⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−− Puṣpitāgrā
iti
tanaya-viyoga-jāta-duḥkham kṣiti-sadśaṁ saha-jaṁ vihāya
dhairyam |
⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−
daśaratha
iva rāma-śoka-vaśyo bahu vilalāpa n-po vi-saṁjña-kalpaḥ
|| 8.81
8.81
Thus,
suffering the pain born of a son's loss,
A
protector of men threw away the constancy,
akin
to the earth, which was his natural birth-right;
And
like Daśaratha in the grip of grief for Rāma
– Like
he was unconscious – he lamented profusely.
COMMENT:
Question:
What is the difference between a dharma-king expressing the noble
truth of suffering, and a drama queen or drama king loudly lamenting
the loss of a loved one?
Answer:
A major difference might be that the former uttering of lamentations is conscious, whereas the
latter is done unconsciously.
Today's
verse, on the surface, is highlighting the similarity between King
Śuddhodana and Daśaratha in their manner of their expression of
grief for the loss of sons who have retired to the forest. On the
surface both of these kings are lamenting like drama queens,
unconsciously.
But
below the surface today's verse as I read it is highlighting a
difference between two kinds of king, the first kind of king being
the kind discussed in BC8.79, namely, a non-hereditary king, i.e. a
king of dharma, who in his lamenting is vi-saṁjña-kalpaḥ,
“as
if
unconscious.”
The
point is that the similarity between Daśaratha and a king of dharma
is in their expression of sorrow, but the important difference might be
that whereas Daśaratha in his lamenting was in the unconscious grip
of grief, a dharma-king in his expression of sorrow is as
if he
were unconscious. The operative word is -kalpaḥ, “as if” or
“like.” A protector of men being like he was unconscious might be akin to Madonna being like a virgin.
So the implicit point might be that a protector of men who is as if un-conscious, is NOT unconscious, but is a protector of men who is conscious, i.e., a king of dharma, an awakened buddha.
So the implicit point might be that a protector of men who is as if un-conscious, is NOT unconscious, but is a protector of men who is conscious, i.e., a king of dharma, an awakened buddha.
When
we read the 1st pāda in this light, and notice that the
dictionary gives as meanings of viyoga not only “separation” but
also “disjunction” and “loss” and “giving up,” the
suffering born of tanaya-viyoga might not necessarily be suffering
born of separation from a son; it might be suffering born out of a
son's separation, or disjunction, or loss, or giving up. It might be,
for example, pain in the legs that have been crossed for an hour,
during a Zen practitioner's practice of losing himself, aka, dropping
off body and mind. So whereas tanaya-viyoga ostensibly means “losing
a son,” the real meaning might be “a son's losing.”
When
we read the 2nd pāda in this light, throwing away constancy or fortitude might be a good example of a true son losing something, or
giving up something – the point being that, if the kind of firmness
or constancy that a dharma-king has is the kind of firmness or
constancy, akin to the earth, that he was born with, then why would
he need to make a big effort to try to achieve or to hang onto “firmness” or “constancy”?
The 2nd pāda of today's verse, then, as I read it, expresses something transcendent, or something antithetical to ordinary Buddhist conceptions like “being mindful of constancy.”
Mindfulness seems to be very much in vogue in the UK at the moment, and on one level, I suppose, the interest in mindfulness is to be welcomed. I have referenced on this blog before the Long Discourse Giving Advice to Rāhula, in which the Buddha instructs Rāhula, having established mindfulness to the fore, to develop the meditation which is to be as even, or as constant, as the earth. Aśvaghoṣa must have been steeped in this kind of teaching. But the 2nd pāda of today's verse, as I read it, below the surface, is suggesting transcendence of even this, celebrating the throwing away of any kind of aspiration to be as even as the earth, in the spirit of not thinking in terms of good and bad, and not caring about right and wrong.... in which not thinking and not caring, ironically, we might already be as even or as constant as the earth.
The 2nd pāda of today's verse, then, as I read it, expresses something transcendent, or something antithetical to ordinary Buddhist conceptions like “being mindful of constancy.”
Mindfulness seems to be very much in vogue in the UK at the moment, and on one level, I suppose, the interest in mindfulness is to be welcomed. I have referenced on this blog before the Long Discourse Giving Advice to Rāhula, in which the Buddha instructs Rāhula, having established mindfulness to the fore, to develop the meditation which is to be as even, or as constant, as the earth. Aśvaghoṣa must have been steeped in this kind of teaching. But the 2nd pāda of today's verse, as I read it, below the surface, is suggesting transcendence of even this, celebrating the throwing away of any kind of aspiration to be as even as the earth, in the spirit of not thinking in terms of good and bad, and not caring about right and wrong.... in which not thinking and not caring, ironically, we might already be as even or as constant as the earth.
In
the 3rd
pāda of today's verse Daśaratha is mentioned by the name Daśaratha,
whereas in BC8.79 he is referred to more obliquely, with the words
ajasya
rājñaḥ. And one reason for this might
be that da-śa-ra-tha, has four short syllables, and therefore fits
the Puṣpitāgrā metre in which today's verse is written;
whereas four short syllables would not fit the Vaṁśastha metre in
which are written all verses of the present Canto previous to today's
verse. What fits the Vaṁśastha metre is the short-long-short-long-long pattern of ajasya
rājñaḥ. So this is the ostensible reason for calling Daśaratha
in today's verse daśaratha, “Daśaratha,” but in BC8.79 calling him ajasya rājñaḥ “King
Aja.”
Another,
and more interesting reason, is that in BC8.79 it suited Aśvaghoṣa's
ironic purpose to use the ambiguous phrase ajasya rājñas-tanayāya,
which ostensibly means “towards the son of King Aja” but which
might mean, below the surface, “towards the son of a non-hereditary
king.” If the meaning that was thus hidden below the surface had
not been hidden below the surface, one wonders if that subversive
meaning might have invited a sharp imperial sword to come down upon
Aśvaghoṣa's neck.
In
today's verse, as I read it, it serves Aśvaghoṣa's use of irony
that Daśaratha unambiguously means Daśaratha. The ambiguity in
today's verse centres not on who Daśaratha is but rather on who the
other king is.
In today's verse, we know who the
grief-gripped Daśaratha is; but who is the protector of men to whom
Daśaratha is being compared, or contrasted?
What
kind of king, today's verse, below the surface, causes us to ask,
might be similar
to
an unconscious king?
If
the 2nd
pāda of today's verse brings to my mind, as I sit in the quietness
of an early winter morning, the teaching of Gudo Nishijima, who was a
genius at going beyond right and wrong and getting on with it, just
doing it, cracking eggs and making an omelette, then the 4th
pāda of today's verse brings to my mind, as I sit in the quietness
of an early winter morning, the teaching of Marjory Barlow, who was a
genius in the area of consciousness.
“We become conscious,”
Marjory said, “by inhibiting unconscious behaviour.”
And after
seventy years of practice, she was very good at demonstrating what
she meant. I shall finish with one of her favourite Alexander quotes, quoted on
this blog many times before, which just about sums it all up:
"When an investigation comes to be made it will be found that every single thing we do in the work is exactly what is done in Nature, where the conditions are right, the difference being that we are learning to do it consciously."
VOCABULARY
iti:
thus
tanaya-viyoga-jāta-duḥkham
(acc. sg. n.): in sorrow born out of separation from his son
tanaya-viyoga-jāta-duḥkhaḥ
[EHJ] (nom. sg. m.): with suffering born out of separation from his
son; EHJ: “grieved over the separation from his son”
tanaya:
mfn. propagating a family , belonging to one's own family (often said
of toká) ; m. son ; n. posterity , family , race , offspring , child
(" grandchild " , opposed to toká , " child ")
viyoga:
m. disjunction , separation (esp. of lovers) , loss or absence or
want of (instr. with or with out saha abl. , or comp.) ; giving up ,
getting rid of , abstention from (comp.)
jāta:
mfn. born; happened , become , present , apparent , manifest;
duḥkha:
n. uneasiness , pain , sorrow , trouble , difficulty
kṣiti-sadṛśam
(acc. sg. n.): akin to the earth
kṣiti:
f. the earth , soil of the earth
sadṛśa:
mfn. like , resembling , similar to (gen. instr. , loc. , or comp.)
saha-jam
(acc. sg. n.): mfn. 'born together'; congenital , innate , hereditary
, original , natural
vihāya
= abs. vi- √ hā: to leave behind, relinquish ; to give up , cast
off , renounce , resign ; to get rid of or free from (acc.)
dhairyam
(acc. sg.): n. firmness , constancy , calmness , patience , gravity ,
fortitude , courage
daśarathaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. 'Having Ten Chariots'; N. of rāma's father
(descendant of ikṣvāku , sovereign of ayodhyā)
iva:
like
rāma-śoka-vaśyaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): subdued by grief for Rāma; humbled by black sorrow
rāma:
mfn, dark , dark-coloured , black ; m. N. of various mythical
personages
vaśya:
mfn. subdued , tamed , humbled ; being under control , obedient to
another's will , dutiful , docile , tame , humble , at the disposal
of (gen. or comp.)
bahu:
ind. much , very , abundantly , greatly , in a high degree ,
frequently , often ,
vilalāpa
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. vi- √ lap: to utter moaning
sounds , wail , lament , bewail ; to speak variously , talk , chatter
nṛ-paḥ:
m. protector/ruler of men, king
vi-saṁjña-kalpaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): as if unconsciously
vi-saṁjña:
mfn. unconscious ; bereft of sense , lifeless
kalpa:
m. (ifc.) having the manner or form of anything , similar to ,
resembling , like but with a degree of inferiority , almost
我素志力強 難動如大地
失子心躁亂 如昔十車王
失子心躁亂 如昔十車王
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