−−⏑⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑⏑−⏑¦⏑−⏑−
kāś-cit-kanaka-kāñcībhir-mukharābhir-itas-tataḥ
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−⏑−−¦⏑−−−¦¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
babhramur-darśayantyo
'sya śroṇīs-tanv-aṁśukāvtāḥ || 4.34
4.34
Some women
wobbled from here to there,
Their
golden girdle-trinkets tinkling noisily,
As they
exhibited to him swaying hips
Thinly
veiled by a robe of fine cloth.
COMMENT:
Today's verse is
another one which ostensibly describes the seductive movements of
sexy courtesans but which below the surface describes the movements
of Zen practitioners.
The difference is that
the girls in today's verse are not demonstrating enlightened
behaviour. On the contrary, they are demonstrating the essence of
unenlightened behaviour, as already discussed in Buddhacarita Canto 3
under the heading “barging about,” viz:
With the banging of feet on platform steps, with jingling of girdles and jangling of anklets, / They sent congregations of house sparrows fluttering, and each derided the others for their haste. //BC3.15 //
And again:
“This, for sentient creatures, is a certain conclusion, and yet the world barges heedlessly about, disregarding danger.” (BC3.61)
See also, for example, comments on this verse from Saundara-nanda
Canto 6.
So while today's verse ostensibly describes the seductive swaying of women's hips, Aśvaghoṣa's ironic intention might be to let some of us see
ourselves in his description, and possibly to have a chuckle at this depiction of the kind of faulty behaviour that is rooted in our own end-gaining.
The
juxtaposition of today's verse and yesterday's verse thus makes perfect
sense, insofar as discussion of the duration of a moment easily
encourages in the unenlightened mind the delusory tendency to try to
be more present (speaking here from very recent experience).
“Don't
end-gain to be present! Be present to your end-gaining!” I once
encouraged a pupil during an Alexander lesson.
It
is the old story of the mote and the beam.
Thus,
in light of the mirror principle, I should perhaps tread carefully
when wishing to point out faults in the teaching of Zen teachers. Or
carelessly just run with it.
When
Zen teachers in Europe in the lineage of Taisen Deshimaru talk about
pushing the ground with the knees they have totally misunderstood how
to use the legs in relation to the back when sitting in lotus.
Sitting-zen as transmitted to Dogen (though not always as transmitted
from Dogen) is a practice of non-doing, or spontaneity (無為 Jap:
MU-I).
When
teachers taught by Deshimaru teach, as also my teacher Gudo Nishijima
taught, that we should do this and that in order to maintain correct
posture, they are full of shit. They are liable to be full of shit
quite literally, since trying to push the ground with the knees in a
doing way is bound to be associated with interference with the
natural functioning of the digestive system.
“Pushing
the ground with the knees” is a totally wrong direction which has a
disastrous effect on the natural relation between the pelvis/lower
back and legs, so that the backside sticks out unduly, both in
sitting and in walking.
Since,
along with the false direction to push down to the ground with the
knees and up to the sky with the head, Deshimaru transmitted great
reverence for the traditionally-sewn robe, however, Zen practitioners
in his lineage are able to use the robe as a kind of curtain to screen their
misuse of the hips in sitting. Thanks to their uniform, some of them look quite impressive. But beneath the veil of their "o-kesa," they are liable to be a mess.
Did
such craziness also exist in Aśvaghoṣa's day? I guess it must have
done. Because I venture to suggest that using clothing to thinly veil
underlying misuse of the self is just what Aśvaghoṣa, subversively, is alluding
to in today's verse.
VOCABULARY
kāś-cit
(nom. pl. f.): some women
kanaka-kāñcībhiḥ
(inst. pl. f.): with golden girdles
kanaka:
n. gold
kāñcī
f. (fr. √kac ; cf. kāñci) a girdle (especially a woman's zone or
girdle furnished with small bells and other ornaments
mukharābhiḥ
(inst. pl. f.): mfn. (fr. mukha, mouth) talkative , garrulous ,
loquacious (said also of birds and bees) ; noisy , tinkling (as an
anklet &c )
itas-tataḥ:
ind. from here to there
babhramur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. bhram: to wander or roam about ,
rove , ramble ; to move to and fro or unsteadily , flicker , flutter
, reel , totter
darśayantyaḥ
= nom. pl. f. pres. part. causative dṛś: to cause to see or be
seen , to show a thing (A1. esp. of something belonging to one's
self) or person ; to show = prove , demonstrate
asya
(gen. sg.): of/for him
śroṇīḥ
(acc. pl.): f. the hip and loins , buttocks
tanv-aṁśukāvṛtāḥ
(acc. p. f.): overspread with fine cloth
tanu:
mfn. thin , slender , attenuated , emaciated , small , little ,
minute , delicate , fine
aṁśuka:
n. cloth ; fine or white cloth , muslin ; garment
āvṛta:
mfn. covered , concealed , hid ; screened; enclosed , encompassed ,
surrounded (by a ditch , wall , &c ) ; overspread
[No
corresponding Chinese]
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