BUDDHACARITA 1.82: The Meaning of a Rite of Birth

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−− Puṣpitāgrā

nara-patir-api putra-janma-tuṣṭo viṣaya-gatāni vimucya bandhanāni |

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kula-sadṛśam-acīkarad-yathāvat-priya-tanayas tanayasya jāta-karma || 1.82

1.82
Even the king, delighted at the birth of a son,

Loosened his ties to worldly objects

Whereupon, in a manner befitting his nobility,

He performed for his son, out of love for his son,
a rite of birth.

COMMENT:
The 2nd pāda of today's verse conveys two totally different meanings. In order to grasp which one of the meanings is the primary one intended, therefore, some digging is necessary.

The Chinese translator went with "he issued a universal pardon throughout his kingdom, that all prisoners should be set free” (大赦於天下 牢獄悉解脱). As we saw in EHJ's response to the Chinese translation of yesterday's verse (or the lack of such a translation, in EHJ's view), EHJ probably had a scholar's tendency to give too much credence to a revered ancient text. (Just because a text is ancient and revered does not necessarily mean it is to be trusted.) Thus EHJ translated the 2nd pāda according to the Chinese translation as “threw open all the prisons in his realm.” PO followed EHJ in translating “threw open the prisons within his realm.”

EBC in his Editio Princeps translated “having thrown off all those bonds called worldly objects.” And EHJ in a footnote acknowledges that the 2nd pāda has a second sense of “loosening the bonds of the objects of sense.”

It is unlikely that the ambiguity of the 2nd pāda was accidental, and so Aśvaghoṣa must have intended us to consider both meanings.

Such consideration leads me to think that Aśvaghoṣa's ulterior motive was to cause us to consider the relation between, on the one hand, attachment to worldly objects and, on the other hand, the practice of a ceremony like a birth rite or baptism, which is generally associated with religion.

Certainly there is no sense in Aśvaghoṣa's writing of the hostility towards religion which I am tempted to express on perceiving that people fail to understand a verse like yesterday's verse because they approach it with the assumption that sādhu must mean a “saint” or a “holy man.” The MW dictionary does in fact define sādhu as “a holy man, saint, sage, seer” but before that MW defines sādhu simply “a good or virtuous or honest man,” a bloke who is straight and true. And it is in this primary, simple sense of an honest man that Aśvaghoṣa uses the term in Saundara-nanda Canto 10:

And so the Sugata, the One Gone Well, seeing Nanda wandering in the darkness called "wife," / Took his hand and flew up into the sky, wishing to take him up -- like an honest man in the water bearing up a pearl. // 10.3 //

Undeniably there is in me some almost Dawkins-like distaste for religion. In Richard Dawkins' case the distaste seems to be linked at least partially to a justifiable disdain for creationists and the like who cling against all the evidence to a literal belief in what the Bible says. That is one of the grounds for hating religion: the tendency to rely on belief as opposed to evidence. This tendency is not only unscientific, it is also tied up with fixing and arrogance – wishing to believe that “I/we am/are right,” as opposed to the more fluid and modest acceptance of a hypothesis, provisionally, as not proven wrong, yet.

In my responses to Dorella's comment yesterday (just in case anybody out there who is still on the nursery slopes of irony thought I was serious) I was playing with this religious attitude, which tends frequently to crop up among academics who suppose themselves to be men of science but who truly do not wish any view of their own ever to be falsified. The truth is that Dorella, using her own spade, dug out something from yesterday's verse which I had missed -- i.e., the son referred to in yesterday's verse seems on the surface obviously to mean the new-born prince of the Śākyas, but digging deeper it might also refer to the King of the Śākyas himself. Nice one, Dorella. I shall discuss an appropriate honour later in this comment.

Following the logic of today's verse, as I have translated it, when a bloke like Richard Dawkins, or yours truly, lets it be known that he would not give the steam off his piss for religion, this attitude of outright hostility to all things religious is likely to be linked to an attachment to a worldly object. If such attachment to a worldly object is loosened, today's verse seems to suggest, it might be possible even for His Non-Holiness Richard Dawkins or the Right Irreverend Mike Cross to tolerate the wetting of a baby's head.

I don't know about Richard Dawkins, but when I test out this logic on myself, I can't deny the tendency strongly to attach to a worldly object. Maybe that's why the birth of my two sons was never marked by any kind of rite, at least not on my part. Sorry chaps. At that time of my life, 20 years ago, I was working pretty much flat out on the worldly object which was the publication of the Editio Princeps of Dogen's Shobogenzo in English. (The Wiki entry on Shobogenzo says that there are three complete English translations. In fact there are four; the first, which Gudo Nishijima did all by himself, he completed shortly after I arrived in Japan. I mention this because EHJ nods or bows to EBC's translation of Buddhacarita as the Editio Princeps. And EHJ, from his experience translating Saundara-nanda, doubtless understood that the first, ground-breaking effort, is a hard one.)

Besides disliking  religious arrogance -- via the mirror principle -- I tend to be irritated by what I see as the relative insincerity of ceremonial behaviour, as opposed, for example, to sporting endeavour. And yet, at times like birth, marriage, and death, not to mention birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, retirements, and so on, many human beings -- even irreligious ones – like to have some kind of ceremony. Even sports men and women, when the team they play in wins a cup, or when they win a medal, invariably have some kind of presentation ceremony, accompanied by speeches, shaking of hands with dignitaries, fireworks, spraying of champagne, playing of national anthems, et cetera. 

Is this liking for ceremonies distinctively human? Do other intelligent beings, like chimpanzees, bonobos, dolphins and whales, naturally engage in ceremonial-type behaviour? When a dolphin dies, do other dolphins hold something like a funeral?

A google search yields evidence of a dolphin mother mourning her dead baby dolphin. But more pertinent for the purposes of the present investigation is this clip of african elephants surveying the bones of an elephant matriarch in what appears to be a ritual manner -- insofar as the elephants are following ancient forms as a natural expression of reverence and grief for their dead matriarch.

In writing the above comment, I almost pursuaded myself to translate jāta-karma as “a religious rite of birth.” But on consulting the dictionary definition of rite as “a solemn ceremony or procedure customary to a community, especially a religious group,” I think that there is no need to hammer the point home by adding the word religious. “A rite of birth” hits the target for jāta-karma; and what the elephants are demonstrating in the video clip seems to be a rite of death, but not necessarily a rite that needs to be called "religious."

We usually think that animals, lacking self-consciousness and the power of thinking, are tied more automatically than we human beings are to objects in the sensory sphere. But the behaviour of the elephants suggests it is not always necessarily so.

Maybe if I were less attached to worldly objects, like gold bullion for example, or being number one in my chosen sphere, I would have more time, like the king, or like the elephants, for beautiful ceremonies with flowers, incense, sprinkling of water, sutra-chanting, forming of a circle, holding up of bones, et cetera.

With this in mind, I hereby announce that Dorella is the recipient of the first Golden Spade, awarded for an outstanding original contribution in the field of digging. Start working on your acceptance speech, Dorella, and I for my part shall take my prostration cloth out of mothballs.

VOCABULARY
nara-patih (nom. sg.): m. " man-lord " , a king
api: also, even
putra-janma-tuṣṭaḥ (nom. sg. m.): pleased at the birth of his son
putra: son
janman: birth
tuṣṭa: satisfied, pleased

viṣaya-gatāni (acc. pl. n.): bound up with objects
viṣaya: m. anything perceptible by the senses , any object of affection or concern or attention , any special worldly object or aim or matter or business , (pl.) sensual enjoyments , sensuality
gata: gone to; relating to , referring to , connected with (e.g. putra-gata sneha , love directed towards the son ; tvad-gata , belonging to thee)
vimucya = abs. vi- √ muc: to unloose, unharness
bandhanāni (acc. pl.): n. the act of binding , tying , fastening , fettering ; n. a bond , tie (also fig.) , rope , cord , tether ; n. catching , capturing , confining , detention , custody , imprisonment or a prison

kula-sadṛśam (acc. sg.): befitting his family, worthy of his family
kula: a race , family , community , tribe ; a noble or eminent family or race
sadṛśa: mfn. conformable , suitable , fit , proper , right , worthy
acīkarat = 3rd pers. sg. aorist kṛ: to do, make
[See SN1.49, 1.56]
yathāvat: ind. duly , properly , rightly , suitably , exactly

priya-tanayah (nom. sg. m.): mfn. loving his son
priya: fond of attached or devoted to (in comp. , either ibc. e.g. priya-devana , " fond of playing " , or ifc.)
tanaya: m. son
tanayasya (gen. sg.): of a son
jāta-karma (acc. sg. n.): birth rite
jāta: n. birth
karman: n. act, action; any religious act or rite (as sacrifice , oblation &c , esp. as originating in the hope of future recompense and as opposed to speculative religion or knowledge of spirit)

大赦於天下 牢獄悉解脱
世人生子法 隨宜取捨事
依諸經方論 一切悉皆爲

BUDDHACARITA 1.81: An Avuncular Enlightened Witness

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−− Puṣpitāgrā

kṛta-mitir-anujā-sutaṁ ca dṛṣṭvā muni-vacana-śravaṇe ca tan-matau ca |

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bahu-vidham-anukampayā sa sādhuḥ priya-sutavad-viniyojayāṁ-cakāra || 1.81

1.81
One who, having beheld his younger sister's son,
knew the score,

Saw to it that the sage's direction
should be listened to and given thought;

[This uncle] in many different ways, with empathy,
being himself straight and true,

Saw to this as if for his own beloved son.


COMMENT:
There is very little correspondence between today's verse and the Chinese translation, which seems to make the king  into the subject of both this and the following verse, and to lump the two verses together. The confusion, in my opinion, is probably because the Chinese translator didn't get the gist of Aśvaghoṣa's original verse.

EHJ, who also failed to get Aśvaghoṣa's gist, noted that “This verse is almost certainly spurious, since C [the Chinese translation] would hardly omit a point of such purely Buddhistic interest.”

The real point of today's verse as I read it is to highlight once again the principle I referred to in my comment to 1.61; namely, that even a baby son whose mother dies when the infant still needs a mother and whose father is neurotically troubled by burdensome hopes and fears, can still develop healthily in the benevolent presence of female and male enlightened witnesses, such as the female nurse mentioned in 1.59 and 1.61, and such as the male uncle described in today's verse.

All I can say about “the point of purely Buddhistic interest” that EHJ sees, is that after 30 years of placing my arse on a round black cushion four times a day, as a follower of the Buddha, I do not know what the hell EHJ is going on about. EHJ seems to be talking as scholar in the know addressing other scholars in the know, as scholars are wont to do. I don't belong to that club. On the other hand, when it comes to knowing the score, I dare say that I know the score better than EHJ ever knew the score – because knowing the score, as a follower of the Buddha and as a follower of Aśvaghoṣa, is essentially a matter of placing one's arse every day on a round black cushion and following that direction which, in exact opposition to the gravitational pull towards the centre of mother earth, is always straight and true (not that I, in my unskillful attempts to follow that direction, am always – or often – straight and true).

So if muni-vacana means “the sage's direction,” the direction is primarily straight up, and if muni-vacana means “the sage's word” the word is “up.” Listening to it (śravaṇe) means obeying it. And giving thought to it (tan-matau) means not trusting one's own feelings around it, which are liable to be faulty, but thinking it.

In regard to the meaning of bahu-vidham, “in many different ways,” I have a book in front of me titled “What Babies and Children Really Need,” written by Sally Goddard Blythe who together with her husband Peter Blythe trained me 14 years ago in the diagnosis of immature primitive reflexes. The “many different ways” are reflected in the book's many headings, which include:

Nutrition; 

Benefits of a Natural Birth; 

Midwives & Helpers; 

Advantages of Breast-feeding for the Baby; 

Reflexes – Training for Life;
Tummy Time; 

Vestibular Stimulation; 

Why is the Development of Balance so Important?

Infants – Explorers of Space; 

The Importance of Interaction; 

Matching Sounds to Gestures; 

Communication of Affect; 

Stages of Language Development; 

Music, Reading & Writing; 

Reading Aloud; 

Emotional Development; 

The Role of Discipline in Establishing Self-regulation; 

Being a Consistent Parent; 

Mealtimes Matter; 

Rough-and-Tumble Play. 

One of the last, but by no means least important, of Sally's sub-headings is

Why Children Need Fathers: 

The fact that it is relevant to include a section on the importance of father love is a reminder of how much and how quickly the world has changed in the last 60 years. As the process of conception can be carried out without the father being present, with more couples electing to live together and start families without formalizing their parental relationship in marriage, and with same-sex couples starting families, the concept that children need a parent of each sex not only in their creation but in their daily lives is treading on sensitive territory.... Fathers are important because they are not the same as mothers. While mothers tend to be more nurturing and attentive to emotional distress in their children, fathers tend to be more practical, helping their child to overcome negative or 'childish' emotions. Mothers tend to provide security and avoid risk, while fathers encourage their children to extend the scope of security, to explore, to discover, and to become self-reliant.... Fathers tend to be more willing to stretch boundaries of safety and teach their children how to master new situations and life skills. This is important for developing self-confidence. Mothers tend to be more tolerant and understanding of childish behaviour, whereas fathers bring a more 'worldly' response, being less accepting of the reasons behind the behaviour and expecting the child to conform. This is closer to how a child is treated when he is outside the home, not only at playgroup, school, and when out shopping but also when he grows up and moves into the workplace... Boys need mothers to nurture their emotional side to help them relate to others and form loving relationships later on, but they need fathers to grow into their masculinity with confidence, to learn strength, self-control, and fair play in the world beyond the home.

The point that Sally makes here is a hardly a “point of purely Buddhistic interest.” If I express the point in my own words, all living things for their healthy development have two most basic needs which are, namely, a source of energy and a sense of direction. It is as true for the tree growing in my front garden as it is for me who can see the tree from where I sit. Mothers furnished with breasts and female emotions tend to be good at nurturing a child's energy; but a growing boy also needs some bloke – if not his father then an uncle who knows the score or some other enlightened male witness – to give him a sense of what direction to grow in. And the primary way that the male role model transmits this direction is through his own example. Hence sa sādhuḥ, “being himself straight and true.” 

Grammatically, it may be more accurate to take sa sādhuḥ “he who was straight and true,” i.e. “the male enlightened witness,” as the subject of the verse, and kṛta-mitiḥ, “knowing the score,” as an adjectival phrase. Hence EBC, EHJ and PO all make sa sādhuḥ the subject, which they translate as “the saint” (EBC/EHJ) or “that holy man” (PO). To reinforce this sense of somebody who was straight and true in a religious sense (as opposed to the developmental and directional sense which I see) each translated anukampā as “compassion.” Hence:
EBC: “the saint, filled with compassion,”
EHJ: “the saint... in his compassion”
PO: “that holy man... in his compassion.”
But etymologically anu-√kamp, if I understand its elements correctly, originally means “to shake alongside,” i.e. to be in sympathy with, or to empathize with. So I think what Aśvaghoṣa is expressing in today's verse with anukampayā is nothing so feminine and religious as what tends to be conveyed by the word “compassion,” but more the sort of non-risk-averse, rough-and-tumble empathy that Sally calls “father love.”

VOCABULARY
kṛta-mitiḥ (nom. sg. m.): having attained accurate knowledge
miti: f. measuring , measure , weight; accurate knowledge , evidence
anujā-sutam (acc. sg.): m. the son of his younger sister
anu-ja: mfn. born after , later , younger
anujā: f. a younger sister
ca: and
dṛṣṭvā = abs. dṛś: to see, behold

muni-vacana-śravaṇe (loc. sg. n.): to listen to the sage's words
muni: m. the sage
vacana: n. speech , sentence , word ; n. advice , instruction , direction , order , command
śravaṇa: n. the act of hearing
ca: and
tan-matau (loc. sg. f.): to consider them
mati: f. devotion ; thought , design , intention , resolution , determination , inclination ; esteem , respect , regard ; memory , remembrance
ca: and

bahu-vidham: ind. diversely , in several directions
anukampayā (inst. sg.): f. compassion
anu- √ kamp: to sympathize with, be compassionate
√ kamp: to cause or make to tremble , shake
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
sādhuḥ (nom. sg.): m. a good or virtuous or honest man ; m. a holy man , saint , sage , seer; mfn. straight , right ; leading straight to a goal , hitting the mark , unerring
priya-suta-vat: ind. as if [his own] beloved son
priya: mfn. beloved, dear
suta: m. son
vat: an affix added to words to imply likeness or resemblance

viniyojayām cakāra (3rd pers. sg. periphrastic perfect): to do an assigning, to have someone do something, to charge someone with doing something, to see to it
vi-ni- √ yuj: to unyoke , disjoin , loose; to assign , commit , appoint to , charge or entrust with , destine for (dat. loc. , or artham)
cakāra = 3rd pers. sg. perf. kṛ: to do, make

爾時白淨王 見子奇特相
又聞阿私陀 決定眞實説

於子心敬重 珍護兼常念

BUDDHACARITA 1.80: A Not-White One Going on the Way of the Wind

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−− Puṣpitāgrā

atha munir-asito nivedya tattvaṁ suta-niyataṁ suta-viklavāya rājñe |

⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−

sa-bahu-matam-udīkṣyamāṇa-rūpaḥ pavana-pathena yathāgataṁ jagāma || 1.80

1.80
And so the sage Asita, having let the reality be known,

Having caused the king, who was worried about his child,
to know the inevitable reality tied to having a child,

-- While people, with varying degrees of appreciation,
looked up at his excellent form --

Went as he had come, on the way of the wind.

COMMENT:
Six short syllables like galloping hooves, or like the brisk footsteps of an enlightened sage walking away, signify that with today's verse the metre changes, as the end of the canto is approached, from the 11 syllable Upajāti to the 12-13 Puṣpitāgrā formation.

But some things never change. None of the long-suffering readers of this blog (whose number on a good day, according to the page view stat, makes it into double figures) will be surprised if I start this comment with the words, “On the surface...”

On the surface, nivedya tattvaṁ suta-niyataṁ simply means “made known the truth of what his son was destined for,” or more simply still, “told the truth about his son.”

Hence, EBC: “having made known the real fate which awaited the prince to the king who was thus disturbed about his son”;
EHJ: “when he had made known the truth about his son to the king who was troubled about him”;
PO: “having declared the truth about his son to the king, much distraught about his son.”

In the translations of EHJ and PO, niyatam thus simply means “connected with” or in short “about” -- so tattvaṁ suta-niyataṁ means “the truth about his son” and the connotation in niyatam of something inevitable is lost. In EBC's translation this sense of inevitability is conveyed by the word "fate" and in the Chinese translation by the character  必 , which means "inevitably."

But the deeper intended meaning of the 2nd pāda might be that Asita caused the king to know or to wake up to, to see for himself and face up to, the reality that inevitably confronts every father who witnesses a beautiful birth of a new-born child. On the one side is a sense of possibilites, of potential; on the one side are a father's dreams. On the other side is a sense of what could go wrong; on the other side are a father's fears.

The brahmins basically limited their predictions to the former side, saying to the king in effect, “In our unbiased expert opinion, based on an objective study of the relevant literature, it could go one of two ways: either your son will become a supreme seer or else a great king. And it's not that we are after your money or anything, but if you would like to fill some bags for us with gold rupees, you will find our empty saddle-bags over there.”

From Asita, in contrast, the king is not only given information that he might like to hear, and nor he is simply informed of something that is bound to happen in future. Rather he is caused to reflect upon the reality of what it is to be a father. He is caused to reflect that, here and now, even the king can't always get what he wants, but the world might get what it needs. And this causes the king to rejoice, as he should. At the same time, this also causes the king in his unenlightened state to be overcome with fear or agitation, to be confused, perplexed, bewildered, alarmed, distressed – in short, worried, viklava. 

From the king, for his part, Asita seeks nothing. As he walks away, his feet lightly but surely placed on the earth, one foot in front of the other, he is unburdened by bags of treasure or by psychological baggage. Therefore any person with eyes is able to look up at him admiringly, perceiving that Asita – as he walks like a man, with feet on the ground, not as he flies like a fairy -- is going up. And so the not-white one walks away, just as he came, on the way of the wind.

And from within the crowd of onlookers, a member of the Śakya clan with ancestral roots in distant Birmingham turns to his mate and remarks “Sound bloke that Asita, wasn't he?” And his mate replies, “Better than that bunch of brahmin snobs who buggered off with their bags full of gold, that's for bloody sure.”

On the surface, again, when Aśvaghoṣa describes the crowd of onlookers as sa-bahu-matam, this means “with great reverence.” But digging deeper into the dictionary one finds an alternative definition of bahu-matam, one which subverts “with great reverence.” The alternative definition of sa-bahu-matam as “possessing many different opinions,” seems to me to describe the crowd in a democratic spirit, not as a great amorphous blob of believing onlookers, like superstitious Tibetans gawping and cringing as the Dalai Lama passes by, but rather as many real individuals possessing many different ways of thinking, but none of them able fully to appreciate Asita, even as they look up at him admiringly – because, as the Lotus Sutra records, nobody but a buddha, together with a buddha, is fully able to appreciate a buddha.

In addition to the "On the surface.." and "Digging deeper..." modus operandi, something else that never changes is the difficulty of translating four Sanskrit pādas that naturally follow a four-phased philosophical progression, into four English lines that reflect that progression and yet sound natural in English. 

Hence, my translation of today's verse is a compromise. If I were to render it so that it lent itself better to being read aloud, it might be better translated in two lines:

And so having caused the worried king to know the inevitable reality tied to having a child, / The sage Asita went as he had come, on the way of the wind, while individuals looked up, with varying degrees of appreciation, at his excellent form.//1.80//

But with due attention to its progression through four phases, and with no obligation to write English that sounds like English, or to keep it short, I should like to translate today's verse like this:

1.80
And so the sage Asita, “the Not-White One,”
having caused the reality to be known --

(The inevitable reality tied to having a child)
to the child-worried king,

While his excellent form was being looked up at,
amid much individual thought and varying degrees of appreciation --

Went as he had come, on the way of the wind.

The latter translation would better serve the purpose of suggesting:
(1) A non-buddha pointing a finger towards the moon;
(2) The concrete unromantic reality of being a human being which invariably involves even a great king in troublesome family involvements;
(3) The truth that excellent uprightness, in sitting and standing, is difficult for ordinary people to appreciate – and possibly also the principle that truly excellent form, whether manifested by Usain Bolt on the running track or by a Zen master on a round cushion, is the result of a lot of thoughtful work on the part of the individual practitioner, and is not just natural talent.
(4) The transcendent reality of action.

People say that Aśvaghoṣa and Kālidāsa are the two great writers of Sanskrit kāvya poetry, the Shakespeares of Sanskrit. I know nothing about Kālidāsa. But it seems to me that any literary pundit who wishes to make a judgement about how great a poet Aśvaghoṣa was, might have to do an awful lot of digging before getting to the bottom of Aśvaghoṣa's writing. There are always so many more layers to Aśvaghoṣa than initially meet the eye. Even after writing such a long comment, I suspect I have barely scratched the surface of today's verse. But I am at least in possession of my own metaphorical spade. Whereas trying to get anywhere near the bottom without being devoted to sitting might be like trying to dig without a spade. 

Were there also such hidden depths to Kālidāsa's writing? I very strongly doubt it. Literary folk fail to appreciate that even if they called Aśvaghoṣa the one and only Shakespeare of Sanskrit, they would still in their ignorance be insulting Aśvaghoṣa -- because only one who comes and goes on the way of the wind is fully able to appreciate the way of one who comes and goes on the way of the wind.

VOCABULARY
atha: ind. and so, then
munih (nom. sg.): m. the sage
asitah (nom. sg.): m. Asita
nivedya = causative abs. ni- √ vid: to tell , communicate , proclaim , report , relate
√ vid: to know
tattvam (acc. sg.): n. true or real state , truth , reality

suta-niyatam (acc. sg. n.): invariable for a son/child
suta: m. son, child ; (sutau du. = " son and daughter ")
niyata: mfn. tied to; connected with; fixed , established , settled , sure , regular , invariable , positive , definite
niyata: [Apte] 9. forming the subject of consideration;
suta-viklavāya (dat. sg. m.): who was perplexed about his son
viklava: mfn. overcome with fear or agitation , confused , perplexed , bewildered , alarmed , distressed
rājñe (dat. sg.): m. king

sa-bahu-matam: ind. with great reverence ; with much thought; possessing many different opinions
sa-: possesive prefix
bahu-mata: mfn. much thought of , highly esteemed , valued ; having many different opinions
udīkṣyamāṇa-rūpaḥ (nom. sg. m.): his form being looked up to
udīkṣyamāṇa = pres. part. passive ud- √ īkṣ to look up to ; look at , regard , view , behold
rūpa: n. form , shape , figure ; handsome form , loveliness , grace

pavana-pathena (inst. sg.) on the way of the wind
pavana: wind
pathin: m. a way , path , road , course (lit. and fig.)
yathāgatam: ind. as he came
jagāma = 3rd pers. sg. perf. gam: to go

爾時彼仙人 向王眞實説
必如王所慮 當成正覺道
於王眷屬中 安慰衆心已
自以己神力 騰虚而遠逝

BUDDHACARITA 1.79: Dejection Fights Back

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Sālā)

ārṣeṇa mārgeṇa tu yāsyatīti cintā-vidheyaṁ hṛdayaṁ cakāra |

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

na khalv-asau na priya-dharma-pakṣaḥ saṁtāna-nāśāt-tu bhayaṁ dadarśa || 1.79

1.79
But then it preyed upon his mind

That his son might trace a seer's path:

Biased against dharma he surely was not,

But dread he foresaw from the ending of his line.

COMMENT:
The old Nepalese manuscript which was EHJ's primary source has āryeṇa mārggeṇa (the noble path) as do the manscripts from which Cowell was working, which were 19th-century copies by Amṛtananda of the old Nepalese manuscript. The Chinese translation, however, has 修習仙人道 , “cultivating the path/way of the sage/seer.” And on this basis, EHJ decided to amend āryeṇa (noble) to ārṣena (of the ṛṣis/seers). Though the basis is admittedly rather shaky, in that the Chinese translation is not very literal, I have followed EHJ's amendment, which does make sense in the context that this action was taking place before the Buddha established the noble eightfold path.

The main philosphical point of today's verse seems to be the point that Aśvaghoṣa has already made for example in BC1.62; namely, that the positive emotion of joyful attachment to something tends to beget a corresponding negative emotion in connection with losing it.

The king's dread, then, can be taken as confirmation that when Aśvaghoṣa in the previous verse described the king as śrutārthaḥ, Aśvaghoṣa's intention was ironic – the king had only heard reassuring sounds coming out of Asita's mouth. True, such reassuring sounds can help temporarily to put a spring in a person's step (BC1.59), especially when transmitted in combination with the touch of a reassuring hand. But the only way for the king truly to have listened to and been informed/enlightened by Asita's teaching might have been for him to sit on the same round cushion as Asita, sharing a devotion to sitting (āsana-stham; BC1.52) that was true devotion, and not a superficial attempt to deceive self and others (but mainly oneself).

This kind of self-deception is what happens when one goes through the motions of practising dharma, as Nanda is criticized for doing by Ānanda in Saundara-nanda Canto 11: one is lying to oneself.

In yesterdays' verse Aśvaghoṣa describes the king as tyaktvā viṣādaṁ, which literally means  “abandoning the drooping state.” Translated as “abandoning depression,” that could be understood as a description of a buddha's enlightenment; or translated as “dismissing dejection” it might suggest an ordinary person's delusion. 

On the evidence of today's verse, the king had not truly abandoned all those tendencies that pull a person down, which might be a kind of enlightenment.

He had merely dismissed those downward tendencies, like an inwardly depressed man who stiffens up and makes an effort to sit in an upright posture. This is a delusion – and in this I speak from ongoing experience.

So what Aśvaghoṣa is pointing to in this and the previous verse as I read them, is a difference between dismissing and truly abandoning, or dropping off, those tendencies that pull a person down.


VOCABULARY
ārṣeṇa (inst. sg. m.): mfn. relating or belonging to or derived from ṛṣis (i.e. the poets of the Vedic and other old hymns)
āryeṇa (ins. sg. m.): mfn. noble
mārgeṇa (inst. sg.): m. path, way
tu: but
yāsyati = 3rd pers. sg. future yā: to go , proceed , move , walk , set out , march , advance , travel , journey
iti: “....,” thus

cintā-vidheyam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. prey to an anxious thought
cintā: f. thought , care , anxiety , anxious thought
vidheya (gerundive from vi- √ dhā): mfn. to be bestowed or procured ; to be performed or practised or done ; to be kindled (as fire) ; to be exhibited or displayed or shown or betrayed
vi- √ dhā: to distribute , apportion , grant , bestow ; to furnish , supply , procure ; to spread , diffuse ; to perform , effect , produce , cause , occasion , make , do Mn. MBh. &c (like √ kṛ to be translated variously in connection with various nouns)
hṛdayam (acc. sg.): n. the heart
cakāra = 3rd pers. sg. perf. kṛ: to do, make

hṛdi- √kṛ: to take to heart , mind , think over , consider
na: not
khalu: ind. (as a particle of asseveration) indeed , verily , certainly , truly
asau (nom. sg. m.): that, he
na priya-dharma-pakṣaḥ (nom. sg. f.): biased against dharma; not on the side of devotion to dharma
priya: fond of attached or devoted to (in comp. , either ibc. e.g. priya-devana , " fond of playing " , or ifc. e.g. akṣa-priya , " fond of dice ");
pakṣa: m. a wing; one of two cases or one side of an argument , an alternative ; any supposition or view , motion , idea , opinion (mukhyaḥ pakṣaḥ , " an excellent idea”);

saṁtāna-nāśāt (abl. sg.): from the loss of continued succession, from the end of his line
saṁtāna: m. continued succession , continuance , continuity ; an uninterrupted series , continuous flow
nāśa: m. the being lost , loss , disappearance , destruction , annihilation , ruin , death (ifc. destroying)
tu: but
bhayam (acc. sg): n. fear ; sg. and pl. terror , dismay , danger , peril , distress
dadarśa = 3rd pers. sg. perf. dṛś: to see

出家捨世榮 修習仙人道
遂不紹國位 復令我不悦

BUDDHACARITA 1.78: The Enlightened King Dismisses Dejection

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Kīrti)

iti śrutārthaḥ sasuhṛt-sadāras-tyaktvā viṣādaṁ mumude narendraḥ |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

evaṁ-vidho 'yaṁ tanayo mameti mene sa hi svām-api sāravattām || 1.78

1.78
Thus enlightened,
in the company of his wife and friends,

The king dismissed dejection and rejoiced;

For, thinking “Such is this son of mine,”

He saw his son's excellence as also being his own.


COMMENT:
Today's verse begins with another phrase from the root śru, namely iti śrutārthaḥ, which means “thus informed,” or “thus, as one who heard/listened/learned etc.”

My first attempt at translating the first yuga-pāda was “Thus informed, the king with his wife and friends dismissed dejection and rejoiced.” Then I thought that “informed” didn't give enough of a sense of the root śru. Unable to come up with a better alternative, and somehow dissatisfied with “informed,” I thought I would simply follow EBC in translating iti śrutārthaḥ as “Having heard these words...”

Digging deeper through a sleepless night, I realized that what Aśvaghoṣa is really intending to express in today's verse is the king's delusion, or ignorance. That being so, the translation of iti śrutārthaḥ that hits the target might be “Thus enlightened.”

Once that irony is grasped, sasuhṛt-sadāraḥ begins to take on meaning. For truly speaking who in the history of devotion to sitting has ever been enlightened in the company of his wife and friends?

If studying Aśvaghoṣa's writing teaches us anything, it might be the wisdom of reading between the lines, rather than always taking words at face value.

Reading between the lines of today's verse, I think Aśvaghoṣa's intention was that the king heard what Asita said and the king rejoiced because the king felt śrutārthaḥ – he felt he had learned something from listening to what Asita said; but in fact the king only heard the words of Asita. Asita came and went on the way of the wind, in which time the king temporarily enjoyed a spring in his step, but did he really learn anything at all from Asita? Today's verse, as I read it, suggests not. The king, in the company of wife and friends and the various Buddhist scholars who have translated Asita's words from Sanskrit into English, has totally missed the chance to be enlightened by Asita. None of them has understood yet why Aśvaghoṣa describes Asita (in BC1.80) as having come and gone on the way of the wind.

When he came and went on the way of the wind, what kind of non-white, I wonder, was Asita, “the Not-White One.” Was he some kind of fake, like a choc-ice, a coconut, or a Bounty bar, who was not-white on the outside but white on the inside? Conversely, was he a sub-species of white nigger, who was white on the outside but not-white on the inside?

Or was Asita's non-whiteness the non-whiteness of an individual who was non-white through and through, totally transcending any kind of stereotype such as black or white, or kosher Buddhist or non-Buddhist, or choc-ice or white nigger, or Brahmin, or ascetic? 

Is England footballer John Terry a racist? I don't know but I sense that he is not much of one, whatever foul and abusive language he is accustomed to using. Calling somebody “a bastard” or other insult, prefaced by “black” or “white” or “yellow,” it seems to me, can easily be the manifestation of a bad habit of language rather than of a prejudice against an individual on the basis of his or her race. Reaching unthinkingly for a familar phrase like “black bastard” or “bloody yid” or “slant-eyed son of Nippon” is just the kind of stupid thing I might do myself in my ignorance, if an individual who had offended me happened to be, say, black or Jewish or Japanese.

Probably you won't find any media commentator making such a confession, for fear of losing their job or position. It is safer for such types to stay on the side of political correctness, putting on a facade of being whiter than white. "There is not a racist bone in my body," said George Bush Snr on the election trail, sounding quite convincing. But I noticed that when he came as US president to visit Japan, Bush seemed to express his real feelings by throwing up at a state dinner. Maybe it was in fact just a coincidental stomach bug, nothing psychological. But given that George Bush was a prisoner of the Japanese in WWII, that racist war without mercy, who could blame him for continuing to harbour just a bit of politically uncorrect anti-Japanese sentiment?  

To make a racist insult against somebody -- as John Terry was accused in a court of law of doing when he called an opposing player a black so and so, or as Rio Ferdinand was accused of doing in the media by sharing in a joke about a friend of his being “a choc-ice” -- it seems to me, is a kind of ignorance. I am not defending ignorance. But rather than trying to legislate ignorance out of others, it might be more valuable to see it in myself. I myself am by no means whiter than white. That is for damn sure. I have been known to say things to my wife, who is Japanese, along the lines of “I fucking hate Japs.” It is a kind of ignorance and at the same time an expression of dislike of certain things about Japanese culture that have frustrated me over the years. My wife, hoisting me on my own petard, is liable to respond to such outbursts by referring to the mirror principle, and pointing out that in some respects I can be more Japanese than the objects of my ire. Of course when I say that I hate Japs I don't mean that I hate all Japanese as individuals. After all, my own sons are Japs; and I in my ignorance, like the deluded king, am proud of my own sons.

In today's verse the king rejoices to see his own excellent son as a regular chip off the old block. This would seem to be a natural enough emotion for any father. And yet, on the way of the wind, so the Buddha seems to say to Nanda in Saundara-nanda Canto 15, with stony objectivity, there is no real basis for any kind of parochial concern for people perceived to be of one's blood. Hence:

Among beings dragged by our own doing through the cycle of saṁsāra / Who are our own people, and who are other people? It is through ignorance that people attach to people. // 15.31 // For one who turned on a bygone road into a relative, is a stranger to you; / And a stranger, on a road to come, will become your relative. // 15.32 // Just as birds in the evening flock together at separate locations, / So is the mingling over many generations of one's own and other people. // 15.33 // Just as, under any old roof, travellers shelter together /And then go again their separate ways, so are relatives joined. // 15.34 // In this originally shattered world nobody is the beloved of anybody. /Held together by cause and effect, humankind is like sand in a clenched fist. // 15.35 //For mother cherishes son thinking "He will keep me," / And son honours mother thinking "She bore me in her womb." // 15.36 // As long as relatives act agreeably towards each other, / They engender affection; but otherwise it is enmity. // 15.37 // A close relation is demonstrably unfriendly; a stranger proves to be a friend. / By the different things they do, folk break and make affection. // 15.38 // Just as an artist, all by himself, might fall in love with a woman he painted, / So, each generating attachment by himself, do people become attached to one another. // 15.39 // That relation who, in another life, was so dear to you: / What use to you is he? What use to him are you? // 15.40 // With thoughts about close relatives, therefore, you should not enshroud the mind. / There is no abiding difference, in the flux of saṁsāra, between one's own people and people in general. // 15.41 //

What the king expresses in the 2nd yuga-pāda of today's verse, then, is just a delusion, an ignorant thought enshrouding his mind. Only having got that point does one get the irony of Aśvaghoṣa describing the king, in the company of his wife and friends, as iti śrutārthaḥ, “thus enlightened.”


VOCABULARY
iti: “....,”
śrutārthaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. one who has heard anything (gen.); m. any matter ascertained by hearing
sa-suhṛt having friends or kinsfolk
sa-dāraḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. accompanied by a wife

tyaktvā = abs. tyaj: to abandon, leave behind ; to let go , dismiss , discharge
viṣādam (acc. sg.): m. drooping state , languor , lassitude ; dejection , depression , despondency (esp. as the result of unrequited love); disappointment , despair
mumude = 3rd pers. sg. perf. mud: to be merry or glad or happy , rejoice
narendraḥ (nom. sg.): m. 'man-lord'; king

evaṁ-vidhaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. of such a kind , in such a form or manner , such
ayam (nom. sg. m.): this
tanayaḥ (nom. sg.): m. son
mama (gen. sg.): of mine
iti: “....,” thus

mene = 3rd pers. sg. perf. man: to think, deem, regard as
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
hi: for
svām (acc. sg. f.): his own
api: also, even
sāra-vattām (acc. sg.): f. hardness (of an arrow) ; force , strength , steadfastness
sāra-vat: mfn. hard , solid , firm , strong , steadfast ; substantial , nourishing (as food) ; valuable , precious ; having pith or sap
sāra: m. the core or pith or solid interior of anything ; firmness , strength, power , energy ; the substance or essence or marrow or cream or heart or essential part of anything , best part , quintessence ; wealth , property , goods , riches ; mfn. hard , firm solid, strong ; precious , valuable ; good , sound , best , excellent ; sound (as an argument , thoroughly proved)

王及諸眷屬 聞彼仙人説
知其自憂歎 恐怖悉以除
生此奇特子 我心得大安

BUDDHACARITA 1.77: The Confession of a Non-Learner

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Indravajrā)

bhraṣṭasya tasmāc-ca guṇād-ato me dhyānāni labdhvāpy-akṛtārthataiva |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

dharmasya tasyāśravaṇād-ahaṁ hi manye vipattiṁ tri-dive 'pi vāsam || 1.77

1.77
And since I have fallen short of that merit,

In spite of having mastered the stages of meditation,
I have failed.

Because of being a non-learner of his dharma, 

I deem it a misfortune to remain 
even in the highest heaven.”

COMMENT:
Originally I translated śru in the previous verse as “to obey” and āśravaṇa in today's verse (which is also from the root śru) as “a non-hearer.” But in order to preserve a certain symmetry/asymmetry between yesterday's verse and today's verse, I have changed the translation of yesterday's verse to “will not learn his ultimate dharma,” and translated āśravaṇa in today's verse as “a non-learner” of his dharma.

The same root śru appears in the word śrāvaka, which originally means "a hearer" but is translated in later Chinese texts (so-called Mahāyāna texts) as 声聞, "voice-hearer," i.e. an intellectual Buddhist of the small vehicle who is not a bodhisattva.

So śru has meanings that range widely from hearing/listening through hearing (from a teacher),  studying (intellectually), learning (really) and on to obeying; and Aśvaghoṣa, typically, is using this ambiguity for his own irony-filled purpose.

Why is Aśvaghoṣa's writing so filled with irony? I don't know but it seems to me, on the basis of my own experience, that human life tends to be too bloody full for words of situations that totally defy expectations by turning out exactly the opposite of what one hoped for and worked towards.

When I was in my 20s I absolutely bust a gut in the hope of ultimately being seen as a good guy, if not maybe even a great guy. But I ended up being seen as a bad guy, not only by people who have never even met me, like miscellaneous latter-day dharma-heirs of my teacher, but also by people who I thought were my closest friends. This was brought home to me a few days ago when I went for a pint with one such old friend who told me, in connection with an old love rivalry, “It was natural for everybody to see you as the bad guy.”

Those three words were a sort of wake-up call. The bad guy. I sort of already knew that I had sunk with my old mates in the popularity stakes, as reflected by things like not being invited to people's weddings, but it wasn't until I heard those three words that the ultimate irony hit home: The bad guy.

The guy who kind of harboured a hope that he might be greeted on his return home as a hero, was in fact seen as the bad guy. There have doubtless been many generations of men over the years who have come back from fighting wars only to taste such bitter irony. For one such example, about 25 years ago I read a book titled Chickenhawk, which I remember as an excellent read, written by a helicopter pilot who served in Vietnam only to end up in a US prison for trying to smuggle dope across the border. ("Suck it up!" I hear Jordan saying.)

Any way up, the key to understanding the irony that Aśvaghoṣa intended to convey in today's verse might lie in the word aśravaṇāt, which literally means “because of not hearing” but which is also a technical term in the tradition of ancient Indian religions.

Hence the MW dictionary defines aśravaṇāt as: on account of not hearing i.e. not seeing anything declared in the sacred texts.

When Emperor Wu demanded to know who the hell Bodhidharma thought he was, and Bodhidharma responded “I don't know,” that might have been an excellent example of “not seeing anything declared in the sacred texts" and an excellent example of being a non-learner of the dharma.

Being a non-learner of the Buddha's dharma might mean, in other words, not being a śrāvaka of the small vehicle but just being a bodhisattva whose life is one mistake after another.

When Dogen finished his rules of sitting-zen for everybody by recommending us to revere a person who is beyond study and spontaneous (絶学無為人) he may have had in mind nobody but a non-learner of the Buddha's dharma.


VOCABULARY
bhraṣṭasya (gen sg. m.): mfn. fallen , dropped , fallen down or from or off (abl. or comp.)
tasmāt (abl. sg. m.): from that [merit]; ind. therefore
ca: and
guṇāt: m. good quality , virtue , merit , excellence
atas: ind. from this, hence, since
me (gen. sg.): of me

dhyānāni (acc. pl.): n. meditation ; stages of sitting-meditation
labdhvā (abs.): to take , seize , catch ; gain possession of ; to gain the power of (doing anything) , succeed in
api: even, though
akṛtārthatā (nom. sg.): f. the being unsuccessful
akṛtārtha: mfn. having one's object unaccomplished , unsuccessful
-tā: (abstract noun suffix)
eva: (emphatic)

dharmasya (gen. sg.): dharma
tasya (gen. sg.): his
aśravaṇāt (abl. sg.): n. not hearing
aśravaṇāt (ind. abl.) on account of not hearing i.e. not seeing anything declared in the sacred texts
aham (nom. sg.): I
hi: for

manye = 1st pers. sg. man: to think ; to regard or consider any one or anything (acc.) as (acc.)
vipattim (acc. sg.): f. going wrongly , adversity , misfortune , failure , disaster
tri-dive (loc. sg.): n. the 3rd or most sacred heaven , heaven (in general)
api: even
vāsam (acc. sg.): m. staying , remaining (esp. " overnight ") , abiding , dwelling , residence , living in (loc.)

我今老死壞 遠離聖功徳
雖得諸禪定 而不獲其利
於此菩薩所 竟不聞正法
身壞命終後 必生三難天

BUDDHACARITA 1.76: Impediments to Obeying Dharma

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Indravajrā)

tan-mā kṛthāḥ śokam-imaṁ prati tvam asmin sa śocyo 'sti manuṣya-loke |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

mohena vā kāma-sukhair-madād-vā yo naiṣṭhikaṁ śroṣyati nāsya dharmam || 1.76

1.76
Therefore do not sorrow for him;

Those who deserve sorrow
are those in this human world who,

Whether through the delusion 
that stems from sensual desires
or because of fervent inspiration,

Will not learn his ultimate dharma.


COMMENT:
In today's verse, as I read it, Asita expresses his awareness of the dual impediments of (1) delusion (mohena), and (2) intoxication by sensual desires (kāma-sukhair-madāt). [But, on second thoughts, see comment below.]

In EBC's translation the impediments are threefold: (1) illusion (mohena), (2) the pleasures of desire (kāma-sukhaiḥ), and (3) intoxication (madāt).
In EHJ's translation the impediments are twofold: (1) delusion by reason of the sensual pleasures (mohena kāma-sukhaiḥ) and intoxication of the mind (madāt).
In PO's translation the impediments are threefold: (1) delusion (mohena), (2) pride (madāt), and the love of pleasures (kāma-sukhaiḥ).

So I agree with EHJ in seeing the impediments as twofold, but I have read kāma-sukhaiḥ with madāt. (I would be grateful if any benevolent pandit out there who thinks I have got the grammar wrong would leave a comment.)

On the surface, the impediments Asita is talking about are listening impediments. He is feeling sorry for the man who will not hear or listen (śroṣyati na) to the ultimate dharma.

I usually think -- based on my own experience of various listening impediments which seem to be centred in a dodgy vestibular-auditory system -- of listening impediments having a neuro-developmental basis.

But for all my vestibular-auditory faults, one thing I have not done is befuddle my brain and nervous system by ingesting industrial quantities of those varieites of strong cannabis known as skunk.

This use of strong cannabis seems to be associated in some habitual ingesters with both impediments cited in today's verse as I read it, namely: (1) a delusional paranoia (moha) that manifests itself in gullible acceptance of conspiracy theories, and at the same time (2) an over-attachment to sensual pleasures (kāma-sukhair madāt) that manifests itself in symptoms like the munchies and a certain reluctance to get out of bed and go to work.

This is a reflection stimulated by recent dealings with one or two long-term smokers of cannabis.

Digging deeper, today's verse calls into question what it might really mean to hear or listen to the ultimate dharma. That is to say, is Asita really describing impediments to hearing or listening? On reflection, I think not. 

As translations of yo naiṣṭhikaṁ śroṣyati nāsya dharmam,
EBC's “who... refuse to hear his perfect Law,”
EHJ's “who... refuses to hear, his, the final Law,”
and PO's “who... listens not to his absolute dharma,”
all seem to presuppose that there is such a thing as “perfect/final Law” or “absolute dharma” that can be heard or listened to. But when I investigate this supposition from the inside of practice, there is nothing for it but to abandon such a supposition.

From the inside of practice, I think the Chinese translator was closer to hitting the target with his  違正法 , "who go against the true dharma." The reason I think the Chinese translator was nearer the mark is that it is evidently possible to go against the true dharma -- for example by approaching sitting-zen in an extremely doing manner, like what I did ad nauseam in my 20s. But whether it is ever possible to hear or listen to a perfect/final/absolute Law/dharma, I somehow doubt. 

On the basis of deluded thinking (mohena), we are liable to THINK that there is such a thing as an ultimate truth that can be told and heard, but that nobody has yet found this theory of everything. Or, on the outer edges of delusion, with minds beffudled by skunk, some suppose that there are those who know the ultimate truth -- the conspiratiorial cognoscenti who wish to keep us in the dark – but those cognoscenti are deliberately ensuring that we their oppressed victims do not hear the truth.

On the opposite basis of being intoxicated by sensual desires (kāma-sukhair madāt), we are liable to FEEL that there might be such a thing as an ultimate truth that can be felt – perfect enlightenment as a kind of cosmic orgasm, probably heralded by a fanfare of trumpets.

Both those views having been abandoned, what might the ultimate dharma sound like?

I am skeptical about it sounding like anything. The sound of one hand clapping?

When we cross our legs, place our sitting bones roughly in the centre of a round black cushion, adopt something along the lines of what Alfred Tomatis called “the listening posture,” and listen, what does the ultimate dharma sound like?

Again, I am skeptical about it sounding like anything. At the same time, such an act of listening, when sincerely practised, as an integral act of allowing/obeying, might itself just be the ultimate dharma.


The whole point of this blog is to demonstrate a kind of obedience. But if anybody would like me to listen to their dharma and obey it, they can fuck right off. The kind of obedience I would like to demonstrate, as underlined by my use of rough language, is not any kind of religious obedience. It is the obedience of an individual who is endeavouring, against the habits of a lifetime, to work to a principle. The habits of a lifetime are habits of doing. The habits, in other words, are those wrong inner patterns which are stimulated by the idea of doing or getting or achieving something. The principle is non-doing.

The essence of the struggle is to carry out an activity -- primarily sitting -- against the habits of life.


VOCABULARY
tad: ind. so, therefore
mā: a particle of prohibition or negation
kṛthāḥ = 2nd pers. sg. injunctive kṛ: to make
śokam (acc. sg.): m. sorrow , affliction , anguish , pain , trouble , grief
imam (acc. sg. m.): this one, him
prati: ind. towards
tvam (nom. sg.): you

asmin (loc. sg. m.): this
sa (nom. sg.): m. he
śocyah (nom. sg. m.): mfn. to be lamented, deplorable , miserable
asti = 3rd pers. sg. as: to be
manuṣya-loke (loc. sg. m.): the world of men, the human world

mohena (inst. sg.): m. delusion
vā: ind. or (generally immediately following the word to which it refers)
kāma-sukhair (inst. pl.): sensual pleasures, delight in desires, sensual desires
kāma: m. wish, desire, object of desire or of love or of pleasure ; pleasure, enjoyment
sukha: n. ease , easiness , comfort , prosperity , pleasure , happiness ; joy , delight in
madāt (abl. sg.): m. hilarity , rapture , excitement , inspiration , intoxication
vā: or

yah (nom. sg. m.): [he] who
naiṣṭhikam (acc. sg.): mfn. forming the end , final , last ; highest, ultimate
śroṣyati = 3rd pers. sg. future śru: to hear , listen or attend to anything (acc.) , give ear to any one (acc. or gen.) , hear or learn anything about (acc.) ; to hear (from a teacher) , study , learn ; to be attentive , be obedient , obey
na: not
asya (gen. sg.): his, of him
dharmam (acc. sg.): dharma

王莫以此子 自生憂悲患
當憂彼衆生 著欲違正法