⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Premā)
kathaṁ
nu mohāyatanaṁ n-patvaṁ kṣamaṁ
prapattuṁ viduṣā nareṇa |
−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
sodvegatā
yatra madaḥ śramaś-ca parāpacāreṇa ca dharma-pīḍā || 9.40
9.40
How can kingship, as
the dwelling place of delusion,
Be fit to be entered by
a man of wisdom?
For there reside
perturbation, intemperance, and exhaustion;
And transgression
against dharma
through harsh treatment of others.
through harsh treatment of others.
COMMENT:
The 3rd pāda
of today's verse seems to cite three elements of the moha (EBC:
illusion; EHJ/PO: delusion) wherein the bodhisattva does not wish his
own mind and body to dwell. Those three elements are
The 4th pāda adds a less subjective element, related to the effect of the exercise of kingship on others.
- sodvegatā (EBC/PO: anxiety; EHJ: fearfulness),
- madaḥ (EBC: passion; EHJ: the intoxication of pride; PO: pride) and
- śramaḥ (EBC/EHJ: weariness; PO: fatigue).
The 4th pāda adds a less subjective element, related to the effect of the exercise of kingship on others.
According
to EHJ's footnote, the Abhidharma-kośa-śāstra written by Vasubandhu
(the 21st
Zen patriarch in the lineage in which Aśvaghoṣa is the 12th
and
Bodhidharma is the 28th) says that kings are incapable of saṁvara
(restraint / forbearance), because the maintenance of order requires
them to use personal violence against others (AK 3.91). The bodhisattva
appears to pick up this point again in BC9.48, with another
rhetorical question pointing to the incompatibility of the dharma of
kings and the dharma of freedom.
Below
the surface, is it possible to read today's verse as subverting this
ostensible meaning?
If I thought that was Aśvaghoṣa's intention, I would refer to Daikan Eno's teaching (see Shobogenzo chap. 17, Hokke-ten-hokke) on delusion and realization, the latter being a function of the former. I would consider also the suffering the Buddha brought down on Nanda in using skillful but nonetheless painful means to separate Nanda and his beautiful wife Sundarī.
Since today's verse is in the form of a question,
it is of course possible to read it as being not a rhetorical
assertion but an open question. From BC9.53, indeed, the king's
counsellor will attempt to respond to the bodhisattva's question as
if it were such, citing historical examples like the Śalva king
Druma and Antideva who proceeded from the forest to the throne.
As
I said at the beginning of this monologue, however, I think the tone
of the narrative has changed so that the bodhisattva is not now
speaking, as the prince was speaking before, as somebody who did not
see the deeper meaning in his own words. On the contrary, the
bodhisattva is speaking as one who knows his own mind, and whose mind
is made up. So when Aśvaghoṣa described this response of the
bodhisattva as praśritam (“full of secret meaning”; BC9.30), I think that this was not a pointer to the reader that we should seek
ironic hidden meaning. If the meaning of today's verse was hidden,
then I think the meaning was hidden from the king's clever
counsellor, but the meaning was not on this occasion hidden by
Aśvaghoṣa, through the use of irony, from us.
As a translation of the
title of the present canto, kumārānveṣaṇaḥ, my provisional
first choice so far is “The Seeking of a Prince,” which at least
has the merit of leaving it open whether the prince is the subject or
the object of the seeking. But on the evidence of a verse like
today's verse, a more meaningful translation would be “The Prince's
Investigation” or, better, but not so literally, “What the Prince
Had Unequivocally Decided.”
Finally, as I generally
ask myself as I sit in the morning having memorized a verse of
Aśvaghoṣa's poetry the day before, what has today's verse got to
say to a bloke who sits?
For a start the
bodhisattva's words might serve to remind a bodhisattva who sits of
the practical merits
- of balanced stillness (samādhi) as opposed to perturbation (sodvegatā);
- of small desire and complete contentment (alpecchu-saṁtuṣṭi) as opposed to intemperance (mada);
- of constancy and energy (dhṛti-vīrya) as opposed to exhaustion (śama).
At the same time, the
4th pāda might be a reminder that the successful
bodhisattva is one who avoids involvement with others (pareṣām
saṁsargam) like a thorn (kaṇṭakam-iva)...
kṛtārthaḥ sa
jñeyaḥ śama-sukha-rasa-jñaḥ kṛta-matiḥ
He is to be known as a
success, a knower of the taste of peace and ease,
whose mind is made up --
whose mind is made up --
pareṣāṃ saṃsargaṃ
pariharati yaḥ kaṇṭakam-iva // SN14.50 //
He avoids involvement
with others like a thorn.
VOCABULARY
katham:
how?
nu:
indeed (emphatic)
mohāyatanam
(acc. sg. n.): the seat of delusion
moha:
m. loss of consciousness , bewilderment , perplexity , distraction ,
infatuation , delusion , error , folly ; ignorance
muh:
to become stupefied or unconscious , be bewildered or perplexed , err
, be mistaken , go astray
ā-yatana:
n. resting-place , support , seat , place , home , house , abode
nṛ-pa-tvam
(acc. sg.): n. 'protector-of-men-ness'; royalty , dominion
kṣamam
(acc. sg. n.): mfn. fit , appropriate , becoming , suitable , proper
for (gen. dat. , loc. inf.)
prapattum
= infinitive pra- √ pad: to go forwards set out for , resort to ,
arrive at , attain , enter (with acc.); to fly to for succour , take
refuge with (acc.) ; to obtain , gain ; to adopt or embrace (a
doctrine)
viduṣā
(inst. sg.): mfn. one who knows , knowing , understanding , learned
, intelligent , wise , mindful of , familiar with , skilled in ; m. a
wise man , sage , seer
nareṇa
(inst. sg.): a man
sodvega-tā
(nom. sg. f.): agitation, fearfulness
sodvega:
mfn. agitated , disturbed , anxious , fearful
udvega:
m. trembling , waving , shaking; agitation , anxiety
yatra:
ind. where
madaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. hilarity , rapture , excitement , inspiration ,
intoxication
śramaḥ
(nom. sg.): fatigue , weariness , exhaustion
ca:
and
parāpacāreṇa
(inst. sg.): “by the mishandling of others” [EHJ];
para:
m. another (different from one's self) , a foreigner , enemy , foe ,
adversary
apacāra:
m. want , absence ; defect; fault , improper conduct , offence
apa:
ind. (as a prefix to nouns and verbs , expresses) away , off , back;
down ; When prefixed to nouns , it may sometimes = the neg. particle
a e.g. apa-bhī , fearless ; or may express deterioration ,
inferiority , &c (cf. apa-pāṭha)
cāra:
m. going , motion , progression , course ; practising
apa-
√ car: to depart; to act wrongly
paropacāreṇa [EBC]
(inst. sg.): “through another's service”
upacāra: m. approach ,
service , attendance
ca: and
dharma-pīḍā
(nom. sg.): f. transgression of law or duty
pīḍā:
f. pain , suffering , annoyance , harm , injury , violation , damage
; devastation ; obscuration , eclipse (of a planet)
終身常畏怖 思慮形神疲
順衆心違法 智者所不爲
順衆心違法 智者所不爲
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