⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑− Vaṁśastha
arakta-tāmraiś-caraṇair-anūpurair-akuṇḍalair-ārjava-karṇikair-mukhaiḥ
|
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
svabhāva-pīnair-jaghanair-amekhalair-a-hāra-yoktrair-muṣitair-iva
stanaiḥ || 8.22
8.22
Their unornamented feet
were not painted red;
[Their unembellished
practices were not reddened by passion;]
Their faces were
flanked by plain ears, ears without ear-rings;
[Their mouths were
connected with ears of frankness,
unfettered ears;]
unfettered ears;]
Their hips and thighs,
without girdles, were naturally full;
[Their hips and thighs,
ungirt of the belts that signified social rank,
expanded by
themselves;]
Their female breasts,
without their ropes of pearls,
seemed to have been
stripped naked.
[Their breasts, without
any attachment to stripping away,
seemed to have been
laid bare.]
COMMENT:
Below
the surface of today's verse, as I read it,
the
1st pāda relates to the simplicity of practising
detachment by a method like just sitting;
the 2nd pāda relates to what Paul Madaule, protege of Alfred Tomatis, has called “the ear-voice connection”;
the 2nd pāda relates to what Paul Madaule, protege of Alfred Tomatis, has called “the ear-voice connection”;
the
3rd pāda is intimately related with the fourth of
Alexander's four primary directions, namely “to let the knees go
forwards and away” (that direction being not so much about the
knees as it is about the lower back and upper legs);
and
the 4th pāda completes the circle by again referring to
the simple practice of just sitting, whereby no special techniques are
employed for stripping away successive layers of the onion, but body
and mind are allowed spontaneously to drop off, so that a person's
original features are laid bare.
There
may be deeper layers of meaning in today's verse that I haven't
excavated. Nonetheless, with the above translation, I feel like I have dug up gold that has been
buried for a long time. It is akin to gold that was buried by a goldsmith devoted to just sitting, and is gold that nobody could dig up except a miner devoted to just sitting.
Some
time in the next few hundred years a true poet will come along and do
for Aśvaghoṣa's poems what Seamus Heaney did for Beowulf. Somebody
else, in other words, will come along and fashion this gold that I
am digging up into wonderful jewellery – or will otherwise mint it!
Recently
in posting a comment on another blog I wrote that Aśvaghoṣa is so
full of irony that he makes Shakespeare read like an instruction
manual. I stand by that comment. The day will come when study of
Aśvaghoṣa's writings will take off in a big way. Maybe
universities will be offering courses in Aśvaghoṣa studies, just
like today they offer courses in Shakespeare studies.
Meanwhile
back here in the present, it is hips and thighs to release and expand
to let the head go forward and up...
Head
FORWARD, and
UP.
Head FORWARD, and UP.
Head FORWARD, and UP.
Head FORWARD, and UP.
(But
not neglecting the fundamental basis, which is simply to sit in full lotus, letting the knees go forwards and away.)
VOCABULARY
arakta-tāmraiḥ
(inst. pl.): not dyed coppery red ; not reddened by passion
arakta:
mfn. undyed
rakta:
mfn. coloured , dyed , painted ; reddened , red , crimson ; excited
, affected with passion or love , impassioned , enamoured
tāmra:
mfn. of a coppery red colour ; n. copper
caraṇaiḥ
(inst. pl.): mn. foot ; n. going round or about , motion , course ;
n. good or moral conduct ; n. practising (generally ifc.)
anūpuraiḥ
(inst. pl.): without foot ornaments ; unornamented
nūpura:
mn. an ornament for the toes or ankles or feet , an anklet
akuṇḍalaiḥ
(inst. pl. n.): mfn. without ear-rings, Bcar; unfettered
kuṇḍala:
n. a ring , ear-ring ; a fetter , tie ; the coil of a rope
ārjava-karṇikaiḥ:
with plain and simple ears ; having the large ears of sincerity
ārjava:
mfn. (fr. ṛju) straight ; honest, sincere ; n. straightness ,
straight direction ; n. honesty , frankness , sincerity
karṇika: mfn. having
ears , having large or long ears ; having a helm
karṇikā: f. an
ear-ring or ornament for the ear ; f. central point , centre ; f. the
middle finger
karṇa: m. the ear
ārjava-kandharaiḥ
[EHJ] (inst. pl. n.): “their necks unadorned (EHJ)”; “with bare
necks (PO)”
kaṁdhara:
mf. (fr. kam , head , and dhara fr. √dhṛ) the neck
mukhaiḥ
(inst. pl.): n. the mouth , face , countenance
svabhāva-pīnaiḥ
(inst. pl.): naturally full ; expanding by themselves
svabhāva:
m. native place ; own condition or state of being , natural state or
constitution , innate or inherent disposition , nature , impulse ,
spontaneity ; (ibc. from natural disposition , by nature , naturally
, by one's self , spontaneously)
pīna:
mfn. swelling , swollen , full , round , thick , large , fat , fleshy
, corpulent, muscular
jaghanaiḥ
m. the hinder part , buttock , hip and loins , pudenda , mons veneris
amekhalaiḥ
(inst. pl.): without girdles ; without belts signifying social rank
mekhala:
mn. a girdle , belt
mekhalā:
f. a girdle , belt , zone (as worm by men or women , but esp. that
worn by the men of the first three classes ; accord. to Mn. ii , 42
that of a Brahman ought to be of muñja; that of a kṣatriya , of
mūrvā ; that of a vaiśya , of śaṇa or hemp)
a-hāra-yoktraiḥ
(inst. pl. m.): without ropes of pearls ; without ties to removal
a-:
(negative prefix) without
hāra:
mfn. bearing , carrying , carrying away , stealing ; ravishing ,
charming , delightful ; m. taking away , removal ; m. confiscation ,
forfeiture (of land , money &c ) ; m. waste , loss (»
kāla-hāra, loss of time) ; m. war, battle ; m. a garland of pearls
, necklace (accord. to some , one of 108 or 64 strings)
yoktra:
n. any instrument for tying or fastening , a rope , thong , halter ;
the thongs by which an animal is attached to the pole of a carriage ;
the tie of the yoke of a plough
muṣitaiḥ
(inst. pl. m.): mfn. stolen , robbed , carried off ; plundered ,
stripped , naked ; seized , ravished , captivated , enraptured
iva:
like, as if
stanaiḥ
(inst. pl.): m. the female breast (either human or animal) , teat ,
dug , udder ; the nipple (of the female or the male breast)
衣裳壞繿縷 状如被賊形
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