−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Bhadrā)
vahneś-ca
toyasya ca nāsti saṁdhiḥ śaṭhasya satyasya ca nāsti saṁdhiḥ
|
−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
āryasya
pāpasya ca nāsti saṁdhiḥ śamasya
daṇḍasya ca nāsti saṁdhiḥ || 9.47(b)
9.47 (b)
There is no combining
fire and water.
Nor can falsity and
truthfulness co-exist.
There is no
compatibility between what is noble and what is wicked.
Nor are pacification
and punishment reconcilable.
COMMENT:
This verse is
originally verse 48 in the old Nepalese manuscript, but EHJ omitted
it from his devanāgarī text proper and from his translation.
Including the romanized text in a footnote to verse 47, EHJ called
the verse spurious, mainly on the basis that the verse was not
included in the Chinese
translation.
In a footnote to his
English translation EHJ added further:
The verse I omit
after this verse cannot be genuine; it is unlike the rest of the
passage or the poet's style, and repeats the simile of verse 49. Nor
would C [the Chinese translator]
omit so moral a verse, if he had had it in his text.
So much for the case
for the prosecution – a case which is weakened, as I see it, by the
general unreliability of the Chinese translation.
The case for the
defence is firstly that the Tibetan
translation evidently does include the above verse – in the Tibetan
translation, according to EHJ, it appears after verse 49.
Secondly,
leaving aside stylistic niceties, the content of the four pādas
does seem to follow a four-phased philosophical progression which is
characteristic of Zen patriarchs like Dogen and Aśvaghoṣa. Hence:
The
1st
pāda introduces the general principle of incompatibility with
reference to a widely recognized conception, which is that fire
causes water to dry up, and water extinguishes fire, so that that the
two cannot easily co-exist.
The
2nd
pāda is antithetical to the first in that it takes a principle
observed in the material world and applies it to the immaterial
world, i.e. the world of the human mind.
The
3rd
pāda can be read as expressing the practical phase, wherein our task
is not to do any wrong, but to practise what is good; or not to do
anything wicked, but to do actions that are noble.
And
in the 4th
pāda, if we accept this verse as genuine, the bodhisattva gets to
the point. The point, as will be clarified in tomorrow's verse, is
that the dharma the bodhisattva is pursuing is the dharma of
liberation in which peace is paramount; whereas the dharma the
bodhisattva is shunning is the dharma of kings, in which coercive and
violent punishment, symbolized by the rod, is paramount.
VOCABULARY
vahneḥ
(gen. sg.): m. any animal that draws or bears along , a draught
animal , horse , team ; any one who conveys or is borne along
(applied to a charioteer or rider , or to various gods , esp. to agni
, indra , savitṛ , the maruts &c ) ; N. of soma (as " the
flowing or streaming one ") ; the conveyer or bearer of
oblations to the gods (esp. said of agni , " fire " , or of
the three sacrificial fires); fire (in general or " the god of
fire ")
ca:
and
toyasya
(gen. sg.): n. water
ca:
and
na:
not
asti:
there is
saṁdhiḥ
(nom. sg.): m. junction , connection , combination , union with
(instr.); m. interstice , crevice , interval ; m. agreement ; m.
alliance , league , reconciliation , peace between (gen.)
śaṭhasya
(gen. sg.): mfn. false , deceitful , fraudulent , malignant , wicked
; m. a cheat , rogue (esp. a false husband or lover , who pretends
affection for one female while his heart is fixed on another)
satyasya
(gen. sg.): mfn. true , real , actual , genuine , sincere , honest ,
truthful ; n. truth , reality; n. speaking the truth , sincerity ,
veracity
ca:
and
na:
not
asti:
there is
saṁdhiḥ
(nom. sg.): m. compatibility
āryasya
(gen. sg.): mfn. behaving like an Aryan , worthy of one , honourable
, respectable , noble; m. a respectable or honourable or faithful man
, an inhabitant of āryāvarta; a man highly esteemed , a respectable
, honourable man
pāpasya
(gen. sg): mfn. bad , vicious , wicked , evil , wretched , vile ,
low; m. a wicked man , wretch , villain
ca:
and
na:
not
asti:
there is
saṁdhiḥ
(nom. sg.): m. compatibility
śāmasya
(gen. sg. m.): mfn. appeasing , curing , having curative properties
śamasya
[EHJ] (gen. sg.): m. tranquillity , calmness , rest , equanimity ,
quietude or quietism , absence of passion , abstraction from eternal
objects through intense meditation ; Quietism or Tranquillity ; peace
; tranquillization , pacification , allayment , alleviation ,
cessation , extinction ; alleviation or cure of disease
daṇḍasya
(gen. sg.): m. a stick , staff , rod , pole , cudgel , club ; the
rod as a symbol of judicial authority and punishment , punishment
(corporal , verbal , and fiscal ; chastisement and imprisonment ,
reprimand , fine)
ca:
and
na:
not
asti:
there is
saṁdhiḥ
(nom. sg.): m. compatibility
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