−⏑−−¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑−
anna-kāleṣu
caikaikaiḥ sa kola-tila-taṇḍulaiḥ |
⏑−⏑−¦⏑−−−¦¦−−−⏑¦⏑−⏑−
apāra-pāra-saṁsāra-pāraṁ
prepsur apārayat || 12.96
12.96
At mealtimes,
With
jujube fruits, sesame seeds,
and grains of rice, one
by one,
In his quest for the
far end of saṁsāra,
where there is no end
to ends,
He kept himself alive.
COMMENT:
The word-play in the phrase apāra-pāra-saṁsāra-pāram prepsuḥ
can be understood in many more ways than one way.
EBC
went with “longing to cross (pāram prepsuḥ) the world whose
farther shore (pāra) is so difficult to reach (apāra).”
EHJ translated
“yearning to reach the further shore (pāram
prepsuḥ) of the cycle of transmigration whose further shore
(pāra) is unbounded (apāra).”
And PO “the farther shore (pāram) of saṁsāra, the shore (pāra) that has no further shore (apāra), yearning to reach (prepsuḥ)...”
My understanding of
the phrase, and my translation, are influenced by the Zen teaching
of polishing a tile, and at the same time by Alexander work.
In Alexander work, the
“end-gaining” mind is the mind that looks directly ahead to the far shore which is the gaining of an end, and in so looking fails to give due
attention to the means or the process or the way.
End-gaining, therefore,
might be said to be the very essence of ignorance. And to put an end
to end-gaining might be to stop the doings which are the root of
saṁsāra.
But if, wanting to be
Buddha, and trying to be Buddha, the end-gaining mind turns “putting
an end to end-gaining” into an end to be gained, then...
saṁsāra-mūlaṁ saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ
The doings which are
the root of saṁsāra thus does the dopey one do.
What is the way out of
this bind?
One way might be to cut
some wood for the fire, with all due care and attention.
Another way
might be to have a nap.
A way I have been
playing with on this blog these past six years is to treat as an end
in itself the next step, the next pāda, or singly -- one
by one (ekaikam) -- the next series of four footsteps.
The above, by the way,
is one example of how writing these verbose comments sometimes has
the redeeming merit of helping me understand the verse better.
Because it was not until I came to write the preceding paragraph that I was hit by the significance in the 1st pāda of today's verse of the adverbial ekaikaiḥ, one by one.
Over
the summer, I watched (and heard) Frederique the exacting (Fr:
exigeant) builder erect an extension to my neighbour's house. The
work cost my neighbour an arm and a leg and caused me to plan my day
around the noise, so that I would sit once in the early morning before
building work started, once at lunchtime, once straight after work
finished for the day, and once later in the evening. Frederique first built the
inner walls using concrete blocks and then, for the exterior
stonework, used two powerful angle grinders (an electric one that was
just about bearable and a petrol one that called for ear protection
even from 30 yards away) to cut each stone, and each lintel, singly,
one by one. And by the end of the summer he had built an extension,
with really beautiful stonework, that will probably still be standing
in 400 years time.
So
here again, I think, in work that proceeds singly, one step at a time -- ekaikam -- there might be a means.
Here
might be a means.
syād
upāyo' yam (BC12.94).
And
where there might be a means, Māra might quake in his boots, knowing
that the game for him might soon be up.
VOCABULARY
anna-kāleṣu
(loc. pl.): m. meal-time , proper hour for eating
ca:
and
ekaikaiḥ
(inst. pl.): mfn. one by one , single
sa
(nom. sg. m.): he
kola-tila-taṇḍulaiḥ
(inst. pl.): with jujube fruit, sesame seed, and grain of rice
sa
(possessive prefix)
kola:
n. the fruit of the jujube
tila:
m. Sesamum indicum (its blossom is compared to the nose Gi1t. x ,
14 Sin6ha7s. ; cf. -puṣpa) , sesamum seed (much used in cookery ;
supposed to have originated from viṣṇu's sweat-drops)
taṇḍula:
m. grain (after threshing and winnowing) , esp. rice
apāra-pāra-saṁsāra-pāram
(acc. sg. n.): the end of saṁsāra, where ends are endless
apāra-pāra:
mfn. carrying over the boundless sea (of life) VP; whose farther
shore is difficult to be reached, Bcar. xii, 93.
apāra:
mfn. not having an opposite shore ; not having a shore , unbounded ,
boundless; difficult to be got at ; m. " not the opposite bank "
, the bank on this side (of a river); n. the boundless sea.
pāra:
n. the further bank or shore or boundary , any bank or shore , the
opposite side , the end or limit of anything ; m. crossing ;
prepsuḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. desiring to attain
apārayat
= 3rd pers. sg. causative imperfect (1) pṛ: to bring
over or out , rescue , protect , save , preserve , keep alive ; or
(2) pṝ: to fill
日食一麻米 形體極消羸
欲求度未度 重惑逾更沈
欲求度未度 重惑逾更沈
No comments:
Post a Comment