⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑− Vaṁśastha
imaṁ
pralāpaṁ karuṇaṁ niśamya tā bhujaiḥ pariṣvajya
paras-paraṁ striyaḥ |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
vilocanebhyaḥ
salilāni tatyajur-madhūni puṣpebhya iveritā latāḥ || 8.59
8.59
Having
heard this piteous lament,
[Having
listened with compassion to this garbled discourse,]
The
women entwined each other with their arms
And
let the tears drop from their eyes –
Like
shaken creepers dropping beads of nectar from their flowers.
COMMENT:
The subject of today's
verse is tā striyaḥ, the women in general, the nameless chorus
who, below the surface in Aśvaghoṣa's poetry as I read it,
represent the practitioners walking around and sitting in a vihāra
where nobody is interested in making a name for himself. The
equivalent term in Dogen's writing might be 大衆
(DAISHU), which translates as something
like “all the monks of the assembly” or simply “the assembly.”
On the surface today's
verse describes an opening of the floodgates when those women (tā
striyaḥ) have heard Gautamī's mournful/piteous (karuṇam) lament/ravings (pralāpaṁ). Hence imaṁ pralāpaṁ karuṇam is translated by EBC
as “this piteous lamentation,” by EHJ as
“these piteous ravings,” and by PO as “this piteous lament” –
each of the three professors translated karuṇam as “piteous,”
taking karuṇam as an acc. sg. masculine adjective agreeing with
pralāpam.
If,
however, Aśvaghoṣa was describing the women in such a way as to
bring a smile behind the eyes of thousands of nameless monks in
ancient India – and I think he was – then, firstly, karuṇam can
be taken as acc. sg. neuter, in which case it describes the women's
manner of listening as compassionate; and, secondly, the pralāpam
which was the object of their listening can be taken not so much as a lament (as per EBC and PO) or as ravings (as per EHJ)
but rather as a garbled discourse. The garbling, in that case, as we have been studying verse by verse, has been
deliberately done by none other than the obfuscater-in-chief, Aśvaghoṣa himself.
In
conclusion, what message might today's verse have for a bloke
who sits? Maybe today's verse is intended to serve as a reminder that the point of
sitting-meditation is to drop off body and mind and just be one of
the girls.
JI-HO-SAN-SHI-ISSHI-FU
SHI-SON-BU-SA-MO-KO-SA
MO-KO-HO-JA-HO-RO-MI
All
buddhas of the ten directions and three times
Many
venerable bodhisattvas and mahāsattvas,
Mahā-prajñā-pāramita.
VOCABULARY
imam
(acc. sg. m.): this
pralāpam
(acc. sg.): m. talk , discourse , prattling , chattering; (also n.)
lamentation ; incoherent or delirious speech , raving
pra-
√lap: to speak forth (inconsiderately or at random) , prattle ,
talk idly or incoherently , trifle ; to lament, bewail ; to speak or
tell in a doleful manner ; to call upon or invoke in piteous tones
karuṇam
(acc. sg. m.): mfn. mournful , miserable , lamenting ; compassionate
karuṇam:
ind. mournfully , woefully , pitifully , in distress
niśamya
= abs. ni- √ śam: to perceive, hear, learn
tā
(nom. pl. f.): those [women]
bhujaiḥ
(inst. pl.): with arms
pariṣvajya
= abs. pari √svaj: to embrace , clasp , occupy
svaj:
to embrace , clasp , encircle , twist or wind round
paras-param:
ind. one another , each other , with or from one another , one
another's , mutually , reciprocally
striyaḥ
(nom. pl. f.): the women
vilocanebhyaḥ
(abl. pl.): n. the eye ;
salilāni
(acc. pl.): n. flood , surge , waves ; n. (also pl.) water ; n.
eye-water , tears
tatyajur
= 3rd pers. pl. perf. tyaj: to abandon; to let go ,
dismiss , discharge
madhūni
(acc. pl.): n. anything sweet (esp. if liquid) , mead &c ; n.
honey ; n. the juice or nectar of flowers , any sweet intoxicating
drink , wine or spirituous liquor
puṣpebhyaḥ
(abl. pl.): n. flowers
iva:
like
īritāḥ
= nom. pl. f. past. part. īr: to agitate , elevate , raise (one's
voice)
latāḥ
(nom. pl.): f. a creeper , any creeping or winding plant or twining
tendril Mn. MBh. &c (the brows , arms , curls , a slender
body , a sword-blade , lightning &c are often compared to the
form of a creeper , to express their graceful curves and slimness of
outline)
念子心悲痛 悶絶而躄地
侍人扶令起 爲拭其目涙
侍人扶令起 爲拭其目涙
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