⏑−−⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦−−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑− pathyā
Śloka
tato
māra-balaṁ jitvā dhairyeṇa
ca śamena ca |
⏑⏑−−¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑−−−¦⏑−⏑−
paramārthaṁ
vijijñāsuḥ sa dadhyau dhyāna-kovidaḥ || 14.1
14.1
And so, having conquered Māra's army
By the means of constancy and
quietness,
Wanting to know the ultimate,
He who was skilled in meditation
meditated.
COMMENT:
Again the point is emphasized that the
bodhisattva has attained victory over Māra not by doing something
born of ignorance, not by reacting, not by fighting, but on the
contrary by the means of sticking to the principle of non-violent
non-doing.
Before translating BC Canto 13, I wrote
of looking forward to descriptions in Canto 13 of the bodhisattva
“kicking Māra's ass.” Looking back now, having translated the
Canto, I see that wording as, ahem, somewhat misguided. The real point is rather
that the bodhisattva left Māra to kick his own ass – hence the
juxtaposition of dviṣatā and dviṣat in BC13.71, suggesting a
situation in which a hostile force is done in by its own hostility.
The bodhisattva has conquered Māra's
army, in short, simply by the peacable act of sitting. But this defeat of
Māra, evidently, he did not regard as accomplishment of the task.
Rather, having conquered Māra's army, the bodhisattva wanted to know
paramārtham, highest meaning, the supreme truth, the ultimate thing (EBC: the supreme end;
EHJ: the ultimate reality) – in short, the ultimate.
In
the 4th
pāda I have translated sa... dhyāna-kovidaḥ as “he who was
skilled in meditation.” The same words
could equally literally be translated “he the Zen master” (EBC:
he the great master of meditation; EHJ: he, the master of trance).
Any way up, whether we translate sa... dhyāna-kovidaḥ as "he, being skilled in meditation," or as "he, being a Zen master," the implication of today's verse is that being those things is not the ultimate. What the ultimate is Aśvagahoṣa revealed to us in the latter part of the present Canto. But since the Sanskrit for that part is lost, probably thanks to zealous invaders from the west, we will have to do our best to work it out for ourselves, using Nāgārjuna as a close point of reference. Let us hope it proves to be a case of being given lemons and making lemonade.
VOCABULARY
tataḥ:
ind. then
māra-balam
(acc. sg. m.): Māra's army
jitvā
= abs. ji: to conquer
dhairyeṇa
(inst. sg.): firmness, steadfastness, constancy
ca: and
śamena
(inst. sg.): calmness, tranquillity
ca: and
paramārtham
(acc. sg.): m. the highest or whole truth
parama:
mfn. chief , highest , primary , most prominent or conspicuous ; best
, most excellent
artha:
mn. cause, purpose ; thing, object ; sense , meaning
vijijñāsuḥ
(nom. sg. m.): being desirous of knowing
vi- √
jñā: to distinguish , discern , observe , investigate , recognize
, ascertain , know , understand
sa
(nom. sg. m.): he
dadhyau
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. dhyā / dhyai: to think of , imagine
, contemplate , meditate on , call to mind , recollect ; (alone) to
be thoughtful or meditative
dhyāna-kovidaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): being skilled in meditating
kovida:
mfn. ( √vid, to know, understand) experienced , skilled , learned
in (loc. gen. , or ifc. e.g. aśva-kovida , "skilled in horses")
菩薩降魔已 志固心安隱
求盡第一義 入於深妙禪
求盡第一義 入於深妙禪
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