⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑− Vaṁśastha
hata-tviṣo
'nyāḥ śithilātma-bāhavaḥ striyo viṣādena vicetanā iva |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
na cukruśur-nāśru
jahur-na śaśvasur-na celur
āsur likhitā iva sthitāḥ || 8.25
8.25
Other
women, being bereft of sparkle,
being flaccid in their core and in their arms,
[Individual
women, being different, being free of fury,
being
relaxed in their souls and loose in their arms,]
Women
who seemed by their languor to be almost insensible,
Neither
cried out, nor shed tears; they neither audibly breathed,
Nor
moved a muscle: As if in a painting, they stayed still.
COMMENT:
Whereas both EBC and
EHJ have hata-tviṣo 'nyāḥ in the 1st pāda, the old
Nepalese manuscript has dviṣo rather than tviṣo.
Hata-dviṣo 'nyāḥ
would make sense in terms of the hidden context which is to describe individuals who are different (i.e. non-buddhas) and who have slain, or who are in the process of slaying, the
enemies of greed, hatred and delusion. But it would be difficult to
make anything of the ostensible meaning of hata-dviṣo 'nyāḥ
striyaḥ i.e. “other women who had slain their enemies.”
If we read hata-tviṣo
'nyāḥ, however, as per EBC and EHJ, then the ambiguity of tviṣ
comes nicely into play. The ostensible meaning is that – unlike the
expressive drama-queen Gautamī who resembled a golden banana plant –
these other women lacked sparkle (tviṣ = light, brilliance,
glitter, beauty, colour). Below the surface, the hidden meaning is
that these non-buddhas were free of emotional over-excitement (tviṣ
= violent agitation, vehemence, violence, fury, perplexity). To use a
metaphor from Chinese Zen, they had bamboo pipes for nostrils and
black beads for eyes.
Still in the 1st pāda,
śithilātma-bāhavaḥ is also open to being read on these two
levels. Ostensibly these lifeless other women who lacked sparkle also
lacked muscle tone, both in their core and in their peripheral
muscles (śithila = flaccid, languid, unenergetic, weak). Below the
surface, the hidden meaning is that these non-buddhas were not rigid
but were loose, relaxed, free (śithila = loose, relaxed, not rigid),
in their souls and in their limbs.
The 2nd
pāda, then, continues the ironic description so that languid
(viṣāda) and insensible (vicetana) are ostensibly pejorative
descriptions of women who have given up the ghost, but Aśvaghoṣa's
real intention might be to point obliquely to the chilled state of
non-doing in which a non-buddha resides. (The √sad of viṣāda,
incidentally, originally means to sit down.)
And the 3rd
and 4th pādas, as I read them, continue in the same vein,
ostensibly describing women who are paralysed by their sorrow, while
ironically suggesting the behaviour of a Zen monk practising
sitting-meditation, thinking up as if his life depended on it, but
without doing a single thing in the way of muscular movement that
might betray what he is secretly thinking.
VOCABULARY
hata-tviṣaḥ
(nom. pl. f.): mfn. bereft of sparkle ; free of over-excitement
hata-dviṣaḥ
[old Nepalese manuscript (?)] (nom. pl. f.): mfn. one who has slain
his enemies
hata:
mfn. struck , beaten (also said of a drum) , smitten , killed , slain
, destroyed , ended , gone , lost (often ibc. = " destitute of "
, " bereft of " , " -less ")
tviṣ:
f. violent agitation , vehemence , violence , fury , perplexity ;
light , brilliance , glitter , splendour , beauty , authority ;
colour
dviṣ:
mf. foe, enemy
hata-tviṣ
= hatá-cchāya: mfn. dimmed in lustre , bereft of beauty
anyāḥ
(nom. pl. f.): others, women who were different
śithilātma-bāhavaḥ
(nom. pl. f.): relaxed in essence and in arm
śithila:
mfn. loose , slack , lax , relaxed , untied , flaccid , not rigid or
compact ; languid , inert , unenergetic , weak , feeble
ātman:
m. the breath ; the soul , principle of life and sensation ; the
individual soul , self ; essence , nature , character , peculiarity
(often ifc. e.g. karmātman , &c ) ; the person or whole body
considered as one and opposed to the separate members of the body ;
bāhu:
m. arm
śithilāṁsa-bāhavaḥ
[EHJ] (nom. pl. f.): loose of shoulder and arm
aṁsa:
m. the shoulder , shoulder-blade
striyaḥ
(nom. pl.): f. women
vi-ṣādena
(inst. sg.): m. drooping state , languor , lassitude ; dejection ,
depression , despondency (esp. as the result of unrequited love) ;
disappointment , despair
vicetanāḥ
(nom. pl. f.): mfn. senseless , unconscious , absent-minded ;
inanimate , dead ; foolish, stupid
iva:
like, as if
na:
not
cukruśur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. kruś: to cry out , shriek , yell ,
bawl , call out , halloo ; to lament, weep
na:
not
aśru
(acc sg.): n. a tear ; with √muc , or √kṛ to shed tears
jahur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. hā: to leave ; to discharge , emit
; to lose , be deprived of
na:
not
śaśvasur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. śvas: to blow , hiss , pant ,
snort ; to breathe , respire , draw breath (also = live) ; to sigh,
groan ;
na:
not
celur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. cal: to be moved , stir , tremble ,
shake , quiver , be agitated , palpitate ; to be moved from one's
usual course , be disturbed , become confused or disordered , go
astray
āsur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. as: to be , live , exist , be
present
likhitāḥ
(nom. pl. f.): mfn. scratched , scraped , scarified ; drawn ,
delineated , sketched , painted
iva:
like, as if
sthitāḥ
(nom. pl. f.): mfn. standing, standing firm ; standing , staying ,
situated , resting or abiding or remaining
其餘諸夫人 憂苦四體垂
内感心慘結 不動如畫人
内感心慘結 不動如畫人
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