who pleasured Dīrgha-tapas was low
in colour and standing (varṇa-sthānāvarā satī), Udāyin presumably means that
she had the darker skin of one of the darker-skinned original tribes of
India as opposed to the fairer skin of the Āryan conquerors who
invaded India from the north.
In
the background to today's verse, then, is a view that Hurry-Up Udāyin
has not only about women but also about colour and standing.
EBC,
EHJ, and PO all translate varṇa as “caste,” which somehow
sounds less direct, or less univerally offensive, than “colour.”
But before it means “caste” varṇa means “colour.”
I think the whole point about Udāyin might be that, beneath his
friendly, well-educated and eloquent veneer, he is a man of unexamined views.
But
Aśvaghoṣa, again, was not in the business of contradicting ancient
Indian views on gender and race by counterposing a Buddhist view on
gender and race. He was not a politician with an agenda to reform the
Indian caste system. Neither was he, like some professor of a mickey-mouse subject like "gender studies," an expert in views on views. He was a buddha-ancestor whose only duty was to
practise sitting-meditation, as a vehicle for abandoning all views.
VOCABULARY
gautamam (acc. sg.): m.
Gautama
dīrgha-tapasam (acc.
sg. m.): mfn. performing long penances ; name of several ṛṣis.
maharṣim (acc. sg.
m.): great seer
dīrgha-jīvinam (acc.
sg. m.): long-lived
dīrgha: mfn. long (in
space and time) , lofty , high , tall
jīvin: mfn. ifc.
living (a particular period or at a certain time or in a certain way)
yoṣit (nom. sg.): f.
a girl , maiden , young woman , wife
saṁtoṣayām-āsa =
3rd pers. periphrastic causative perf. saṁ- √ tuṣ:
to make well satisfied or contented , propitiate , please
varṇa-sthānāvarā
(nom. sg. f.): inferior in colour and standing
varṇa: m. covering ;
outward appearance , exterior , form , figure , shape , colour;
colour of the face , (esp.) good colour or complexion , lustre ,
beauty ; colour = race , species , kind , sort , character , nature ;
class of men , tribe , order , caste (prob. from contrast of colour
between the dark aboriginal tribes and their fair conquerors)
sthāna: n. the act of
standing; station , rank , office , appointment , dignity
avara: mfn. inferior ;
low , mean , unimportant, of small value ; n. ifc. the least , the
lowest degree , lowest sum
satī = nom. sg. f.
pres. part. as: to be
長苦行瞿曇 亦爲天后壞
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