BUDDHACARITA 9.10: “Head Forward and Up” - It's Mutual

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Bhadrā)

tāv-arcayām-āsatur-arhatas-taṁ divīva śukrāṅgirasau mahendram |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

pratyarcayām-āsa sa cārhatas-tau divīva śukrāṅgirasau mahendraḥ || 9.10

9.10

The two fittingly honoured him,

As in heaven 'Shining' Śukra and Āṅgirasa 
caused great Indra to shine;

And he in return fittingly honoured those two,

As in heaven great Indra caused Śukra and Āṅgirasa to shine.

COMMENT:

The compound śukrāṅgirasau could be the dual form (either nominative or accusative) of

1. śukra + aṅgiras (as per EBC's translation).

2. śukra + āṅgirasa (as per the translations of EHJ and PO).

In the latter case, āṅgirasa means the son or descendant of Aṅgiras, who EHJ took to mean Bṛhas-pati.

Hence EBC translated Śukra and Aṅgiras; 

EHJ, Śukra and the son of Aṅgiras; 

and PO, Śukra and Āṅgirasa.

EHJ added in a footnote that Śukra and Āṅgirasa (Bṛhaspati)... are always mentioned together as the gurus of the gods and as authors of the first political treatises; cp. BC1.41 and SN1.4 [see below]. The comparison suggests that the poet looked on Śukra as the minister of the gods. I can find no exact parallel; the Mahā Bharata knows of Indra's honourable treatment of Bṛhaspati, but Śukra does not seem to be joined with him in that.

That science of kingship which Bhṛgu and Aṅgiras, those two lineage-founding seers, failed to formulate, / Was created in the course of time, O Gentle Sir!, by their sons Śukra and Bṛhas-pati. //BC1.41//

In high-mindedness, he was like a second Dīrgha-tapas; / And he was like a third in the mould of Kāvya and Āṅgirasa, in religious thought. // SN1.4 //

Simply thinking, today's verse is all about mutual respect; and googling "mutual respect" led me right back, in a strange coincidence, to the speech by President Eisenhower that I referred to in my comment of 15th January.

In his farewell address to the nation, Eisenhower referred three times to the principle of mutual respect/honour:

Down the long lane of the history yet to be written America knows that this world of ours, ever growing smaller, must avoid becoming a community of dreadful fear and hate, and be, instead, a proud confederation of mutual trust and respect.

Disarmament, with mutual honor and confidence, is a continuing imperative.

To all the peoples of the world, I once more give expression to America's prayerful and continuing aspiration: We pray that peoples of all faiths, all races, all nations, may have their great human needs satisfied; that those now denied opportunity shall come to enjoy it to the full; that all who yearn for freedom may experience its spiritual blessings; that those who have freedom will understand, also, its heavy responsibilities; that all who are insensitive to the needs of others will learn charity; that the scourges of poverty, disease and ignorance will be made to disappear from the earth, and that, in the goodness of time, all peoples will come to live together in a peace guaranteed by the binding force of mutual respect and love. Now, on Friday noon, I am to become a private citizen. I am proud to do so. I look forward to it. Thank you, and good night.

9.10

The two fittingly honoured him,

As in heaven Śukra and Āṅgirasa honoured Indra;

And he in return fittingly honoured those two,

As in heaven great Indra honoured Śukra and Āṅgirasa.

Understood like this, as a simple pointer to the principle that what goes around comes around, today's verse could thus  serve as a stimulus for outraged pontification on such matters as America's spying on the likes of Angela Merkel, or – in another affront to Germany – America's “leasing out” of German gold that the Bundesbank thought was being held by the US Federal Reserve for safe keeping.

Thus last night I sat and pondered a while about how America has strayed from its own stated ideals... but, I asked myself, after a while, what has that got to do with me, as I sit here, here and now? I mean, it is not that I, perfect saint that I am, have ever strayed from my own stated ideals, is it?

Setting that question aside, and not being tempted by further discussion of the mirror principle, what was the connection between this sitting and today's verse. There didn't seem to be any connection... and yet there always is.

The verse as I had provisionally translated it was evidently expressing the principle of mutual respect... but how might it be saying anything, below the surface, about the principle of sitting in silence, in which the point is not for subject to honour or respect object, but the point is rather to drop off subject and object and naturally become one piece?

The answer, once I had made some time and space in which to drop the question, was readily forthcoming. The root √arc, before it means to honour, means to shine or to be brilliant.

Once that is understood, today's verse manifests itself as an expression very close to Dogen's famous description of sitting as a backward step of turning one's light and letting it shine (EKO-HENSHO NO TAIHO).

Once that is seen, the relevance of Śukra's name readily becomes apparent, because the meaning of śukra is bright or resplendent, from the root √śuc, to shine, flame, glow. As such, Śukra, 'The Shining One' is a name of Agni, the god of fire.

And Agni, the MW dictionary indicates, is regarded as the chief son of Aṅgiras. So Śukra (“the Shining One”) and Āṅgirasa ("son of Aṅgiras") can be understood to be two names for one person – much like "the body" and "the mind" that we are required to drop off by learning the backward step of turning our light and letting it shine.

Finally, having slept on the above and reflected on it, I would like to return once more to the canto title kumārānveṣaṇaḥ which, as discussed in comments to BC9.2 and BC9.6, ostensibly means “The Seeking of the Prince.” The title ostensibly expresses, in other words, Śuddhodana's two emissaries' search for the heir to the King's realm. On the surface kumārānveṣaṇaḥ, “Seeking the Prince,” thus includes a sense of political motivation and some connection with weighty matters of geopolitics, like NSA spying and the role of gold in the New Great Game. Because after all, the work of a prince, at least in Aśvaghoṣa's day, was to learn statecraft, to forge alliances, to defeat enemies, and generally to bestride the world stage playing power games. 

But if we read today's verse as encouraging us, below the surface, in learning of the backward step of turning our light and letting it shine, then kumārānveṣaṇaḥ in that light means something totally different, nay, opposite. It might mean, for example, “The Investigation of a Child.” And “The Investigation of a Child” might mean nothing too complicated or geopolitically momentous, but very simple inquiry – like for example coming back to one's chosen mantra – and noticing how the thinking of that mantra influences, for good or for ill, the working of one's respiratory mechanism. Coming back to one's chosen mantra means, literally, coming back to an instrument of thought – an instrument like, for example, in my book, the words “head FORWARD and UP.”

VOCABULARY

tau (nom. dual): those two

arcayām āsatur = 3^rd pers. dual periphrastic causative perfect arc: to cause to shine ; to honour or treat with respect

arhataḥ: ind. fittingly

arha: mfn. meriting , deserving; becoming , proper , fit

-taḥ: ablative/adverbial suffix

tam (acc. sg. m.): him

divi (loc. sg.): in heaven

iva: like

śukrāṅgirasau (nom. dual): Śukra and Aṅgiras

śukra: mfn. (fr. √1. śuc) bright , resplendent; m. N. of agni or fire

aṅgiras: m. N. of a ṛṣi , author of the hymns of RV. ix, of a code of laws , and of a treatise on astronomy; he is considered as one of the seven ṛṣis of the first manvantara. Among his sons , the chief is agni , others are saṁvarta , utathya , and bṛhaspati ; N. of agni

āṅgirasa: m. a descendant of aṅgiras ; m. especially N. of bṛhaspati

mahendram (acc. sg. m.): great Indra ; a great chief or leader

pratyarcayām āsa = 3^rd pers. sg. periphrastic causative perf. praty- √ arc: to greet in return or one by one

sa (nom. sg. m.): he

ca: and

arhataḥ: ind. fittingly

tau (acc. dual): those two

divi (loc. sg.): in heaven

iva: like

śukrāṅgirasau (acc. dual): Śukra and Aṅgiras

mahendraḥ (nom. sg. m.): great Indra

各隨其本儀 恭敬禮問訊 

猶如儵迦羅 及與央耆羅
盡心加恭敬 奉事天帝釋

BUDDHACARITA 9.9: A Veteran Abandons a Vehicle

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Māyā)

yānaṁ vihāyopayayau tatas-taṁ purohito mantra-dhareṇa sārdham |

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

yathā vana-sthaṁ saha-vāmadevo rāmaṁ didkṣur-munir-aurvaśeyaḥ || 9.9

9.9

Thus on those grounds the veteran, 

abandoning a vehicle, went in his direction,

Joined by the keeper of the compass of thought –

As, when Rāma was in the forest,

The sage Aurvaśeya, 'Dawn's Descendant,'

along with the minister Vāmadeva,

went to Rāma, wishing to see him.

COMMENT:

In a verse like today's verse, there is no denying it, Aśvaghoṣa seems to wish to draw a parallel between the bodhisattva's journey and the journey of Rāma.

Patrick Olivelle, in describing “Buddha's Dharma as Consummation of Brahmanism,” sees particular significance in the implicit undercurrent of the entire text that compares the Buddha to significant Brahmanical figures of the past. Thus, his extraordinary birth is compared to that of other famous kings of the past who had unusual births (1.10). Siddhārtha's departure to the forest parallels that of Rāma: Śuddhodana's grief is similar to that of Daśa-ratha [Rāma's father]; the mission of the minister and chaplain to bring Siddhārtha back is compared to that of Aurvaśeya and Vāma-deva, who were commissioned to bring back Rāma. Śuddhodana himself compares his grief to that of Rāma's father (8.79, 8.81).

I say to the professor: no way. No way was Aśvaghoṣa interested in presenting the Buddha's Dharma as “consummation of Brahmanism.”

In Buddhist studies as in economics, there is a gap between the views of brahmins of Balliol college and reality, and out of that gap a bubble is born. 

If we want to know what Aśvaghoṣa saw as paramount, we should pay attention to what Aśvaghoṣa wrote, viz:

ity-eṣā vyupaśāntaye na rataye mokṣārtha-garbhā kṛtiḥ

This work is pregnant with the purpose of release: it is for cessation, not for titillation;

śrotṝṇāṃ grahaṇārtham-anya-manasāṃ kāvyopacārāt kṛtā /

It is wrought out of the figurative expression of kāvya poetry in order to capture an audience whose minds are on other things --

yan-mokṣāt kṛtam-anyad-atra hi mayā tat-kāvya-dharmāt kṛtaṃ

For what I have written here not pertaining to liberation, I have written in accordance with the conventions of kāvya poetry.

pātuṃ tiktam-ivauṣadhaṃ madhu-yutaṃ hṛdyaṃ kathaṃ syād-iti // SN18.63 //

This is through asking myself how the bitter pill might be made pleasant to swallow, like bitter medicine mixed with something sweet.

prāyeṇālokya lokaṃ viṣaya-rati-paraṃ mokṣāt pratihataṃ

Seeing, in general, that the world is moved primarily by fondness for objects and is repelled by liberation,

kāvya-vyājena tattvaṃ kathitam-iha mayā mokṣaḥ param-iti /

I for whom liberation is paramount have told it here like it is, using a kāvya poem as a pretext.

tad-buddhvā śāmikaṃ yat-tad-avahitam-ito grāhyaṃ na lalitaṃ

Being aware of the deceit, take from (this verb-rooted dust) what pertains to peace and not to idle pleasure.

pāṃsubhyo dhātu-jebhyo niyatam-upakaraṃ cāmīkaram-iti // SN18.64 //

Then elemental dust, assuredly, shall yield up serviceable gold.

If thus for Aśvaghoṣa liberation was paramount, why in a verse like today's verse does he seem to be mainly interested in drawing a parallel between Sarvārtha-siddha and Rāma?

My answer to this question is that in a verse like today's verse Aśvaghoṣa was NOT mainly interested in drawing such a parallel, even if he made it seem like he was. Rather, the discussion of Rāma, Aurvaśeya, and Vāmadeva, might be arranged like a bed of flowers to occupy the eyes of believers in -isms, lest they be offended by seeing what Aśvaghoṣa, below the surface, is really saying.

Gautama taught the true dharma, in Nāgārjuna's words, sarva-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇāya – in the direction of the abandonment of all views.

Reading today's verse in light of Nāgārjuna's conclusion, we should understand that the discussion of Rāma, Aurvaśeya, and Vāmadeva might be incidental and superficial. What is primary and fundamental might be yānam vihāya, abandoning a vehicle.

The point is that a true vehicle is a means of going in a certain direction but in our perception of a vehicle as such, a vehicle becomes a view, an -ism. When that happens it is time for a vehicle to be abandoned. 

A clue to this meaning is in the repetition of tataḥ in the 1^st pāda of each of the last three verses. In view of this repetition, I want to go back and translate tasmāt-tataḥ in BC9.7 as the emphatically repetitive “thus, on those grounds” (instead of “then, on those grounds”). In today's verse and in yesterday's verse, then, tataḥ means on the grounds described in BC9.6, i.e. on the grounds of repeatedly coming back, seeking freedom.

On the grounds of repeatedly coming back, seeking freedom, a veteran approaches (or goes to for refuge, or goes in the direction of) tam.  Tam means him, or that – him who sits royally, like the sun; or that action of sitting. The veteran goes in his direction or in that direction, desiring to see; and, in so moving, a veteran (singular) abandons a vehicle.

Notice that the agent in this narrative is an individual, in the singular.

Both upayayau (he went towards) in the 1^st pāda of today's verse and didṛkṣuḥ (desiring to see) in the 4^th pāda are singular. Not plural, and not even dual, but singular. Those action words are describing the action of one veteran, one man of experience. The bright sparks whose department was thought, or administering of ministerial advice, are in today's verse secondary or subordinate to the main agent who is the man of experience, the sage. In the first half of today's verse this singular individual is the veteran, the purohita (lit. one whose place is in front); in the second half it is the sage Aurvaśeya, whose name means “Descended from the Dawn.” 

Today's verse, then, as I read it, is saying something below the surface not only about Brahmanism but also about Mahāyana Buddhism, and Hinayana Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism. Since the message is very subversive to what Brahmanists and Buddhists hold most dear, the message is buried deep below the surface and covered over with a flower-bed of Brahmanical literary references. But the intended message might be that even Mahāyana Buddhism, and Hinayana Buddhism, and Theravada Buddhism, and Tibetan Buddhism, are all so many -isms, to be abandoned. And this abandonment cannot be accomplished on a group basis. Even on an individual basis, moreover, the abandoning might be hard for anyone who lacks ample practical experience.

If my reading of today's verse is correct, then today's verse is too subversive for words to the way that Buddhist studies has been taught and studied in universities since before the days of EH Johnston. The first question that Buddhist scholars have asked in regard to Aśvaghoṣa, from the end of the 19th century onwards, seems to have been: to what school of Buddhism did Aśvaghoṣa belong?  

In Buddhist studies as in economics, there is a gap between the views of brahmins of Balliol college and reality, and out of that gap a bubble is born. 

VOCABULARY

yānam (acc. sg.): n. a vehicle of any kind , carriage , waggon , vessel , ship , litter , palanquin ; n. (with Buddhists) the vehicle or method of arriving at knowledge , the means of release from repeated births (there are either 3 systems , the śrāvaka-yāna , the pratyeka-buddha-y° or pratyeka-y° , and the mahā-y° ; or more generally only 2 , the mahā-yāna or " Great method " and the hina-y° or " Lesser method " ; sometimes there is only " One Vehicle " , the eka-yāna , or " one way to beatitude ")

vihāya = abs. vi- √ hā: to leave behind , relinquish , quit , abandon

upayayau = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. upa- √ yā: to come up ; to come near , go near or towards ; approach (for protection)

tataḥ: ind. then, thence; thereupon , then , after that , afterwards ; from that , in consequence of that , for that reason , consequently

tam (acc. sg. m.): him, the prince

purohitaḥ (nom. sg.): m. (esp.) a family priest , a domestic chaplain ; mfn. placed foremost or in front , charged , commissioned , appointed

puras: ind. in front , in advance , forward ; (as prep.) before (of place and time) , in the presence or before the eyes of (gen. abl. acc. or comp.)

hita: put , placed , set , laid , laid upon , imposed , lying or situated or contained in (loc.)

mantra-dhareṇa (inst. sg.): m. a counsellor , adviser

mantra: m. " instrument of thought " , speech ; consultation , resolution , counsel , advice , plan , design , secret

dhara: ifc. holding , bearing , carrying , wearing , possessing , having , keeping (also in memory) , sustaining , preserving , observing

sārdham: ind. jointly , together , along with , with (instr.)

yathā

vana-stham (acc. sg. m.): abiding in the forest

saha-vāmadevaḥ (nom. sg. m.): with Vāmadeva

saha: ind. along with, with

vāmadevaḥ (nom. sg.): m. name of minister of daśa-ratha MBh. R.

vāma: mfn. lovely , dear , pleasant , agreeable , fair , beautiful , splendid , noble ; m. the female breast ; m. the god of love ;

rāmam (acc. sg.): m. Rāma; mfn. dark , dark-coloured , black

didṛkṣuḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. desirous of seeing (acc.)

muniḥ (nom. sg.): m. sage

aurvaśeyaḥ (nom. sg.): m. a descendant of urvaśī ; N. of agastya

urvaśī: f. (fr. uru and √1. aś , " to pervade”) , " widely extending " , N. of the dawn (personified as an apsaras or heavenly nymph who became the wife of purū-ravas)

國奉天神師 執正法大臣
捨除俗威儀 下乘而歩進

猶王婆摩疊 仙人婆私吒

往詣山林中 見王子羅摩

BUDDHACARITA 9.8: Seeing Sitting Sunshine

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Māyā)

yāntau tatas-tau mjayā vihīnam-apaśyatāṁ taṁ vapuṣā jvalantam |

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

nṛpopaviṣṭaṁ pathi vkṣa-mūle sūryaṁ ghanābhogam-iva praviṣṭam || 9.8

9.8

As thus on those grounds they were going, they saw him,

Who had totally neglected purification,

shining with handsome form,

On the road, royally seated at the foot of a tree –

Like the sun when it has entered a canopy of cloud.

COMMENT:

This epic tale, as Aśvaghoṣa is telling it, is the story neither of a god nor of a bloke who, by the means of cleaning and wiping an old mirror, becomes Buddha.

Thus in today's verse as I read it, the two wise men see a most truly wonderful sight, which is a human being as he is, sitting naturally underneath a tree.

Read like this, yāntau tatas-tau apaśyatāṁ tam, “going, on that basis, those two saw him,” suggests, following on from yesterday's verse, that those two saw him – i.e., they met non-buddha – as a result of grasping that truth which is grasped by repeatedly coming back to it, and going at once into movement, in the right direction. Tataḥ (thus, on that basis) they were going. And thus they saw him. The principle in the background might be that only buddha sees buddha. And buddha is something going, in the right direction, as opposed to something fixed.

Then mṛjayā vihīnam vapuṣā jvalantam, “shining with handsome form, having entirely negelected purification,” suggests that the prince was already shining with handsome form as a result of just naturally being there, before he ever began tainting his original nature with some end-gaining agenda like making a mirror, or keeping a mirror clean by endless wiping.

The literal meaning of mṛjayā vihīnam is “having entirely abandoned wiping” or “being destitute of cleanliness.” And on the surface the meaning might be as per PO's translation “unwashed.” But below the surface the meaning is closer to EBC's “bereft of all ornaments” (EHJ's text has sṛjayā vihīnam); and EHJ's “not adorned with the artifices of the toilet.”

The three professors each added a disjunctive (“but” or “yet”), as per the ostensible meaning. 

EBC:

“As they were going, they saw him bereft of all ornaments, but still radiant with his beauty,”

EHJ:
“Then as they went along, they saw him... not adorned with the artifices of the toilet but blazing with his form,”

PO:

“The two then, as they went along, saw him, unwashed, yet radiant with innate beauty,”

Originally, however, Aśvaghoṣa did not include any disjunctive. Ostensibly in the original Sanskrit, a contrast is understood between neglecting purification and shining with handsome form. But I think that below the surface Aśvaghoṣa is intending to suggest that we truly shine with our original handsome form only when we abandon purification. “Purification” (mṛjā) in that case is another word for “doing” – or for arranging ourselves, grossly or subtly, into what we feel to be the right position.

I have described on this blog before my efforts to do the right thing in the context of Alexander work with a very experienced teacher, and being constantly told by her

“Not that” …. 

“No, you are arranging yourself” …. 

“No,”..... 

“No, you helped”.... 

“No”..... 

“No, not quite...”

Until one gets to a point of inwardly screaming “FUCK THIS FOR A GAME OF CARDS!!!!”

“Yes. That's better.”

It is better because “FUCK THIS FOR A GAME OF CARDS!!!!” is the verbal expression of a real decision to throw away the metaphorical cloth with which one has been trying to wipe the metaphorical mirror. 

More than that, it might be the manifestation of a decision to abandon even the metaphor. 

Have I twisted this comment so as to arrive once again at the truth that there is no such thing as a right position, but there is a right direction?

Or is it that, solely because of having been caused to see the truth of FM Alexander's assertion, I am singularly able to understand Aśvaghoṣa's words as he really meant them?

I tend to feel that the latter is the case. Mind you, I felt that the price of gold would most likely continue going in the right direction, upward, in 2013.

In the 3^rd pāda of today's verse I think the compound nṛpopaviṣṭam (EBC: “sitting like a king”) echoes rāja-bhaktyā (royal devotion) in yesterday's verse. So I have translated nṛpopaviṣṭam “royally seated.” I also wanted to avoid the repetition of "like", since iva appears in the 4^th pāda. But I must admit that it is tempting to follow EBC with “sitting like a king.” Maybe “royally seated” has got something more modest – less bubbly – about it.

As a general rule, when we are talking about ZAZEN (ZA = sitting, ZEN = meditation) I think “sitting-meditation” is a vastly better translation than “seated meditation.” But in today's verse, being fickle as I am, I decided to break my own rule.

If I wax lyrical about my own experience of sitting like a king out in the open air underneath the spreading canopy of a mighty tree, I am afraid I might be inviting the invisible hand of cosmic irony, like a falling branch, to clobber me once more about my crown... as if to say, “Don't be so sure of yourself."

Any way up, whether we translate it as “royally seated” or “sitting like a king,” nṛpopaviṣṭam suggests sitting in lotus as the samādhi which is king of samādhis; and so I think EHJ was wrong to amend the excellent phrase nṛpopaviṣṭam, which literally means “sitting as a protector of men” or “being royally seated.”

The point in conclusion might be that so long as there are trees left on this earth, we all, every one of us, can be royally seated under a tree. And to take this throne we don't need to resort to political means to establish dominance over others. But it might be necessary, in every case, to understand in practice (though not necessarily in words) what it means to totally neglect purification.  

VOCABULARY

yāntau = nom. dual pres. part. √i: to go , walk

tataḥ: ind. thence; thereupon , then , after that , afterwards ; from that , in consequence of that , for that reason , consequently

tau (nom. dual): the two of them

mṛjayā (inst. sg.): f. wiping , cleansing , washing , purification , ablution ; purity , cleanliness ; a pure skin , clear complexion

vihīnam (acc. sg. m): mfn. entirely abandoned or left &c; low, vulgar ; mfn. destitute or deprived of , free from (instr. abl. , or comp.)

apaśyatām = 3^rd pers. dual imperfect paś: to see

tam (acc. sg. m.): him

vapuṣā (inst. sg.): n. form , figure , (esp.) a beautiful form or figure , wonderful appearance , beauty ; the body

jvalantam = acc. sg. m. pres. part. jval: to burn brightly , blaze , glow , shine

vapuṣojjvalantam [EHJ]

vapuṣā (inst. sg.): n. form , figure , (esp.) a beautiful form or figure , wonderful appearance , beauty ; the body

ujjvalantam = acc. sg. m. pres. part. ud- √jval: to blaze up , flame , shine

nṛpopaviṣṭam (acc. sg. m.): seated as a protector of men, royally seated

nṛpa: protector/ruler of men, king

upaviṣṭa: mfn. seated , sitting ; come to , arrived , entered (into any state or condition)

upopaviṣṭam [EHJ] (acc. sg. m.): seated

upopa- √ viś: , to sit down or take a seat by the side of , sit down near to (acc.)

pathi (loc. sg.): m. a way , path , road

vṛkṣa-mūle (loc. sg.): at the root of a tree

sūryam (acc. sg. m.): m. the sun or its deity

ghanābhogam (acc. sg.): m. the orb or circumference of a cloud, Bcar.

ghana: m. a cloud

ābhoga: m. winding , curving , curve , crease ; the expanded hood of the Cobra Capella (used by varuṇa as his umbrella) ; circuit , circumference , environs , extension , fulness , expanse ; m. ( √2. bhuj) , enjoyment , satiety , fulness , completion ; mfn. ifc. enjoying , eating

iva: like

praviṣṭam (acc. sg. m.): mfn. entered

pra- √ viś: to enter , go into , resort to (acc. or loc.) ; to enter upon , undertake , commence , begin , devote one's self to ; to enter into i.e. be absorbed

見太子處林 悉捨俗儀飾
眞體猶光耀 如日出烏雲 

BUDDHACARITA 9.7: Boldly Going in the Right Direction

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Bālā)

tasmāt-tatas-tāv-upalabhya tattvaṁ taṁ vipram-āmantrya tadaiva sadyaḥ |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

khinnāvakhinnāv-iva rāja-bhaktyā prasasratus-tena yataḥ sa yātaḥ || 9.7

9.7

Then the two of them, on those grounds, grasped the truth,

And said goodbye at once to that inspired sage,

Whereon, as if tired and yet tireless, through their royal devotion,

They staunchly went in that direction in which the other had gone.

COMMENT:

In the 1^st pāda, upalabhya tattvam (grasping the truth) ostensibly means being appraised of a fact – the fact in question being the fact that the prince had put an egg in his boot and beat it. But below the surface, as we examined yesterday, the true reality is not always what it seems to be on the surface.

That being so the 2^nd pāda can be read as an affirmation of the principle that to see the truth is to practise the truth. In other words, the moment of seeing the truth and the moment of saying goodbye might be contiguous moments, or they might be the same moment. The moment of seeing the truth and the moment of hitting the road, Jack, might be contiguous moments; or they might be the same moment.

In the 3^rd pāda, if we follow EHJ's amendment to rāja-bhaktyā (EBC has rāja-putraḥ), and if we follow PO in translating bhakti as love (“out of love for their king”), then the principle of the 3^rd pāda is the principle of “He ain't heavy, he's my brother.” But bhakti can mean attachment not only in the form of love of a person but also in the form of devotion – e.g. devotion to a deity, or devotion to a principle.

If we take bhakti as meaning devotion to a principle, then the 4^th pāda can be read as an expression of that principle, which might be the principle of devotion to a royal, and might also be a principle to which a true royal is devoted.

Read like this, the 4^th pāda is like an open goal inviting former England no. 9 Alan Shearer to put the ball, in Shearer's own words, in the back of the fucking net. So here goes:

“There is no such thing as a right position, 

but there is such a thing as a right direction.”

Thus, though ostensibly today's verse has got nothing to do with sitting-meditation, and still less to do with the teaching of FM Alexander, the gist of it is seeing the truth and, in that very moment, going tirelessly in the right direction.

VOCABULARY

tasmāt: (1) ind. (abl. of 2. tá) from that , on that account , therefore (2) from him

tataḥ: ind. then, thence ; thereupon , then , after that , afterwards

tau (nom. dual): those two

upalabhya = abs. upa- √ labh: to seize , get possession of , acquire , receive , obtain , find ; to perceive , behold , hear, to understand , learn , know , ascertain

tattvam (acc. sg.): n. true or real state , truth , reality

tam (acc. sg. m.): him

vipram: mfn stirred or excited (inwardly) , inspired , wise (said of men and gods , esp. of agni); a sage , seer , singer , poet , learned theologian ; a Brahman

āmantrya = abs. ā- √ mantr: to address ; to bid farewell , take leave

tadaiva: right then

tadā: ind. at that time , then , in that case (often used redundantly , esp. after tatas or purā)

eva: (emphatic)

sadyaḥ: ind. on the same day , in the very moment (either " at once " , " immediately " or " just " , " recently ")

khinnāvakhinnau (nom. dual): weary and yet not weary

khinna: mfn. mfn. depressed , distressed , suffering pain or uneasiness ; wearied, exhausted

ava-: ind. (as a prefix to verbs and verbal nouns expresses) off , away , down ;

iva: like, as if

rāja-bhaktyā (inst. sg. f.): because of devotion to the king

bhakti: (ifc.) the being a part of; attachment , devotion , fondness for , devotion to (with loc. , gen. or ifc.)

rāja-putraḥ [EBC] (nom. sg. m.): the king's son, the prince

prasasratur = 3^rd pers. dual perf. pra-√ sṛ: to move forwards , advance (" for " or " against " acc.) , proceed (lit. and fig.) , spring up , come forth , issue from (abl.) , appear , rise , spread , extend; to break out (as fire)

tena: ind. in that direction , there (correl. to yena , " in which direction , where ") ; in that manner , thus (correl. to yena , " in what manner "); on that account , for that reason , therefore (correl. to yena, yád, yasmāt, yatas )

yataḥ: ind. from which or what , whence , whereof , wherefrom

sa (nom. sg. m.): he

yātaḥ = nom. sg. m. past. part yā: to go

既得定實已 遵崇王速命
不敢計疲勞 尋路而馳進

BUDDHACARITA 9.6: Gold Below the Surface, Seeking Freedom

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

tau so 'bravīd-asti sa dīrgha-bāhuḥ prāptaḥ kumāro na tu nāvabuddhaḥ |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

dharmo 'yam-āvartaka ity-avetya yātas-tv-arāḍābhimukho mumukṣuḥ || 9.6

9.6

The sage told them:

“Indeed! The young prince, he of long arms, did arrive,

But not as an unwitting youth.

On the contrary,

seeing that this dharma practised here

involves repeatedly coming back,

He set out towards Arāḍa, seeking freedom.”

COMMENT:

The present canto, titled kumārānveṣaṇaḥ or “The Seeking of a Prince,” is ostensibly about two emissaries of King Śuddhodana seeking Prince Sarvārtha-siddha. But below the surface, since in the compound kumārānveṣaṇaḥ, kumāra could equally be the agent, as well as the object, of anveṣaṇa, Aśvaghoṣa might be intending to consider how and what the Prince was seeking, or how and what child mind seeks. Kumārānveṣaṇaḥ, then, could mean “The Prince's Search” or "A Child's Search" or “The Prince Seeking the Prince” or “A Prince Seeking a Prince” or even (since one meaning of kumāra is pure gold) “A Prince Seeking Pure Gold.”

In today's verse, at the ostensible level, the sagacious son of Bhṛgu is informing the two emissaries that the prince has moved on, heading for Arāḍa's place; and the reason the prince moved on was that he was dissatisfied with a dharma that was āvartaka (EHJ/PO: leading to rebirth), and so he went to Arāḍa with a view to “striving after emancipation” (MW dictionary definition of mumukṣu), or becoming free from the cycle of transmigration.

What Aśvaghoṣa's writing teaches us to do, however, in verse after verse after verse, is to look below the surface – or, to use a better metaphor, to dig below the surface. Spiritually thinking, Aśvaghoṣa teaches us to dig below the surface for that gold which is one's own real/royal nature. Not thinking spiritually, Aśvaghoṣa's teaching has encouraged me for one to dig below the surface and reconsider the practical utility of physical gold, that scarce natural resource, which really is gold – as opposed, for example, to a claim on gold such as the kind of money that central banks can create ad infinitum.

It is a strange irony that over the last five or so years of maintaining this blog titled Mining Aśvaghoṣa's Gold, seeking to understand what Aśvaghoṣa meant by gold has caused me to revisit what I studied, albeit sporadically, 35 years ago at Sheffield University, where I did a degree in Accounting & Financial Management. According to Linda Covill, Aśvaghoṣa used gold as metaphor for the liberated mind. Maybe so. But with a scepticism born of many painful years that followed a decision to eschew accountancy in favour of a bubble called “True Buddhism,” I think Aśvaghoṣa also understood that gold was gold – not only a symbol, but a real, beautiful metal, with unique chemical characteristics, which human beings since time immemorial have found convenient to use as money.

Money (or love of money), people (especially Christians) say, is the root of all evil. But it may be more accurate to observe that evil tends to be associated with the corruption of sound money – as in times of crisis, especially wartime, when governments have traditionally turned to the printing press.

Hyper-inflation, history suggests, is not generally conducive to human freedom. On the contrary, hyper-inflation tends to usher in political leaders like Adolf Hitler. And the hyper-inflation suffered by the Weimar Republic from 1921 onwards had been rooted, in its turn, in Germany's decision, when WWI broke out, to suspend the convertibility of its currency into gold.

On the surface, the United States of America, with her staunch ally the United Kingdom by her side, stands for freedom. But below the surface, I for one am convinced, our countries have been hijacked by bankers in whose interests central banks have intervened in one crisis after another over the past 20 years, resulting in the creation of a massive Money Bubble.

In a book thus appropriately titled The Money Bubble, James Turk describes how, at the heart of central bank anti-gold machinations, there is an accounting fraud whereby gold that central banks like the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England have leased out to banks like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan is still counted as an asset on the central bank's balance-sheet, even after the gold has been shipped to Swiss refineries, re-cast, and imported into China for keeps. When the bubble finally bursts and the truth comes out, the ensuing scandal will make the false accounting behind the Enron scandal look like small potatoes.

“A bubble arises,” James Turk rightly observes, “when conventional wisdom contradicts economic reality.”

This brings me back nicely to what, as I read it, is the true gold, hidden below the surface, of today's verse.

What the sagacious son of Bhṛgu might be saying, below the surface, is that a true prince does not pursue liberation or enlightenment in such a manner that a gap arises and a bubble inflates.

Read in that light, today's verse follows on neatly from yesterday's verse – the point being that in seeking freedom, here and now, modesty has got to be our middle name.

It is not a question of wanting to go from here to there so that then, having got there, we might seek freedom. When we have that attitude, a gap arises – the wrong kind of gap – and a bubble is liable to inflate. It is more a question of seeking freedom whenever and wherever the opportunity arises or the time can be made, both in a process of going from here to there and in the gap – the good gap – of being right here.

In other words, it is not a question of seeking out Arāḍa, and then going for the BIG ONE – Liberation, Enlightenment, shit or bust. It is more a question of coming back, again and again and again, when one has a few opportune moments, to one's chosen mantra.

“Never let a day go by,” said FM Alexander, “without coming back to those words.”

Head FORWARD and UP...

Head FORWARD and UP...

Head FORWARD and UP...

BUDH...DHO!

BUDH...DHO!

BUDH...DHO!

Here, then, is a nice irony to finish with. Here in 2014, thirty-three years after I finished my accounting degree and decided to seek Zen Enlightenment (yes, unwittingly, with a big E), I am caused to reflect that the world has got no shortage of interesting English-speaking Zen masters. Especially in the United States, taking advantage of favourable treatment afforded by the US tax system to religious organizations, the Zen business (along with creationist Christian churches of this and that, Scientology, et cetera) might already be in a bubble of its own. But what is desperately lacking is some sound accountancy. 

DHO! 

Thus endeth the 2^nd gospel according to Homer Simpson.

VOCABULARY

tau (acc. dual): those two

saḥ (nom. sg. m.): he

abravīt = 3^rd pers. sg. imperfect brū: to speak, say, tell

asti: ind. (3. sg. pr. √1. as) sometimes used as a mere particle at the beginning of fables ; existent, present

[EHJ notes that asti is here used as a particle and its exact force is rendered by the English idiom with “did”]

sa (nom. sg. m.): he

dīrgha-bāhuḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. long-armed

dīrgha

prāptaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. attained to , reached , arrived at , met with

kumāraḥ (nom. sg.): m. a child , boy , youth ; a prince

na: not

tu: but

na: not

avabuddhaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. learnt (as skilfulness)

avabuddhaḥ = nom. sg. m. past part. ava- √ budh: to become sensible or aware of , perceive , know

dharmaḥ (nom. sg.): m. dharma

ayam (nom. sg. m.): this , this here , referring to something near the speaker

āvartakaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. bringing back (?), Bcar. ix, 6

ā- √ vṛt: to turn or draw round or back or near ; to turn or go towards ; to turn round or back , return , revolve ; (causative) to cause to turn , roll ; to bring back ; to turn round or back

āvarta: m. turning , winding , turning round , revolving

āvartam: ind. repeating

vartaka: mfn. who or what abides or exists , abiding , existing , living ; (ifc.) given up or devoted or attached to (cf. guru-v°)

guru-vartaka: mfn. behaving respectfully towards parents or venerable persons

ā-: (as a prefix to verbs , especially of motion , and their derivatives) near , near to , towards; Prefixed to adj. it implies diminution, " a little " e.g. ā-piñjara mfn. a little red , reddish ; Some commentaries (e.g. Comm. on Ragh. iii , 8) occasionally give to ā in this application the meaning samantāt , " all through , completely " , as ā-nīla , " blue all round. "

iti: thus, as

avetya = abs. ava-√i: to look upon , consider ; to perceive , conceive , understand , learn , know

yātaḥ = nom. sg. m. past part. yā: to go , proceed , move , walk , set out

tu: but

arāḍabhimukhaḥ (nom. sg. m.): heading for Arāḍa

arāḍa: m. 'having high horns'; name of a muni

abhimukha: (ifc.) going near , approaching

mumukṣuḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. mfn. desirous of freeing; eager to be free (from mundane existence) , striving after emancipation

muc: to loose , let loose , free , let go , slacken , release , liberate

答言有此人 長臂大人相
擇我等所行 隨順生死法
往詣阿羅藍 以求勝解脱