⏑−−⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑⏑−−¦⏑−⏑−
utathyasya
ca bhāryāyāṁ mamatāyāṁ mahā-tapāḥ |
−−−⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
mārutyāṁ
janayām-āsa bharad-vājaṁ bhas-patiḥ || 4.7
4.74
Again,
the great ascetic Bṛhas-pati, 'Lord of Prayer,'
Begat
Bharad-vāja, 'Bearer of Velocity,'
In
'Self-Centred' Mama-tā,
Who
was a daughter of the storm-gods
and the wife of [his brother]
Utathya.
COMMENT:
Today's verse is one of
those verses in which the subject of the sentence (Bṛhas-pati) is not specified
until the very end. This style of expression is sometimes associated
with a sting in the tail, and the sting in the tail of today's verse,
as I read it, is only felt when we understand that the proper name of
Bṛhas-pati, the ascetic hero of today's
verse – the guy who got his brother's wife pregnant – is
literally “Lord of Prayer.”
I think, then, that
Aśvaghoṣa intended us to see a certain irony in Udāyin's citing
of the example of Bṛhas-pati, in whom,
the dictionary informs us, Piety and Religion are personified; he is
the chief offerer of prayers and sacrifices, and therefore
represented as the type of the priestly order.
In
an effort to bring out some of the irony that I read in the original
verse, and to ensure that the English also finishes with a punchline,
I have changed the order of the elements and added the information
[his brother] in square brackets.
Whilst
no specific prohibition is recorded in Saundara-nanda against having
sex with your in-laws, a general prohibition is referred to against
wooing other people's wives:
Even the man of money and youth with senses excited by objects of his affection -- / Even he never approached others' wives, for he deemed them to be more dangerous than a burning fire. // SN3.32 //
Whereas
Bṛhas-pati, despite impregnating his sister-in-law, is regarded as
the priestly type, in Aśvaghoṣa's writing I sense a pervasive
admiration for those who do not conform to type. These individuals –
see especially Saundara-nanda Canto 10 – are often described with
the word anya, which means other, different, odd, individual.
Because Sri Lankans like to give their monks rich food, the
archetype of the Sri Lankan monk has become overweight and suffering from
diabetes. How
much to eat, however, always remains a matter of individual choice,
and is not a matter to be decided by government pronouncement – as
a monk I saw interviewed on TV, responding to a Sri Lankan government initiative, seemed smilingly to suggest. So,
notwithstanding the archetype, there might be many shaven-headed
individuals in Sri Lanka who are not overweight and not suffering
from diabetes.
Who
wants to be an archetype, anyway?
Sometimes
I do. But when I reflect on it, it is a delusion.
VOCABULARY
utathyasya
(gen. sg.): m. Utathya, N. of a son of aṅgiras and elder brother of
bṛhaspati
ca:
and
bhāryāyām
(loc. sg.): f. wife
mama-tāyām
(loc. sg.): f. the state of " mine " , sense of ownership ,
self-interest , egotism ; Mama-tā, N. of the wife of utathya and
mother of dīrgha-tamas
mahā-tapaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. very afflicted ; practising severe penance or
great religious austerities ; m. a great ascetic
mārutyām
(loc. sg. f.): mf(ī)n relating or belonging to the maruts ,
proceeding from or consisting of the maruts ; f. the north-west
quarter
marut:
m. pl. (prob. the " flashing or shining ones " ) the
storm-gods (indra's companions)
janayām-āsa
= 3rd pers. sg. periphrastic causative perfect jan: to
generate , beget , produce , create , cause
bharad-vājam
(acc. sg.): m. " bearing speed or strength (of flight) " ,
a skylark ; N. of a ṛṣi (with the patr. bārhaspatya , supposed
author of RV. vi , 1-30 ; 37-43 ; 53-74 ; ix , 67. 1-3 ; x , 137 ,
1 , and purohita of diva-dāsa , with whom he is perhaps identical ;
bharad is also considered as one of the 7 sages and the author of a
law-book)
bharat:
mfn. bearing
vāja:
m. strength, speed
bṛhas-patiḥ
(nom. sg.): m. Bṛhas-pati, " lord of prayer or devotion "
N. of a deity (in whom Piety and Religion are personified ; he is the
chief offerer of prayers and sacrifices , and therefore represented
as the type of the priestly order , and the purohita of the gods with
whom he intercedes for men ; in later times he is the god of wisdom
and eloquence , to whom various works are ascribed ; he is also
regarded as son of aṅgiras , husband of tārā and father of kaca ,
and sometimes identified with vyāsa ; in astronomy he is the regent
of Jupiter and often identified with that planet)
bṛh:
prayer
婆羅墮仙人
2 comments:
mahā-tapaḥ (nom. sg. m.)
The nom. sg. m. (which is indeed what is wanted here, although tapaḥ is in itself a neuter noun, because this is a bahuvrīhiḥ adj. to a masc. noun) should be not mahā-tapaḥ but mahā-tapāḥ. Aśvaghoṣa is, in my opinion, far more likely to have written the latter, grammatically correct, form than the former. (That he should have used tapas in compound 'thematized', i.e. treating it as an -a stem---in which case -tapaḥ could be nom. sg. m.---instead of as an -as stem, I also think is highly unlikely, though such a usage was certainly acceptable for some authors of, for instance, Purāṇic or tantric texts.)
Thanks for your dhairya in continuing this project.
H.I.
Many thanks indeed, for the intervention and the encouragement.
I shall amend the text back to mahā-tapāḥ, as per your suggestion and as per EBC's text.
The dhairya feels like a trickle, and not always of the purest water...
Thanks again.
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