⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑− Vaṁśastha
bhavec-ca
dharmo yadi nāparo vidhir-vratena
śīlena manaḥ-śamena vā
|
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
tathāpi
naivārhati sevituṁ kratuṁ viśasya yasmin param-ucyate phalam ||
11.66
11.66
And even without dharma
as an alternative code of conduct
Involving a vow of practice, moral
discipline,
or calming of the mind,
Still it would never be right to carry
out a sacrifice
In which a reward is said to follow
from slaughtering another creature.
COMMENT:
When it comes to the philosophy of
thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis, where the synthesis goes on to
form a new thesis, and so on, it may be true to say that there are no
absolutes, but all is but a woven web of guesses. Again, when science
is understood as a method in which propositions are at best accepted
as "not falsified, yet," then when it comes to scientific progress also,
it may be true to say that there are no absolutes, but all is but a woven web of guesses. Still, today's
verse as I read it reminds us, in the realm of actual practice, or in
reality, there are absolutes of a sort.
Absolutes, of course, reside easily in the
realm of religious moral certainty. But, the bodhisattva seems to be
saying in today's verse, even without that kind of moral certainty
associated with observance of vows, morality and contemplative
practice, still there are absolutes.
The bodhisattva tells us in the 1st
pāda that he sees dharmaḥ (EBC: “true religion;” EHJ: “the
true dharma”; PO: “dharma”) as aparo vidhiḥ (EBC: “quite
another rule of conduct;” EHJ: “a different rule of life”; PO:
“a different process.”
Aparaḥ can mean (when derived from
the prefix apa, “away”) other, another, different. Following this
meaning, dharma might be a rule for human conduct / life which is
different from blind following of animal instincts -- as an already well-fed cat
follows its instinct when it kills birds and mice seemingly for no
particular reason.
Aparaḥ can also mean (as para
prefixed by a-) “having nothing above it.” Following this
meaning, dharma might be a law above which there is no higher
authority, the rule of the Universe.
But the 2nd pāda seems to
confirm that what the bodhisattva has in mind is dharma as an
alternative or countervailing code – a code or set or rules which
causes the conduct of human life to be something other than blind
following of animal instincts.
Even leaving aside this higher rule for
living which stands opposed to instinctive blood lust, the bodhisattva seems to
be appealing to an a priori criterion, a criterion that
precedes anybody's conception of dharma – a criterion akin to 2 + 2
= 4. In these terms, to equate animal sacrifice with future reward
might be to act on the basis that 2 + 2 = 5 .
Beyond moral judgements of right and
wrong, in other words, some actions are just plain wrong – like
killing a cat for no good reason, or like wearing shoes on one's
head.
In terms of four phases, this
interpretation puts today's verse, as the third verse in a series of
four verses about sacrifices, in the 3rd phase – because at the
first phase, right and wrong is affirmed; at the second phase, there
is nothing right or wrong, but thinking makes it so; and at the third
phase the whole point is simply NOT TO DO wrong. In other words the
first two phases are thesis and anti-thesis, but the third phase is
just practical. To do or not to do – that is the question.
And at the fourth phase, as indicated
by the verses of Nāgārjuna's that I have been quoting a lot
recently, there is a very intimate relationship between not doing and
reality:
saṁsāra-mūlaṁ
saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ |
avidvān
kārakas tasmān na vidvāṁs tattva-darśanāt ||MMK26.10||
The
doings which are the root of saṁsāra
Thus
does the ignorant one do.
The
ignorant one therefore is the doer;
The
wise one is not,
because
of reality making itself known.
avidyāyāṁ
niruddhāyāṁ saṁskārāṇām asaṁbhavaḥ |
avidyāyā
nirodhas tu jñānasyāsyaiva bhāvanāt ||MMK26.11
In
the ceasing of ignorance,
There
is the non-coming-into-being of doings.
The
cessation of ignorance, however,
Is
because of the bringing-into-being of just this act of knowing.
In the 4th pāda,
incidentally, EBC took param with phalam (“the highest reward”).
EHJ, following Gawronski, took param to mean “another” i.e.
another living creature, as in yesterday's verse. The latter reading
does indeed seem on first glance to be the obvious one and, EHJ
informs us, it accords with the Tibetan translation. Still, in the
same way that apara in the 1st pāda could be taken to
mean “having nothing above it,” param in the 4th pāda
could be taken to mean “highest” so that paraṁ phalam meant
“the highest reward.” So even in a verse like today's verse,
whether Aśvaghoṣa intended it or not, words with their multiple
meanings make for ambiguity and uncertainty.
Such is poetry; and Aśvaghoṣa is
regarded as a poet, a crafter of high poetry. But the
ultimate point of Aśvaghoṣa's poetry, as was also the case with Dogen, is
always to point us towards just this act of knowing.
Just this act of knowing might
be a kind of absolute certainty.
Sometimes I like to watch Mike Tyson's
early fights, when he would use to devastating effect a right hook to
the body followed by an unseen right uppercut to the chin. His reign
as heavyweight supremo was impermanent, of course, but while it
lasted there was something absolute about it. He knew he was
going to win, and win he certainly did.
My paternal grandfather, a steelworker, would have
loved it if I had been a champion boxer. In the 1960s his big hero
was Howard Winston – I think he took me when I was very young to
watch Howard Winston train. “Got to be tough, see?” he would
frequently remind me. I'm not sure if dogged perseverance in
translating difficult poetry would necessarily have met his criterion
for toughness. I suspect it wouldn't.
Again a martial artist friend of mine
from 30 years ago, who persisted in devotion to many kata
(forms) after I decided to devote myself to only one, told me of
sparring with some great bruiser and knowing, with utter calmness,
that he could do anything he wanted to the big bruiser, but the big
bruiser could not touch him at all. For him, he told me, that inner quietness was the closest he had come to anything that might be called enlightenment.
I think that is the kind of knowing that
Nāgārjuna is talking about.
If I relate it to the sitting that I
have just been practising this morning, what it means to let the
neck be free, I do not know. But I know it is nothing specific.
What it means to let the head go forward and up, I do not
know. But I know it is not any kind of arrangement of the head on top
of the spine, and especially not by “tucking in the chin slightly.”
What it means to let the back lengthen and widen, I do not
know. But I know it is not to worry about symmetry. What it means to
send the knees forwards and away, I do not know. But I know it
does not mean to create extra tension in the lower abdominal region
(the hara or tanden) such that abdominal breathing has
to be practised as more of a conscious effort.
Tucking the chin in makes sense for a
sumo wrestler whose opponent would like to slap it; and tensing the
abdominal obliques makes a lot of sense for a martial artist who is
liable to be kicked or punched in that area, but those arenas are
arenas of great muscular effort, great physical doing. When it comes to just sitting upright in the lotus posture,
as the practice of non-doing, the main task is knowing, absolutely,
what not to do.
VOCABULARY
bhavet
= 3rd pers. sg. opt. bhū: to be
ca: and
dharmaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. dharma
yadi:
if
na: not
aparaḥ
(nom.sg. m.): 1. (a-para) mfn. having nothing beyond or after ,
having no rival or superior; 2.(fr. apa) , posterior other, another ;
different ; distant, opposite
vidhiḥ
(nom. sg.): m. a rule , formula , injunction , ordinance , statute ,
precept , law , direction ; method , manner or way of acting , mode
of life , conduct , behaviour
vratena
(inst. sg.): n. a religious vow or practice , any pious observance ,
meritorious act of devotion or austerity , solemn vow , rule , holy
practice
śīlena
(inst. sg.): habit , custom , usage , natural or acquired way of
living or acting , practice , conduct ; with Buddhists śīla , "
moral conduct " , is one of the 6 or 10 perfections or pāramitās
[q.v.]
manaḥ-śamena
(inst. sg.): m. tranquillity of mind
vā: or
tathā:
ind. likewise, so
api:
even
na: not
eva:
(emphatic)
arhati
= 3rd pers. sg. arh: to ought
sevitum
= infinitive sev: to resort to (acc.): to devote or apply one's self
to , cultivate , study , practise , use , employ , perform , do
kratum
(acc. sg.): m. a sacrificial rite or ceremony , sacrifice (as the
aśva-medha sacrifice) , offering , worship (also personified R.
viśasya
= abs. vi- √ śas: to cut up , dissect , cut down , slaughter ,
immolate , kill , destroy
yasmin
(loc. sg.): in which, wherein
param
[EBC] (nom. sg. n.): mfn. superior , best , highest , supreme , chief
param
[EHJ] (acc. sg.): m. the other [EHJ: another; PO: another being]
ucyate
= 3rd pers. sg. passive vac: to say
phalam
(nom. sg.): n. fruit, result
若無戒聞慧 修禪寂靜者
不應從世間 祠祀設大會
