−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Indravajrā)
ṛjv-ātmanāṁ
dharma-bhtāṁ munīnām-iṣṭātithitvāt-sva-janopamānām
|
−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
evaṁ-vidhair-māṁ
prati bhāva-jātaiḥ prītiḥ parā me
janitaś-ca mārgaḥ || 7.45
7.45
“Under
dharma-upholding sages
who
tend in their core towards uprightness,
And
who are, in their willing hospitality, like family,
To
have had shown towards me such manifestations of sincerity
Has
filled me with great joy, and has opened for me a way.
COMMENT:
The Sanskrit text of EB
Cowell, published c.1895, based on three later copies of an earlier
Nepalese manuscript, has for the 4th pāda of today's
verse,
prītiḥ parātmā
janitaś-ca mārgaḥ,
which EBC translated
affection is
produced in me and the path which regards the self as supreme is
revealed.
The Sanskrit text of EH
Johnston, published c. 1934, based on the old Nepalese manuscript
itself (whose discovery HP Shastri reported in 1909), has
prītiḥ parā me
janitaś-ca mānaḥ
My
joy is great / of the highest order, and in me is engendered respect.
my joy is extreme and I
feel honoured. [EHJ]
I feel honoured, and my
joy overflows. [PO]
The amendment from
parātmā to parā me appears to be justified not only on the grounds
of what sounds reasonable but also by a correction on the old
Nepalese manuscript, so that, according to EHJ, the original text may
have been parātmā amended to parā me, or the original may have
been parā me amended to parātmā.
EHJ's changing of the
last word to mānaḥ, however, is harder to justify. The old
Nepalese manuscript has mārggaḥ. EHJ appears to have amended to
mānaḥ on the basis of the Tibetan translation.
me
janitaś-ca mānaḥ, “and
respect is engendered in me,” fits on the grounds that the
Buddha-to-be is now discussing the bhāva that has been shown to him, and is expressing in response
his own bhāva, what he sincerely feels. Understood like that, if
the reading were true, me
janitaś-ca mānaḥ would
indicate that the Buddha-to-be is not only being polite towards the
ascetic practitioners but he is also expressing genuine respect for
their sincere efforts.
But
me janitaś-ca mārgaḥ, “and a
proper course is engendered in me,” or “and a forest track
is assigned to me,” or “and a way is opened for me,” might fit
even better – especially in view of the thoughts stimulated by
yesterday's verse with regard to bhava, bhāva, and bhāvanā.
The ostensible point of
today's verse is that the prince is praising the hospitality of the
ascetic sages of the ashram, and expressing how their display of
their bhāva (love / sincerity) for him has stimulated in him, for
his part, genuine joy, and respect.
So if we follow the
ostensible meaning of today's verse, then, EHJ's amendment fits well.
But if we dig below the
surface, another reading presents itself which hangs on the original
mārgaḥ.
Ostensibly, the sages
in question are the ascetic sages of the ashram who uphold an ascetic
dharma. But this is understood rather than made explicit by the
original grammar, in which the relationship between (a) the sages
whom the Buddha-to-be praises in the first half of the verse, and
(b) the elements of the second half of the verse, is governed by the
genitive munīnām – the genitive being (in Coulson's words) the
case with the widest range of uses.
The alternative reading
which this grammar makes possible is that in the second half of
today's verse the Buddha-to-be is expressing his genuine gratitude
for the bhāva (heart-felt sincerity) shown to him by the ascetics of
the ashram. But he is doing so in such a way as to leave open the
possibility that the credit might be due to the overarching influence of true sages, as opposed to
self-punishing and deer-imitating ascetic ones.
In other words, the
situation described in the second half of the verse belongs to, or is
within the sphere of influence of, the true sages praised in the
first half of the verse.
What, in that case, is
the criterion of a true sage?
The criterion is
expressed, for a start, by the Sanskrit word ṛju, which is most
interestingly defined in the MW dictionary as “tending
in a straight direction.”
Tending
in a straight direction in one's core, or in one's essential being
(ātman), might be a very different thing from sitting up straight
relying on the making of a big muscular effort. The latter, when we
investigate it in detail, is a kind of manifestation of human
arrogance – the symptom of the big human new brain trying to usurp
functions it has no business trying to usurp, and thereby throwing a
spanner in the postural works. I know whereof I speak.
Speaking
of arrogance, incidentally, I was mightily impressed by Brian
Blessed's appearance on Piers Morgan's Life Stories which was aired
on ITV last night. Asked how he would like to be remembered, BB
answered to the effect that he wouldn't like to be remembered at all,
since it was all vanity, but he would like people to remember
ourselves. Such remembering is a first step, in Dogen's teaching, to
forgetting ourselves. Though BB neglected to mention the bit about
forgetting ourselves, and only spoke of remembering ourselves, I was
nonetheless impressed by him and not surprised to learn on the internet that
BB is chums with the Dalai Lama. I wouldn't mind getting to 76 if I
could retain the zest for life that BB evidently has at 76. I
wouldn't mind having that much zest now, at 53, to tell the truth.
The zest and the negation of vanity are doubtless not unconnected
with each other.
Understood
in this light, the 2nd
pāda of today's verse can be read as a confirming criterion of a
true sage, the criterion being that the tending in a straight
direction has nothing vain or arrogant about it, but is rather as
open and hospitable as, for example, an old grandma naturally is
towards her grandchild.
But
finally, lest all this sounds too tangled up in human feeing and
emotion, the Buddha-to-be adds me
janitaś-ca mārgaḥ, "and engendered in me is a proper course," a way
of action – a means of going beyond bhāva.
Bhāva
in the 3rd
pāda is rendered more difficult to translate since its meaning seems
to have shifted from yesterday's verse, and become more ambiguous to boot. In yesterday's verse bhāva
means the secret or inner feelings and thoughts of the
Buddha-to-be. In today's verse bhāva seems on the surface to have a
more emotional connotation, ostensibly meaning feelings of affection
or love. Hence bhāva-jataiḥ: by kind feelings (EBC); a
display of feelings (EHJ); display
of love (PO).
In
any event, bhāva means what is really going on in a person's mind
and body, something – whether thought or feeling – which is
genuine. And yet the suggestion, taking the last word as mārgaḥ,
is that there is something that counts more than the manifestations
by others of the kind of genuine and sincere bhāva that fills us
with joy, and that something is the existence of a way.
What,
in the end, are we here for?
“To
love and to be loved,” some would say.
But
quite aside from that, above and beyond that, under the influence of sages like Aśvaghoṣa
and Bodhidharma who upheld the Buddha-dharma, a way has been opened
for us. And the essence of it is to sit in full lotus and investigate
what it might mean to tend in one's core towards uprightness.
VOCABULARY
ṛjv-ātmanām
(gen. pl. m.): mfn. of straight-tending nature
ṛju:
tending in a straight direction , straight (lit. and fig. ; opp. to
vṛjiná) , upright , honest , right , sincere
ātman:
m. self; essence , nature , character , peculiarity (often ifc. e.g.
karmā*tman , &c )
dharma-bhṛtām
(gen. pl. m.): mfn. dharma-upholding ; m. " law-supporter "
bhṛt:
mfn. bearing , carrying , bringing , procuring , possessing , wearing
, having , nourishing , supporting , maintaining (only ifc. )
munīnām
(gen. pl.): m. a saint , sage , seer , ascetic , monk , devotee ,
hermit
iṣṭātithitvāt
(abl. sg.): because of their willing hospitality
iṣṭa:
mfn. sought, wished, desired ; liked , beloved ; agreeable ; regarded
as good , approved
n.
wish , desire ; iṣṭam: ind. voluntarily; mfn. (p.p. fr. √
yaj) sacrificed , worshipped with sacrifices ; m. sacrifice ; n.
sacrificing , sacrifice ; n. sacred rite , sacrament
atithi-tva:
n. state of a guest , hospitality
atithi:
m. ( √ at , or said to be from a-tithi , " one who has no
fixed day for coming ") , a guest , a person entitled to
hospitality
sva-janopamānām
(gen. pl. m.): like family / equal to my own people
sva-jana:
one's own people
upamā:
f. resemblance, equality ; mfn. (ifc.) equal , similar , resembling ,
like
evaṁ-vidhaiḥ
(inst. pl.): mfn. of such a kind , in such a form or manner , such
mām
(acc. sg. ): me
prati:
ind. towards
bhāva-jātaiḥ
= inst. pl. manifestations of bhāva
MW:
bhāva-jāta = bhāva-ja: m. " heart-born " , love or the
god of love
bhāva:
m. being, true condition ; manner of acting ; any state of mind or
body , way of thinking or feeling ; (in rhet.) passion , emotion ;
love, affection, attachment
jāta:
n. a multitude or collection of things forming a class (chiefly ifc.
, e.g. karma- , " the whole aggregate of actions " ; sukha-
, " anything or everything included under the name pleasure "
) ; n. individuality , specific condition ; n. = -karman
prītiḥ
(nom. sg. f.): f. any pleasurable sensation , pleasure , joy ,
gladness , satisfaction ; friendly disposition , kindness , favour
, grace , amity (with samam or ifc.) , affection , love (with gen.
loc. , or ifc.)
parātmā
[Old Nepalese manuscript (?) / EBC] (nom. sg. m.): m. the Supreme
Spirit ; mfn. one who considers the body as the soul
parā
(nom. sg. f.): mfn. far, beyond, extreme ; exceeding (in number or
degree); best or worst , highest , supreme
ātman:
m. self
me
(gen. sg.): of/in me
janitaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. born, engendered, begotten, produced, occasioned,
occurring
jan:
to generate , beget , produce , create , cause ; to cause to be born
; to assign , procure
ca:
and
mārgaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. the track of a wild animal , any track , road , path
, way to (loc. or comp.) or through (comp.) , course (also of the
wind and the stars); a way , expedient , means ; the right way ,
proper course
mānaḥ
[EHJ] (nom. sg.): m. ( √ man) opinion , notion , conception , idea
; purpose , wish , design ; (also n.) consideration , regard ,
respect , honour ; m. ( √ mā) a building , house , dwelling
汝等心質直 行法亦寂默
親念於來賓 我心實愛樂
親念於來賓 我心實愛樂
No comments:
Post a Comment