tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post1459877905980834831..comments2024-02-06T22:19:13.028-08:00Comments on Mining Aśvaghoṣa's Gold: SAUNDARANANDA 3.24: Thermodynamic RealityMike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-71634408869074562872009-01-24T09:16:00.000-08:002009-01-24T09:16:00.000-08:00Thanks, Jordan. Your comment gave me a welcome chu...Thanks, Jordan. Your comment gave me a welcome chuckle.<BR/>MikeMike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-33008188158479393822009-01-24T08:54:00.000-08:002009-01-24T08:54:00.000-08:00I have a preference for harness, only because "Yok...I have a preference for harness, only because "Yoke" brings on an image of an egg.SlowZenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589294912054724123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-36200792255100932922009-01-23T10:16:00.000-08:002009-01-23T10:16:00.000-08:00Hi Chris,I take your point -- I would have liked t...Hi Chris,<BR/><BR/>I take your point -- I would have liked to use the word "yoke" whose etymological roots are probably closely related to the Sanskrit yug. But for me a yoke suggests joining together of two elements. Actually, Ashvaghosha's intention might have been like that...<BR/><BR/><STRONG>In one yoke, he glowed like a fire,<BR/><BR/>And passed water like a cloud.<BR/><BR/>Radiating light like molten gold, <BR/><BR/>He shone like a cloud set aglow,<BR/>by the breaking of day, or dusk. </STRONG><BR/><BR/>But my sense was that the first three lines are joined together, in one harness, like three huskies pulling a sleigh, and that the fourth line stands alone. This sense comes largely from the experience of translating four-line poems in Shobogenzo, in many of which the fourth line brings together elements of the previous three lines -- suggesting the Truth as one big inclusive bowl of soup. <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure if anybody else will be going back over this post of two weeks ago, but if anybody is reading it, would be interested to hear people's preference...Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-20203138060936624852009-01-23T09:40:00.000-08:002009-01-23T09:40:00.000-08:00Concerning the translation of yugapad: for this re...Concerning the translation of yugapad: for this reader (quite ignorant of Sanskrit), "harness" emphasizes a controlling connection between two DIFFERENT things (as beast and man), whereas "yoke" connotes an inseparable connection between two LIKE things (as oxen). The latter would seem to accord better with the remainder of this strophe in your fine translation.Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17319025390468842881noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-49108627842177452442009-01-07T14:58:00.000-08:002009-01-07T14:58:00.000-08:00I don't know, Jordan, but I agree with what Linda ...I don't know, Jordan, but I agree with what Linda Covill writes in her excellent introduction to Saundarananda -- you get the sense that Ashvaghosha had lived a full life and was no shrinking violet himself. <BR/><BR/>And there seems to us to be no shortage of iconoclastic content to dig out of Line 2s. Unless it is only us seeing, through clouded eyes, some flowers in the sky?Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-69319977690360740302009-01-07T14:21:00.000-08:002009-01-07T14:21:00.000-08:00Reading this verse again this afternoon brought on...Reading this verse again this afternoon brought on a spontaneous flash back:<BR/><BR/>During pre-deployment work ups a few years back I was playing the role of the aggressor for the Marine expeditionary unit I was stationed with at the time. I recall being set up in the field “Strapped in” to my gear, Pissing (and pooping) on a hill side, feeling proud of my Marines, appreciating the California sunset.<BR/><BR/>Not likely the point Ashvaghosha was trying to make, but oh well.SlowZenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589294912054724123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-51020154311283638062009-01-07T11:16:00.000-08:002009-01-07T11:16:00.000-08:00P.S. I went back this evening and re-jigged the ve...P.S. I went back this evening and re-jigged the verse so it read more simply, and decided to go with "passing water" instead of "releasing water."Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-1595153152835314512009-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:002009-01-07T09:44:00.000-08:00Thanks for the feedback, Jordan. Good to know we a...Thanks for the feedback, Jordan. <BR/><BR/>Good to know we are singing from the same hymn sheet. <BR/><BR/>MikeMike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-47253004091072008742009-01-07T09:15:00.000-08:002009-01-07T09:15:00.000-08:00I got the same thing on the "Passing water like a ...I got the same thing on the "Passing water like a cloud", gave me a nice chuckle this morning, just when I needed it!<BR/><BR/>Thanks,<BR/>JordanSlowZenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10589294912054724123noreply@blogger.com