tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post7035209874586673846..comments2024-02-06T22:19:13.028-08:00Comments on Mining Aśvaghoṣa's Gold: BUDDHACARITA 13.9: When Up! Is a Poisoned Word Mike Crosshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-77964816085730224792014-12-14T01:34:42.900-08:002014-12-14T01:34:42.900-08:00So far, Malcolm, I'm afraid I've clarified...So far, Malcolm, I'm afraid I've clarified sod all to anybody! <br /><br />If you notice anybody starting to translate saṁskārāḥ as "doings," please let me know, and I will stand corrected. Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-10454237383246897312014-12-13T16:07:16.848-08:002014-12-13T16:07:16.848-08:00"Since dharma includes such a wide variety of..."Since dharma includes such a wide variety of meanings, the safest bet is generally just to translate it as dharma in every case. In this I agree with PO." <br /><br />I'm not sure I agree with that, Mike. <br /><br />I may be underestimating your readership's knowledge of Sanskrit, but there must be a few unfamiliar with the use of 'dharma' to mean [a caste-member's] duty. Might they not wonder what dharma (*law/truth/practice*?) the Buddha is following if not his own, engaged as he is in sitting still under that tree, by himself? And might they not wonder why Māra would (apparently) be exhorting him to carry on with it? <br /><br />Whatever, we've clarified it now, so all's good...as long as said imaginary readers read the comments! <br /><br />It's tricky this translation business, no?Malcolm Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07695792204679760604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-31117310122349909842014-12-13T14:30:08.171-08:002014-12-13T14:30:08.171-08:00Hi Malcolm,
Yes, for sure, I hear "Follow y...Hi Malcolm, <br /><br />Yes, for sure, I hear "Follow your own dharma" as including that meaning. <br /><br />EHJ translated as "Follow your own dharma" and PO as "Follow the dharma that's your own." <br /><br />EBC sometimes translates dharma as "duty" (hence "Follow thine own duty") and sometimes as "religion." I find the latter translation always problematic. <br /><br />Since dharma includes such a wide variety of meanings, the safest bet is generally just to translate it as dharma in every case. In this I agree with PO. <br /><br />The point in today's verse is to contrast two dharmas, and two value systems. This contrast is picked up in tomorrow's verse. <br /><br />So EBC's translation of dharma as "[thine own] duty" and "[this] law [of liberation]" is not so helpful. It obscures the contrast between two dharmas. <br /><br />One dharma is the dharma of a warrior, encompassing his duty, his rules of engagement, his chivalric code, and all the rest of it, which Māra affirms, as a means of rising to the top of the greasy pole. <br /><br />The other is the dharma of liberation, to which Māra stands opposed, seeming to denigrate it as the way of a loser. <br /><br />I did wonder whether to put liberation in quotation marks, to give the sense of Māra using the word "liberation" sneeringly... in much the same way as I would like to put quotation marks around "religion." Mike Crosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12712396374023835678noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7296606518210633585.post-84303734462068427562014-12-13T04:43:20.478-08:002014-12-13T04:43:20.478-08:00Hi Mike,
Do you not hear Māra's 'cara sva...Hi Mike,<br /><br />Do you not hear Māra's 'cara sva-dharmaṁ' as 'Do your duty!' - the dharma/duty any obedient kṣatriya warrior was expected to recognise and unquestioningly submit to (says the Bhagavadgita &c)? I don't have EHJ's or PO's translations of Buddhcarita, but I see that's how EBC translates it. (Or) is there an alternative direction which 'Follow your own dharma' is intended to indicate?Malcolm Mhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07695792204679760604noreply@blogger.com