⏑−⏑−¦⏑−−−¦¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
bhas-pater-mahiṣyāṁ
ca juhvatyāṁ juhvatāṁ varaḥ |
⏑−⏑⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑⏑−−¦⏑−⏑−
budhaṁ
vibudha-dharmāṇaṁ
janayām-āsa candramāḥ || 4.75
4.75
And the
Moon, most eminent among oblation-offerers,
Begat 'The
Learned' Budha, who was innately very learned,
In
Bṛhas-pati's own esteemed wife,
While she
was offering an oblation.
COMMENT:
Again it has been too
difficult to preserve the original order of the elements, in which
the subject comes last.
Any way up, following yesterday's verse which records that Bṛhas-pati fathered a child with his brother's wife, today's verse adds the information that the Moon fathered a child with
Bṛhas-pati's own wife.
The gist of Udāyin's
present argument seems to be that when instinctive desire is at
variance with moral considerations (like the questionnable morality
of fathering a child, on the spur of the moment, with somebody else's
wife), it is only natural to follows one's desire, as per the example
of ascetic heroes and gods.
The response of the
prince will be instructive in suggesting to us the workings of the
mind of a bodhisattva who has established the bodhi-mind.
If we expect the prince
to respond by expressing his moral outrage, or by preaching to Udāyin the bad karmic implications of an extra-marital
affair, that expectation may be disappointed.
Looking ahead, it
appears that the prince does not concern himself with judging the
rights and wrongs of other people's sexual mores. Rather, he seems to
say that (1) he is not interested in pursuit of any end,
pleasurable though it may be, that is susceptible to the ravages of
aging, sickness and death; and (2) he is not interested in
half-hearted application of half-hearted means.
Hence, strikingly, in
BC4.93 –
na
cānuvartanaṁ tan-me rucitaṁ yatra nārjavam
And
neither is that submissive behaviour agreeable to me, if it is insincere.
sarva-bhāvena saṁparko
yadi nāsti dhig-astu tat
Unless there is a mutual
connection with the whole soul/being, to hell with it.
VOCABULARY
bṛhas-pateḥ
(gen. sg.): m. " 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)
mahiṣyām
(loc. sg.): f. a female buffalo , buffalo-cow ; any woman of high
rank , (esp.) the first or consecrated wife of a king (also pl.) or
any queen
ca:
and
juhvatyām
(loc. sg. f. pres. part. hu): while she was offering an oblation
hu:
to sacrifice (esp. pour butter into the fire) , offer or present an
oblation ;
juhvatām
(gen. pl. m. pres. part. hu): [among] offerers of oblations
varaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. " select " , choicest , valuable ,
precious , best , most excellent or eminent among (gen. loc. abl. ,
or comp.)
budham
(acc. sg.): m. 'wise or learned man,' N. of a descendant of soma (and
hence also called saumya , saumāyana , author of RV. x , 1 , and
father of purū-ravas ; identified with the planet Mercury)
vibudha-dharmāṇam
(acc. sg. m.): whose nature was to be very wise/learned
dharman:
n. (esp. ifc.) nature , quality , characteristic mark or attribute
vibudha-karmāṇam
(acc. sg. m.): of sage/godly/moonlike action
vibudha:
mfn. very wise or learned ; m. a wise or learned man ; m. a god; m.
the moon
karman:
n. act , action , performance , business ; office , special duty ,
occupation , obligation (frequently ifc. , the first member of the
compound being either the person who performs the action [e.g.
vaṇik-k°] or the person or thing for or towards whom the action is
performed [e.g. rāja-k° , paśu-k°] or a specification of the
action [e.g. śaurya-k° , prīti-k°])
janayām-āsa
= 3rd pers. sg. periphrastic causative perf. jan: to beget
candramāḥ
(nom. sg.): m. the moon , deity of the moon
及與月天子
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