BUDDHACARITA 6.2: The Meaning of Success

−⏑−−¦⏑⏑⏑−¦¦−−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑−   navipulā

supta-viśvasta-hariṇaṁ svastha-sthita-vihaṅgamam |

−−⏑⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑−    pathyā Śloka 

viśrānta iva yad-dṣṭvā ktārtha iva cābhavat || 6.2

6.2

Deer there breathed easy, in unsuspecting sleep,

Birds perched with self-assurance –

On seeing which he seemed reposed,

Like one who has been successful.

COMMENT:

The difficulty of today's verse, as I read it, stems from not knowing what Aśvaghoṣa might have been alluding to with viśrānta (rested [EHJ]? restful [EBC]? refreshed [PO]? relaxed? reposed?) and with kṛtārtha (successful in some task, having gained an end).

The MW dictionary gives kṛtārtha as one who has attained an end or object or has accomplished a purpose or desire, successful, satisfied, contented.

When the compound appeared in Aśvaghoṣa epic tale of Beautiful Happiness, as far as I remember (it may have appeared in other verses), I translated kṛtārtha as “successful.” Hence:

To the Fully Awakened Buddha, by virtue of that confidence, he seemed already to be a success (kṛtārtham-iva) ; / And to himself, having been initiated by the Buddha, he felt as though he had arrived already on the better path. // SN13.2 //

One who eats anything at any place, and wears any clothes,

Who dwells in enjoyment of his own being and loves to be anywhere without people: /

He is to be known as a success (kṛtārthaḥ), a knower of the taste of peace and ease, whose mind is made up --

He avoids involvement with others like a thorn. //SN14.50 //

And so like a young initiate who mastered the Vedas, like a trader who turned a quick profit, /Or like a royal warrior who conquered a hostile army, a success (kṛtārthaḥ), Nanda approached the Guru. // SN18.1 //

In SN13.2 Aśvaghoṣa describes Nanda as seeming to be a success (kṛtārtham-iva). In SN14.50 the Buddha says that a practitioner who enjoys solitude is to be known as a success. And in SN18.1 Aśvaghoṣa describes Nanda as being a success.

Looking ahead to BC Canto 12, I happened to notice while browsing, kṛtārthaḥ (being a success) and kṛtārtha iva (feeling like / seeming to be a success) are juxtaposed in the same verse, in which the prince tells Arada:

a-kṛtārtho 'py-anenāsmi kṛtārtha iva saṁprati

Thanks to this [kindness of yours], though I am not yet successful, 

I feel now as if I had been successful. (BC12.12)

In BC Canto 12 and SN Canto 17, older and younger brother, Gautama and Nanda, each succeeds in attaining the first dhyāna, but thinks “No, not that.” And so on through the second, third, and fourth dhyānas. 

The prince Gautama does not consider his attainment of the fourth dhyāna under Arada to constitute ultimate success, so he says his polite goodbyes and leaves. 

Similarly, Aśvaghoṣa calls Nanda a success in SN Canto 18 not because Nanda had realized the fourth dhyāna but rather because Nanda had realized the worthy status of an arhat. But even after that the Buddha entrusted Nanda with another task, which was namely to carry the lamp of the transmission of his dharma. So even beyond attainment of arhathood, there may have been a further criterion of success. 

What is real success (kṛthārtha without the iva)? I asked myself yesterday while working on today's verse. 

A loaf of bread comes out well. A sharp axe splits a thick log into serviceable firewood.

Those are limited victories, which make me feel successful – but that feeling might be like the feeling of success that those financial traders got who were said to be picking up pennies (or dimes) before a steamroller. A lot of small successes of that kind can, in the light of one big loss, come to be seen as part of one big failure.

Conversely, can a lot of failures come to be seen, in the light of a massive win, as part of one great success? 

A man of 86 shuns the medicine that his doctor would like to give him, preferring to let nature take its course.

That was another example of success that sprang into my mind yesterday, and the man I had in mind was FM Alexander. If success in working on the self is to allow something, then ultimate success might be to allow nature to take its course like that.

After that reflection, I happened to see an account on the BBC One Show of the career prospects of a male stickleback who succeeds, by his vigorous dancing around and by his skillful nest-building, in attracting a mate. The female deposits her eggs in the nest built by the successful male who then fertilizes the eggs and proceeds to exhaust himself by fanning water over the eggs to oxygenate them, until they hatch, and then he exhausts himself further by guarding the hatchlings. After that, having thus exhausted himself and not bothered to eat, the successful male stickleback then generally dies.

Such, evidently, is the meaning of success in nature.

In light of these reflections, then, and having sat on it, I have provisionally decided to translate viśrāntaḥ as “reposed,” which can mean “rested” and can mean “lying dead” – like, for example, a dead Zen ancestor who has finished carrying the torch.

VOCABULARY

supta-viśvasta-hariṇam (acc. sg. n.): its trusting deer sleeping

supta: mfn. having beautiful braids of hair ; mfn. fallen asleep , slept , sleeping , asleep

vi-śvasta: mfn. full of confidence , fearless , bold , unsuspecting ; trusted , confided in , faithful

vi- √ śvas: to draw breath freely , be free from fear or apprehension , be trustful or confident , trust or confide in , rely or depend on

hariṇa: m. a deer , antelope , fawn , stag

svastha-sthita-vihaṅgamam (acc. sg. n.): its sky-goers remaining well in themselves

sva-stha: mfn. self-abiding , being in one's self (or " in the self " Sarvad. ), being in one's natural state , being one's self uninjured , unmolested , contented , doing well , sound well , healthy (in body and mind) , comfortable , at ease ; relying upon one's self , confident , resolute , composed

sthita: mfn. standing , staying , situated , resting or abiding or remaining in; being or remaining or keeping in any state or condition

viha-ṁ-gama: mfn. moving in the sky , flying ; m. a bird

viśrāntaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. reposed , rested ; reposing , taking rest

vi- √ śram: , to rest , repose , recreate one's self. ; to rest from labour , cease , stop , desist ; to feel at ease or comfortable

iva: iva: like, as if, almost

yad (acc. sg. n.): [relative pronoun] which, it (the aśram)

dṛṣṭvā =abs. dṛś: to see

kṛtārthaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. one who has attained an end or object or has accomplished a purpose or desire , successful , satisfied , contented

iva: like, as if, almost

ca: and

abhavat = 3^rd pers. sg. imperf. bhū: to be, become

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