−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑−¦¦−−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑− navipulā
sānukrośasya
satataṁ nityaṁ karuṇa-vedinaḥ |
−−−−¦⏑⏑⏑−¦¦⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑− navipulā
snigdha-tyāgo
na sadśo nivartasva prasīda me || 6.41
6.41
For one
who is eternally compassionate,
Who is
constantly steeped in kindness,
It is
not befitting to abandon devoted friends,
Turn
back, please, for me.”
COMMENT:
On the
surface, Chandaka's imperative nivartasva, “turn back!” means
turn back from the forest and return to the city – for me, the
suffering Chandaka, the attached / devoted friend (snigdha).
But
below the surface, of course, nivartasva once again points to the
Buddha's exhortation to know the path as a turning back:
So with regard to the truth of suffering, see suffering as an illness; with regard to the faults, see the faults as the cause of the illness; / With regard to the truth of stopping, see stopping as freedom from disease; and with regard to the truth of a path, see a path as a remedy.// SN16.41 // Comprehend, therefore, that suffering is doing; witness the faults impelling it forward; / Realise its stopping as non-doing; and know the path as a turning back.// SN16.42 //
Thus
understood, nivartasva unlocks a different understanding of the
agreement between the genitives in the first two pādas
(sānukrośasya
and -vedinaḥ) and the
final word of the verse, the genitive me.
With
pra-√sad (to favour), the genitive expresses the object favoured – so that prasīda
me means “favour me” (“have mercy on me” EBC; “have pity on
me” EHJ/PO).
Ostensibly,
then, the genitives in the first two pādas belong to one sentence,
or one stream of meaning, expressing the subject for whom the abandonment of a devoted friend is not
befitting; and the genitive me belongs to
a separate stream, expressing the object to be favoured.
But
an alternative, more inclusive reading is that the two genitives in
the first two pādas agree with the me in the 4th
pāda who is to be favoured, so that prasīda me means “Please
favour me” –
the one who is compassionate (sānukrośasya;
genitive), the
one who is steeped in kindness (karuṇa-vedinaḥ;
genitive).
Equally,
me (of me), being genitive, and occupying pride of place at the end
of the verse, seems to convey some sense of everything being included
in or belonging to me.
In the
4th pāda of today's verse, then, below the surface,
unbeknowns to himself, Chandaka can be heard as expressing the gist
of what the Buddha expresses to Nanda in Saundarananda – that gist
being, to paraphrase: “For me, or being of me (belonging to this
teaching of mine), please learn the backward step of turning your
light and letting it shine.”
To
complicate matters further, snigdha, in the compound snigdha-tyāgaḥ,
could mean many things (including 1. friend, 2. viscidity /
attachment, and 3. light), and it could be singular or plural; hence
“to abandon one who loves” (EBC); “to desert the affectionate”
(EHJ); “to forsake loved ones” (PO).
If in
the translation of today's verse primacy were to be given to the
ostensible meaning, I would take snigdha as singular (“to abandon a
devoted friend”) since Chandaka is ostensibly pulling out all the
emotional stops in his final appeal to the prince's sense of
compassion.
Digging
deeper, however, we could take snigdha as expressing 1. friends (all
living beings in general, or friends in the good in particular); 2.
adhesion (to the Buddha's teaching); or 3. light itself (the light to
be turned?); and we can hear today's verse as a secret whisper coming
straight from the heart of the Horse-Whisperer himself:
Being
of me, who belongs to eternal compassion;
Who is
steeped in constant practice of kindness;
It is
appropriate not to abandon friends / adhesiveness / the light;
So turn
back; being of me, favour me.
Sitting
in lotus, alone by the forest, and reciting today's verse to myself,
this is what I hear Aśvaghoṣa whispering, though not
necessarily in so many words. All might be contained, in the end, in
the last word me (belonging to me, being of me).
This,
in the end, is the whole point of this translation effort – to
allow a possibility of communing with Aśvaghoṣa, but more than that, by just sitting, and
thus by knowing the path as a turning back, to be of him.
(In
view of BC6.39, such wordiness should doubtless be accompanied by a healthy dose of guilt or shame.)
VOCABULARY
sānukrośasya (gen. sg.): mfn. full of compassion , compassionate , merciful , kind
sānukrośasya (gen. sg.): mfn. full of compassion , compassionate , merciful , kind
anukrośa:
m. tenderness , compassion
satatam:
ind. constantly, always, ever
nityam:
ind. always , constantly , regularly , by all means
karuṇa-vedinaḥ
(gen. sg.): mfn. compassionate , sympathizing
vedin:
mfn. knowing , acquainted with or versed in (ifc.) ; feeling,
perceiving
snigdha-tyāgaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. abandonment of a beloved person Bcar
snigdha:
mfn. sticky ; adhesive , attached , affectionate , tender , friendly
, attached ; m. a friend ; n. viscidity , thickness , coarseness ;
n. light , lustre
tyāga:
m. leaving , abandoning , forsaking
na:
not
sadṛśaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. conformable , suitable , fit , proper , right ,
worth
nivartasva
= 2nd pers. sg. imperative ni- √ vṛt: to turn back ,
stop (trans. and intrans.)
prasīda
= 2nd pers. sg. imperative pra- √ sad : to settle down
, grow clear and bright , become placid or tranquil (as the sea or
sky , met. applied to the mind) ; to become clear or distinct ; to
become satisfied or pleased or glad , be gracious or kind (with gen.
" to favour " ; Impv. often " be so gracious , please
")
√ sad:
to sit , settle
me (gen. sg.):
me太子心柔軟 常慈悲一切
深愛而棄捨 此則違宿心
願可思還宮 以慰我愚誠
No comments:
Post a Comment