BUDDHACARITA 13.55: Māra Does More

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Chāyā)

bhayāvahebhyaḥ pariṣad-gaṇebhyo yathā yathā naiva munir bibhāya |

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

tathā tathā dharma-bhtāṁ sapatnaḥ śokāc ca roṣāc ca sasāra māraḥ || 13.55

13.55

The less the sage was afraid

Of the fear-inducing mobs assembled there,

The more did Māra, the enemy of upholders of dharma,

Out of sorrow and out of rage, attack.

COMMENT:

EHJ notes that the old Nepalese manuscript's sasāra ("he attacked"; EBC: "he continued his attack") in the 4^th pāda is hopeless. The Chinese translation, EHJ asserts further, clearly indicates sasāda (EHJ: "he was cast down"). 

I am not inclined to agree with EHJ on either of these counts.

With sasāda, the translation might be:

The less the sage was afraid of the fear-inducing mobs assembled there, / The more cast down, in his sorrow and rage, was Māra, the enemy of upholders of dharma. //

In the context, however, and especially looking ahead to tomorrow's verse, a verb seems to be called for which expresses repeated active trying rather than emotional negativity. So I prefer sasāra ("he attacked") to sasāda  ("he was cast down").

And the Chinese translation seems to me to offer no clue either way.

So, again, I prefer sasāra to sasāda. And the point might be that the demon-king Māra is a typical doer, a paragon of dopey doing. He is a typical doer in that the less his doing works, the more he is inclined to do.

saṁsāra-mūlaṁ saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ

The doings which are the root of saṁsāra thus does the dopey one do.

Contrast the wisdom in Marjory Barlow's teaching aphorism, “When successful, do less!”

saṁsāra-mūlaṁ saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ

The doings which are the root of saṁsāra thus does the dopey one do.

The doings which are the root of saṁsāra thus does the ignorant one do.

The reason I keep coming back to this sentence of Nāgārjnuna is that I have a sense, as touched on yesterday, that my whole life has been for the purpose of translating this one sentence. Rugby, karate-do, sitting-zen, and Alexander work, have all been an arrow pointing to this one sentence. 

Rugby tends to involve a lot of heavy lifting, especially in the forwards, but it also has its non-doing aspect, for example in not retaliating -- or at least, waiting for an opportune moment to retaliate within the laws of the game (or, failing that, to retaliate when the referee is not watching!). 

Karate-do, certainly compared with gentler ways such as aikido and tai-chi, also tends to involve a lot of physical effort, but in karate maybe more than in rugby the principle of non-doing is consciously to the fore. In tournament fighting, especially, waiting for a chance to counter-punch gave me my first real taste of the principle that I would come to study in Alexander work as "conscious inhibition." But also in practice of kata (traditional forms), karate practitioners talk of a point in which you don't do the kata, but the kata does you. And here might be the essence of Zen in the martial arts. 

In both sitting-zen and Alexander work, the very essence of the practice is NOT TO DO. But in sitting-zen as it has been taught in Japan in recent years, a lot of unnecessary doing has crept in. 

Thus, when my Zen teacher opined, "If AT is the same as Buddhism, it is not necessary for me to study it; and if AT is different from Buddhism, I don't have any interest in studying it," that was just my Zen teacher's ignorance expressing itself. On that point, he was dead wrong. My Zen teacher ought to have studied in more detail what Alexander's teaching makes clear -- that the whole idea of "correct sitting posture" achieved by doing this, that, and the other, is sheer ignorance. 

saṁsāra-mūlaṁ saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ

The doings which are the root of saṁsāra thus does the dopey one do.

The reason I keep coming back to this sentence of Nāgārjuna, again, is that I have a sense that my whole life has been for the purpose of translating this sentence. Studying at school not only the truths of mathematics and the fallacies of classical economics, but studying also French, Spanish, and Latin; and then translating Shobogenzo from Japanese to English; and more recently translating Aśvaghoṣa's epic poems from Sanskrit to English, have all been an arrow pointing to these 16-syllables of Nāgārjuna's verse. 

saṁsāra-mūlaṁ saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ

The doings which are the root of saṁsāra thus does the dopey one do.

The essence of the Buddha's teaching of sitting-meditation is simply NOT TO DO. 

As is said so often in karate training, mo ichi do. One more time: 

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 allowing-into-being of just this act of knowing.

tasya tasya nirodhena tat-tan nābhipravartate |

duḥkha-skandhaḥ kevalo 'yam evaṁ samyaṅ nirudhyate ||MMK26.12

By the destruction of each 
[of the 12 links beginning with ignorance and doings],

Each is discontinued.

This whole edifice of suffering

Is thus well and truly demolished.

VOCABULARY

bhayāvahebhyaḥ (abl. pl. m.): mfn. bringing fear or danger , formidable , fearful

bhaya: n. fear , alarm, dread, apprehension

bhayāvaha: mfn. bringing fear or danger , formidable , fearful

āvaha: mfn. bringing , bringing to pass , producing

pariṣad-gaṇebhyaḥ (abl. pl. m.): the assembled multitudes

pariṣad: f. an assembly , meeting , group , circle

pari-√sad: to sit around

gaṇa: m. a flock , troop , multitude

yathā yathā: ind. in whatever manner

na: not

eva: (emphatic)

muniḥ (nom. sg.): m. the sage

bibhāya = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. bhī: to fear , be afraid

tathā tathā: ind. in that manner

dharma-bhṛtām (gen. pl.): m. " law-supporter " , N. of princes and other men

sapatnaḥ (nom. sg.): m. (fr. sa-patnī, rival mistress) a rival , adversary , enemy

śokāt (abl. sg.): n. sorrow, grief

ca: and

roṣāt (abl. sg.) m. anger , rage , wrath , passion , fury

ca: and

sasāra = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. sṛ: to run , flow , speed , glide , move , go (with vā́jam , or ājim , " to run a race " i.e. " exert one's self "); to blow (as wind); to run after , pursue (acc.) ; to go against , attack , assail

sasāda [EHJ] = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. sad: to sit down (esp. at a sacrifice) ; to sink down , sink into despondency or distress , become faint or wearied or dejected or low-spirited , despond , despair , pine or waste away , perish

māraḥ (nom. sg.): m. Māra

如是等魔衆 種種醜類身
作種種惡聲 欲恐怖菩薩
不能動一毛 諸魔悉憂慼 

[Roughly summarizes verses 50 - 55]