yadi praapya divaM yatnaan
niyamena damena ca
a-vitRptaaH patanty ante
svargaaya tyaagine namaH
12.15
If, after struggling to get to heaven,
Through self-restriction and self-restraint,
Men fall at last, unsatisfied,
Then homage to the heaven-bound
who give up on the way.
COMMENT:
At the centre of the teaching of FM Alexander, as FM’s niece Marjory Barlow communicated it to me, is the practice of giving up. Alexander work is a kind of exact, in-depth, scientific study of giving up, and the only laboratory you need to practice this science is yourself.
The first thing to give up is the idea of being right, because the idea of being right is the first thing that puts a person wrong.
This recognition is also implicit in Zen Master Dogen’s rules of sitting-dhyana, where he says: ZEN-AKU OMWAZU, ZE-HI O KANSURU KOTO NAKARE, “Don’t think good, bad; Don’t care right, wrong.”
The difficult thing is to completely give up the idea of being right, without giving up the effort to keep going in the right direction.
In order to go in the right direction, paradoxically, step one is to give up any idea of rightness as a destination.
A further step, another difficulty to be met, is to completely give up the idea of doing something -- a bow, for example -- in order to find the freedom in which actually to do, or not to do, a bow.
In the fourth line of this verse, as I read it, Nanda is paying homage to nobody if not FM Alexander. FM’s secret, as Marjory taught it to me, not as a theory but as a principle subject to exact verification in practice, is to give up an idea without giving up one’s direction.
Losers have stopped trying,
Winners never quit.
FM taught the two in one,
In true pursuit of It.
The Alexander teachers I have met who seem to have really deep understanding of and devotion to Alexander’s teaching, all without exception have reverence also, to the extent that they know it, for the Buddha’s teaching. Buddhist teachers I have met who do not revere Alexander’s teaching, are as they are, as I see it, because they have never seen the true essence of the Buddha’s teaching, even in a dream. The true essence of the Buddha’s teaching and the true essence of Alexander’s teaching is the same true essence. It has to do primarily with stopping wrong doing, and that stopping begins with giving up an idea. How can preachers of Buddhism, realism and the like understand this point, even in a dream?
If this comment confirms me as a non-Buddhist, so be it. I do not give a damn about true Buddhism. Ashvaghosha’s gold has got nothing to do with true Buddhism. Ashvaghosha’s gold is the truth.
EH Johnston:
If, after obtaining heaven through toil, abstinence and self-restraint, men fall again at the end with desires unappeased, what is the use of so fleeting a Paradise?
Linda Covill:
If men must eventually fall unfulfilled from a heaven so effortfully obtained through observance of the rules and through training, then homage to the man relinquishing heaven!
VOCABULARY:
yadi: if, when
praapya = absolultive of pra-√aap: to attain to ; reach , arrive at , meet with , find ; obtain
divam (accusative): heaven
yatnaat = ablative of yatna: effort , exertion , energy , zeal , trouble , pains
niyamena = instrumental of niyama: m. restraining , checking , holding back , preventing , controlling
damena = instrumental of dama: m. self-command , self-restraint , self-control
ca: and
avitRptaaH = nominative, plural of avitRpta: unsatisfied
patanti = 3rd person plural of pat: to fall down or off , alight , descend
ante (locative of anta): in the end, at last
svargaaya (dative of svarga): for heaven, [being bound] for heaven,
NB. The Clay Sanskrit Library version has svargasya (genitive of svarga)
tyaagine = locative of tyaagin: one who has given up
namas: n. bow , obeisance , reverential salutation , adoration
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.14: A Foothold for the Backward Step
shrutvaa hy aavartakaM svargam
saMsaarasya ca citrataam
na martyeShu na deveShu
pravRttir mama rocate
12.14
For since I have heard what a fleeting whirl is heaven,
And what varieties there are of aimless wandering,
Neither among mortal beings
nor among heavenly beings
Does the onward cycle of doing appeal to me.
COMMENT:
Every verse that contains the word pravRtti, “progressive doing,” or its antonym, nivRtti, “non-doing,” reminds me what I am mainly here to learn: the backward step of turning light and shining.
It is not a question of learning how to do the right thing. The principle of non-doing is to stop doing the wrong thing, so that the right thing can do itself.
The backward step is, in other words, the backward step of letting the neck be free, to let the head go forward and up, to let the back lengthen and widen, while letting the arms and legs out of the back.
Just because sitting like this is opposed to the onward cycle of doing does not mean that it is a condition of laziness. A certain constancy of effort is required to keep at bay the wrong thing. “The wrong thing” means those wrong inner patterns, the doing that must be stopped.
A stimulus that sets off the wrong thing might be something as gross as lifting up a wooden sleeper, or something as subtle as an impulse from a buried optimistic or pessimistic thought. At the point where such a stimulus reaches consciousness, there is a very fleeting window of opportunity to prevent the army of wrong inner patterns from being mobilized. When the moment is missed, the neck grabs the chance to stiffen (or collapse), so that the head, arms and legs get pulled in to the body, and the breath becomes more or less held.
Insofar as a person is a slave to this pattern of reaction, even if he is lucky enough to find himself between the sheets with the heavenly goddess of his dreams, he will be liable to suffer the misfortune of stiffening his neck, pulling his head back, restricting his breathing.... and so the onward cycle of doing will continue. His inability to stop doing the wrong thing might even bring about a certain droopiness which might, in the end, prevent his long longed-for union with the heavenly goddess from being consummated!
To stop doing the wrong thing is not so easy. I, for one, am not very good at it. For most of my waking hours I am unconsciously giving consent to the onward cycle of doing, wherein what tends to happen unconsciously is that the neck stiffens (or collapses), so that the head, arms and legs get pulled in to the body, and the breath becomes more or less held.
Like Nanda, I find that this cycle of doing does not hold any appeal for me; but insofar as I fail to give up all those layers of end-gaining ideas which set the cycle in motion, I continue to be held in the onward cycle. How about right now, for example?
EH Johnston:
For since I have heard of the impermanence of Paradise and of the vicissitudes of the cycle of existence, the continuance of active being either among mortals or among gods has no delights for me.
Linda Covill:
For I have heard of the cyclical nature of heaven and of the variety of rebirths in samsara, and neither among men nor among gods does active existence hold any appeal for me.
VOCABULARY:
shrutvaa = absolutive of shru: to hear
hi: for
aavartakam (accusative): whirlpool ; revolution
svargam (accusative): heaven
saMsaarasya = genitive of saMsaara: m. going or wandering through ; the circuit of mundane existence, the cycle of mass unconscious reaction, samsara
ca: and
citra: conspicuous ,distinguished ; bright-coloured ; variegated , spotted , speckled ; various , different , manifold
-taa: -nature, -ness (abstract noun suffix)
citrataam (accusative): variety, manifold nature
na: not, neither
martyeShu: locative, plural of martya: a mortal, man
na: not, nor
deveShu = locative, plural of deva: a god, heavenly being
pravRttiH = nominative, singular of pravRtti: f. moving onwards , advance , progress ; active life (as opposed to ni-vRtti and to contemplative devotion , and defined as consisting of the wish to act , knowledge of the means , and accomplishment of the object)
mama (genitive): for me
rocate = 3rd person singular of ruc: to shine , be bright or radiant or resplendent ; to be splendid or beautiful or good ; to be agreeable to , please (dat. or gen.)
saMsaarasya ca citrataam
na martyeShu na deveShu
pravRttir mama rocate
12.14
For since I have heard what a fleeting whirl is heaven,
And what varieties there are of aimless wandering,
Neither among mortal beings
nor among heavenly beings
Does the onward cycle of doing appeal to me.
COMMENT:
Every verse that contains the word pravRtti, “progressive doing,” or its antonym, nivRtti, “non-doing,” reminds me what I am mainly here to learn: the backward step of turning light and shining.
It is not a question of learning how to do the right thing. The principle of non-doing is to stop doing the wrong thing, so that the right thing can do itself.
The backward step is, in other words, the backward step of letting the neck be free, to let the head go forward and up, to let the back lengthen and widen, while letting the arms and legs out of the back.
Just because sitting like this is opposed to the onward cycle of doing does not mean that it is a condition of laziness. A certain constancy of effort is required to keep at bay the wrong thing. “The wrong thing” means those wrong inner patterns, the doing that must be stopped.
A stimulus that sets off the wrong thing might be something as gross as lifting up a wooden sleeper, or something as subtle as an impulse from a buried optimistic or pessimistic thought. At the point where such a stimulus reaches consciousness, there is a very fleeting window of opportunity to prevent the army of wrong inner patterns from being mobilized. When the moment is missed, the neck grabs the chance to stiffen (or collapse), so that the head, arms and legs get pulled in to the body, and the breath becomes more or less held.
Insofar as a person is a slave to this pattern of reaction, even if he is lucky enough to find himself between the sheets with the heavenly goddess of his dreams, he will be liable to suffer the misfortune of stiffening his neck, pulling his head back, restricting his breathing.... and so the onward cycle of doing will continue. His inability to stop doing the wrong thing might even bring about a certain droopiness which might, in the end, prevent his long longed-for union with the heavenly goddess from being consummated!
To stop doing the wrong thing is not so easy. I, for one, am not very good at it. For most of my waking hours I am unconsciously giving consent to the onward cycle of doing, wherein what tends to happen unconsciously is that the neck stiffens (or collapses), so that the head, arms and legs get pulled in to the body, and the breath becomes more or less held.
Like Nanda, I find that this cycle of doing does not hold any appeal for me; but insofar as I fail to give up all those layers of end-gaining ideas which set the cycle in motion, I continue to be held in the onward cycle. How about right now, for example?
EH Johnston:
For since I have heard of the impermanence of Paradise and of the vicissitudes of the cycle of existence, the continuance of active being either among mortals or among gods has no delights for me.
Linda Covill:
For I have heard of the cyclical nature of heaven and of the variety of rebirths in samsara, and neither among men nor among gods does active existence hold any appeal for me.
VOCABULARY:
shrutvaa = absolutive of shru: to hear
hi: for
aavartakam (accusative): whirlpool ; revolution
svargam (accusative): heaven
saMsaarasya = genitive of saMsaara: m. going or wandering through ; the circuit of mundane existence, the cycle of mass unconscious reaction, samsara
ca: and
citra: conspicuous ,distinguished ; bright-coloured ; variegated , spotted , speckled ; various , different , manifold
-taa: -nature, -ness (abstract noun suffix)
citrataam (accusative): variety, manifold nature
na: not, neither
martyeShu: locative, plural of martya: a mortal, man
na: not, nor
deveShu = locative, plural of deva: a god, heavenly being
pravRttiH = nominative, singular of pravRtti: f. moving onwards , advance , progress ; active life (as opposed to ni-vRtti and to contemplative devotion , and defined as consisting of the wish to act , knowledge of the means , and accomplishment of the object)
mama (genitive): for me
rocate = 3rd person singular of ruc: to shine , be bright or radiant or resplendent ; to be splendid or beautiful or good ; to be agreeable to , please (dat. or gen.)
Friday, June 5, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.13: Assurance No Longer Needed
apsaraH-praaptaye yan me
bhagavan pratibhuur asi
n' aapsarobhir mam' aartho 'sti
pratibhuutvaM tyajaamy aham
12.13
“For my gaining of the nymphs,
Master, you have stood surety.
The nymphs are no use to me.
I relinquish your guarantee.
COMMENT:
A metaphor that comes to mind for the Buddha’s guarantee is a father teaching his young son to ride a bicycle, keeping his promise to keep hold of the saddle for assurance, until that assurance is no longer needed.
What Nanda is expressing has to do with the metaphor of donkey and carrot, the point of which is readily seen -- and yet there may be nobody who truly sees it.
Nanda, however, has seen a carrot as a carrot. And so Nanda is saying, and really meaning, “This donkey shall no longer be a slave to the carrot!”
When boy meets dream,
And dream thrills boy.
There is no buddha
In that joy.
So wake up monkeys,
Sheep and parrots:
Here a donkey
Gives up carrots.
EH Johnston:
' I have no need of the Apsarases for the gaining of whom Thou standest, Lord, as my surety and I release Thee from the pledge. '
Linda Covill:
"Lord, you stood guarantor for my attainment of the apsarases. But now I have no need of the apsarases, and I relinquish your guarantee.
VOCABULARY:
apsaras: nymphs
praaptaye = dative of pra-√aap): to attain to ; reach , arrive at , meet with , find ; to obtain , receive
yad: [he/you] who
me (genitive of aham): of me
bhagavan = vocative, masculine of bhagavat: possessing fortune , fortunate , prosperous , happy ; glorious , illustrious , divine , adorable , venerable
pratibhuu: m. a surety , security , bail
pratibhuuH (nominal, singular): one who stands surety, guarantor
asi: you are
na: not
apsarobhiH = instrumental, plural of apsaras: nymphs
mama (genitive of aham): to me
arthaH (nominative, singular): purpose, value, use
asti: there is
pratibhuutvam: pledge, guarantee
tyajaami = 1st person singular of tyaj: to give up, relinquish, set aside
aham: I
bhagavan pratibhuur asi
n' aapsarobhir mam' aartho 'sti
pratibhuutvaM tyajaamy aham
12.13
“For my gaining of the nymphs,
Master, you have stood surety.
The nymphs are no use to me.
I relinquish your guarantee.
COMMENT:
A metaphor that comes to mind for the Buddha’s guarantee is a father teaching his young son to ride a bicycle, keeping his promise to keep hold of the saddle for assurance, until that assurance is no longer needed.
What Nanda is expressing has to do with the metaphor of donkey and carrot, the point of which is readily seen -- and yet there may be nobody who truly sees it.
Nanda, however, has seen a carrot as a carrot. And so Nanda is saying, and really meaning, “This donkey shall no longer be a slave to the carrot!”
When boy meets dream,
And dream thrills boy.
There is no buddha
In that joy.
So wake up monkeys,
Sheep and parrots:
Here a donkey
Gives up carrots.
EH Johnston:
' I have no need of the Apsarases for the gaining of whom Thou standest, Lord, as my surety and I release Thee from the pledge. '
Linda Covill:
"Lord, you stood guarantor for my attainment of the apsarases. But now I have no need of the apsarases, and I relinquish your guarantee.
VOCABULARY:
apsaras: nymphs
praaptaye = dative of pra-√aap): to attain to ; reach , arrive at , meet with , find ; to obtain , receive
yad: [he/you] who
me (genitive of aham): of me
bhagavan = vocative, masculine of bhagavat: possessing fortune , fortunate , prosperous , happy ; glorious , illustrious , divine , adorable , venerable
pratibhuu: m. a surety , security , bail
pratibhuuH (nominal, singular): one who stands surety, guarantor
asi: you are
na: not
apsarobhiH = instrumental, plural of apsaras: nymphs
mama (genitive of aham): to me
arthaH (nominative, singular): purpose, value, use
asti: there is
pratibhuutvam: pledge, guarantee
tyajaami = 1st person singular of tyaj: to give up, relinquish, set aside
aham: I
Thursday, June 4, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.12: Shame-Faced Nanda, Conscious of End-gaining
praNamya ca gurau muurdhnaa
baaShpa-vyaakula-locanaH
kRtv" aaNjalim uvaac' edaM
hriyaa kiM cid avaaN-mukhaH
12.12
After bowing his head to the guru,
Eyes filled with tears,
He joined the palms of his hands and spoke as follows,
His face somewhat lowered, in shame:
COMMENT:
Shame is a negative emotion that can have great positive value.
Shame has to do with consciousness of faults, and consciousness of faults is the essence of the progress, through four realisations, that Nanda makes in the final Canto of this poem.
Lack of due attention to the means of practice (because of undue interest in expected rewards such as the love and appreciation of nymphs etc.) is a primary fault in sitting practice. Attachment to the joy that follows from the giving up of an end-gaining idea is also a fault. And the feeling of ease that follows from giving up attachment to joy is also a kind of fault.
Such is the practice that Ashvaghosha is describing: fault follows fault follows fault, beginning with end-gaining.
A face somewhat lowered is the cart; shame is the horse.
In a past life I made such a virtue of putting the cart before the horse that my ears were closed for a long time to the opposite principle; it was a partial, end-gaining view, born of ignorance.
In this verse, as I read it, the horse is before the cart.
EH Johnston:
And bowing his head to the Guru, with his eyes dimmed by tears he folded his hands and spoke as follows, looking somewhat downwards in shame :--
Linda Covill:
He bowed his head to the guru and folded his hands in reverence, and with tears filling his eyes and his face partially lowered in shame, he said:
VOCABULARY:
praNamya = absolutive of praNam: to bend or bow down before (often with muurdhnaa)
ca: and
gurau (locative): to the guru
muurdhnaa = instrumental of muurdha: the head
baaShpa: tear
vyaakula: full of
locanaH = nominative, singular of locana: " organ of sight " , the eye
kRtvaa = absolutive of kR: to do, make
aNjalim = accusative of aNjali: m. the open hands placed side by side and slightly hollowed (as if by a beggar to receive food ; hence when raised to the forehead , a mark of supplication) , reverence , salutation , benediction ; a measure of corn , sufficient to fill both hands when placed side by side
uvaaca = perfect of vac: to speak
idaM: this, the following
hriyaa = instrumental of hrii: f. shame , modesty , shyness , timidity
kiM cid: somewhat
avaaN: turned downwards , being or situated below
mukhaH (nominative, singular): face
baaShpa-vyaakula-locanaH
kRtv" aaNjalim uvaac' edaM
hriyaa kiM cid avaaN-mukhaH
12.12
After bowing his head to the guru,
Eyes filled with tears,
He joined the palms of his hands and spoke as follows,
His face somewhat lowered, in shame:
COMMENT:
Shame is a negative emotion that can have great positive value.
Shame has to do with consciousness of faults, and consciousness of faults is the essence of the progress, through four realisations, that Nanda makes in the final Canto of this poem.
Lack of due attention to the means of practice (because of undue interest in expected rewards such as the love and appreciation of nymphs etc.) is a primary fault in sitting practice. Attachment to the joy that follows from the giving up of an end-gaining idea is also a fault. And the feeling of ease that follows from giving up attachment to joy is also a kind of fault.
Such is the practice that Ashvaghosha is describing: fault follows fault follows fault, beginning with end-gaining.
A face somewhat lowered is the cart; shame is the horse.
In a past life I made such a virtue of putting the cart before the horse that my ears were closed for a long time to the opposite principle; it was a partial, end-gaining view, born of ignorance.
In this verse, as I read it, the horse is before the cart.
EH Johnston:
And bowing his head to the Guru, with his eyes dimmed by tears he folded his hands and spoke as follows, looking somewhat downwards in shame :--
Linda Covill:
He bowed his head to the guru and folded his hands in reverence, and with tears filling his eyes and his face partially lowered in shame, he said:
VOCABULARY:
praNamya = absolutive of praNam: to bend or bow down before (often with muurdhnaa)
ca: and
gurau (locative): to the guru
muurdhnaa = instrumental of muurdha: the head
baaShpa: tear
vyaakula: full of
locanaH = nominative, singular of locana: " organ of sight " , the eye
kRtvaa = absolutive of kR: to do, make
aNjalim = accusative of aNjali: m. the open hands placed side by side and slightly hollowed (as if by a beggar to receive food ; hence when raised to the forehead , a mark of supplication) , reverence , salutation , benediction ; a measure of corn , sufficient to fill both hands when placed side by side
uvaaca = perfect of vac: to speak
idaM: this, the following
hriyaa = instrumental of hrii: f. shame , modesty , shyness , timidity
kiM cid: somewhat
avaaN: turned downwards , being or situated below
mukhaH (nominative, singular): face
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.11: Intending to Listen
khela-gaamii mahaa-baahur
gaj'-endra iva nir-madaH
so 'bhyagacchad guruM kaale
vivakShur bhaavam aatmanaH
12.11
Trembling went he of mighty arm,
Like a top bull elephant, through with rut:
At a suitable moment, he approached the guru,
Wishing to communicate his intention.
COMMENT:
What Nanda wishes to communicate he communicates exactly in 12.16 and 12.17. What he communicates in those verses is his desire to listen. His desire to listen is not the desire to listen to any old rubbish, like somebody’s opinionated viewpoints on true Buddhism, realism, humanism, optimism, and the like. His desire is the desire to listen to the Best of Voices, belonging to the Best of Listeners.
A human being has a listening body. When I sit my skin, bones, nerves, and muscles are all an extension of my listening ear. Sadly, Nature endowed me with a particularly defective one. On the other hand, she compensated by giving me a top two inches that was relatively well adapted for thinking about my ear-centric problem. So year by year I am increasingly attentive to avoiding the stimulus of noise that I struggle to filter out. As I write, I am once more surveying greenery by the forest in France.
Because the human ear is intimately connected with human skin, flesh, bones and marrow, when a male of the species is in rut (or “in love” as we conventionally call it), the voice of a female of a species can churn our stomach and make our knees go weak -- at which time we are more or less deaf to the voice of Buddha.
It has taken Nanda the first eleven Cantos of this poem to get to the point where he is truly through with rutting. Rutting takes a lot of energy. A rutting stag, for example, loses a huge proportion of its body weight during the rutting season. A stag at the end of the rutting season is not conspicuously full of beans. Nanda, similarly, though a big strong bloke by nature, does not now approach the Buddha all full of himself. This verse, as I read it, does not describe a swaying or stately gait. The point may rather be that Nanda goes trembling, eyes filled with tears, mind filled with shame. But he is finally ready to listen to the voice of Buddha. Not only is he ready to listen; he intends to listen.
To listen to the Best of Listeners
Nanda intends.
His wrong inner patterns are the doing
that Buddha intends him to stop.
Negation of intention is not it.
EH Johnston:
Mighty in the arms and freed from conceit, with swaying gait like an elephant with mighty trunk and freed from rut, he went to the Guru at the proper time to explain his feelings.
Linda Covill:
With stately gait and strong in arm, like a princely elephant out of rut, he came to the guru at an appropriate time to tell him of his disposition.
VOCABULARY:
khela: moving , shaking , trembling
gaamii = nominative, singular of gaamin: going ; going or moving on or in or towards or in any peculiar manner
mahaa: great, large
baahuH (nominative, singular): the arm , (esp.) the fore-arm
gaja: an elephant
indra: ifc. best , excellent , the first , the chief (of any class of objects
iva: like
nirmada: mfn. unintoxicated , sober , quiet , humble , modest
nirmadaH (nominative, singular): [an elephant] not in rut
saH (nominative, singular): he
abhyagacchad = imperfect of abhi-√gam: to go near to , approach (with acc.)
gurum (accusative): to the guru
kaale (locative): at an appropriate time
vivakShuH (nominative, singular): mfn. wishing to speak to (acc.)
bhaavam = accusative of bhaava: being, state, condition; true condition or state , truth , reality; manner of being , nature , temperament , character ; any state of mind or body , way of thinking or feeling , sentiment , opinion , disposition , intention
aatmanaH (genitive): of himself
gaj'-endra iva nir-madaH
so 'bhyagacchad guruM kaale
vivakShur bhaavam aatmanaH
12.11
Trembling went he of mighty arm,
Like a top bull elephant, through with rut:
At a suitable moment, he approached the guru,
Wishing to communicate his intention.
COMMENT:
What Nanda wishes to communicate he communicates exactly in 12.16 and 12.17. What he communicates in those verses is his desire to listen. His desire to listen is not the desire to listen to any old rubbish, like somebody’s opinionated viewpoints on true Buddhism, realism, humanism, optimism, and the like. His desire is the desire to listen to the Best of Voices, belonging to the Best of Listeners.
A human being has a listening body. When I sit my skin, bones, nerves, and muscles are all an extension of my listening ear. Sadly, Nature endowed me with a particularly defective one. On the other hand, she compensated by giving me a top two inches that was relatively well adapted for thinking about my ear-centric problem. So year by year I am increasingly attentive to avoiding the stimulus of noise that I struggle to filter out. As I write, I am once more surveying greenery by the forest in France.
Because the human ear is intimately connected with human skin, flesh, bones and marrow, when a male of the species is in rut (or “in love” as we conventionally call it), the voice of a female of a species can churn our stomach and make our knees go weak -- at which time we are more or less deaf to the voice of Buddha.
It has taken Nanda the first eleven Cantos of this poem to get to the point where he is truly through with rutting. Rutting takes a lot of energy. A rutting stag, for example, loses a huge proportion of its body weight during the rutting season. A stag at the end of the rutting season is not conspicuously full of beans. Nanda, similarly, though a big strong bloke by nature, does not now approach the Buddha all full of himself. This verse, as I read it, does not describe a swaying or stately gait. The point may rather be that Nanda goes trembling, eyes filled with tears, mind filled with shame. But he is finally ready to listen to the voice of Buddha. Not only is he ready to listen; he intends to listen.
To listen to the Best of Listeners
Nanda intends.
His wrong inner patterns are the doing
that Buddha intends him to stop.
Negation of intention is not it.
EH Johnston:
Mighty in the arms and freed from conceit, with swaying gait like an elephant with mighty trunk and freed from rut, he went to the Guru at the proper time to explain his feelings.
Linda Covill:
With stately gait and strong in arm, like a princely elephant out of rut, he came to the guru at an appropriate time to tell him of his disposition.
VOCABULARY:
khela: moving , shaking , trembling
gaamii = nominative, singular of gaamin: going ; going or moving on or in or towards or in any peculiar manner
mahaa: great, large
baahuH (nominative, singular): the arm , (esp.) the fore-arm
gaja: an elephant
indra: ifc. best , excellent , the first , the chief (of any class of objects
iva: like
nirmada: mfn. unintoxicated , sober , quiet , humble , modest
nirmadaH (nominative, singular): [an elephant] not in rut
saH (nominative, singular): he
abhyagacchad = imperfect of abhi-√gam: to go near to , approach (with acc.)
gurum (accusative): to the guru
kaale (locative): at an appropriate time
vivakShuH (nominative, singular): mfn. wishing to speak to (acc.)
bhaavam = accusative of bhaava: being, state, condition; true condition or state , truth , reality; manner of being , nature , temperament , character ; any state of mind or body , way of thinking or feeling , sentiment , opinion , disposition , intention
aatmanaH (genitive): of himself
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.10: Untrained Senses & Inconstancy
na tu kaamaan manas tasya
kena cij jagRhe dhRtiH
triShu kaaleShu sarveShu
nipaato 'stir iva smRtaH
12.10
Because of his sensuality, however, his mind
Was still by no means gripped by the kind of constancy
Which is shown, in all three times,
By the received usage of the irregularity which is "being."
COMMENT:
Linda Covill notes that the word in the fourth line asti, which means “being” or “existing,” is considered an example of an indeclinable particle; i.e., an irregular particle whose form is supposed to remain constant.
Nanda does not yet show that kind of constancy. He is more like a dog on a walk which hasn't yet been trained to keep its energy directed in the direction of the walk. A dog like that, before it has been rehabilitated, suffers from conflicting impulses, because it is led not only by the human being who is supposed to be deciding the direction of the walk, but also by its own canine senses; and so the dog keeps disrupting the flow of the walk by wishing to stop to sniff this and that scent.
Ashvaghosha in this section seems to be taking pains to avoid painting a simplistic, one-sided picture of Nanda's condition. If he describes with one breath the sudden dramatic improvement that Nanda has realised simply by giving up an idea, Ashvaghosha describes with the next breath a remaining obstacle in Nanda’s way. Thus, in 12.18 also, while recognizing the beginnings in Nanda of ultimate good, the Buddha sees that Nanda's senses are still set against such growth.
The tale of Handsome Nanda is a tale of real individual growth, of the kind that can’t be hurried. The shock that Nanda has just received is not akin to the shouts, whacks with sticks, et cetera, that were supposed to shock people into the kind of sudden enlightenment (so-called 'satori') that is celebrated in Zen romanticism. The scene is rather being set for Canto 13, in which the Buddha, "knower of the gradual path," will discuss at length how victory over the senses is to be won, through a certain constancy.
I am not sure whether in the fourth line Ashvaghosha is intending to suggest a deeper meaning in addition to the literal one -- a meaning that might make sense not only to Sanskrit grammarians but also to people who are devoted to the simple way of being which is traditional sitting practice. I am not sure whether nipaata, irregularity, expresses not only the irregular form of an indeclinable particle but also the fact that a moment of present existence never has, never does, and never will conform to human rules.
But what I can report assuredly from experience, relating to constancy, is this: When a man is in the groove of living the simple life, enjoying the experience of energy being directed primarily into sitting practice, another man looking on is liable to wonder at the first man’s constant discipline. But the first man is not at all conscious of being disciplined; he is just wishing to keep enjoying his simple life. He is no more conscious of constant discipline than is a happy dog being walked by a good dog-walker.
EH Johnston:
But steadfastness in respect of the past, present and future did not grip his mind in any way because of passion, just as asti is said to be used as a particle of all three times.
Linda Covill:
But because of passion, constancy, which resembles the indefinite particle "existing" in that it pertains to the past, the present and the future, did not in any way take hold of his mind.
VOCABULARY:
na: not
tu: but
kaamaat (ablative of kaama): because of desire, longing, sensuality
manas: the mind
tasya: of him
kena cit: by any means, in any way
jagRhe = perfect of grah: to arrest , stop ; to catch , take captive , take prisoner , capture , imprison ; to take possession of ; to seize ,
dhRtiH = nominative, singular of dhRti: f. holding , seizing , keeping , supporting , firmness , constancy , resolution
triShu (locative): three
kaaleShu = locative, plural of kaalu: time
sarveShu (locative): all
nipaataH = nominative, singular of nipaata: (in gram.) irregular form , irregularity , exception ; a particle
asti: (indeclinable particle) sometimes used as a mere particle at the beginning of fables; existent , present
iva: like, as
smRta: mfn. remembered , recollected , handed down , taught , prescribed , (esp.) enjoined by smRti or traditional law , declared or propounded in the law-books (na smRtam = " not allowed " , " forbidden ")
kena cij jagRhe dhRtiH
triShu kaaleShu sarveShu
nipaato 'stir iva smRtaH
12.10
Because of his sensuality, however, his mind
Was still by no means gripped by the kind of constancy
Which is shown, in all three times,
By the received usage of the irregularity which is "being."
COMMENT:
Linda Covill notes that the word in the fourth line asti, which means “being” or “existing,” is considered an example of an indeclinable particle; i.e., an irregular particle whose form is supposed to remain constant.
Nanda does not yet show that kind of constancy. He is more like a dog on a walk which hasn't yet been trained to keep its energy directed in the direction of the walk. A dog like that, before it has been rehabilitated, suffers from conflicting impulses, because it is led not only by the human being who is supposed to be deciding the direction of the walk, but also by its own canine senses; and so the dog keeps disrupting the flow of the walk by wishing to stop to sniff this and that scent.
Ashvaghosha in this section seems to be taking pains to avoid painting a simplistic, one-sided picture of Nanda's condition. If he describes with one breath the sudden dramatic improvement that Nanda has realised simply by giving up an idea, Ashvaghosha describes with the next breath a remaining obstacle in Nanda’s way. Thus, in 12.18 also, while recognizing the beginnings in Nanda of ultimate good, the Buddha sees that Nanda's senses are still set against such growth.
The tale of Handsome Nanda is a tale of real individual growth, of the kind that can’t be hurried. The shock that Nanda has just received is not akin to the shouts, whacks with sticks, et cetera, that were supposed to shock people into the kind of sudden enlightenment (so-called 'satori') that is celebrated in Zen romanticism. The scene is rather being set for Canto 13, in which the Buddha, "knower of the gradual path," will discuss at length how victory over the senses is to be won, through a certain constancy.
I am not sure whether in the fourth line Ashvaghosha is intending to suggest a deeper meaning in addition to the literal one -- a meaning that might make sense not only to Sanskrit grammarians but also to people who are devoted to the simple way of being which is traditional sitting practice. I am not sure whether nipaata, irregularity, expresses not only the irregular form of an indeclinable particle but also the fact that a moment of present existence never has, never does, and never will conform to human rules.
But what I can report assuredly from experience, relating to constancy, is this: When a man is in the groove of living the simple life, enjoying the experience of energy being directed primarily into sitting practice, another man looking on is liable to wonder at the first man’s constant discipline. But the first man is not at all conscious of being disciplined; he is just wishing to keep enjoying his simple life. He is no more conscious of constant discipline than is a happy dog being walked by a good dog-walker.
EH Johnston:
But steadfastness in respect of the past, present and future did not grip his mind in any way because of passion, just as asti is said to be used as a particle of all three times.
Linda Covill:
But because of passion, constancy, which resembles the indefinite particle "existing" in that it pertains to the past, the present and the future, did not in any way take hold of his mind.
VOCABULARY:
na: not
tu: but
kaamaat (ablative of kaama): because of desire, longing, sensuality
manas: the mind
tasya: of him
kena cit: by any means, in any way
jagRhe = perfect of grah: to arrest , stop ; to catch , take captive , take prisoner , capture , imprison ; to take possession of ; to seize ,
dhRtiH = nominative, singular of dhRti: f. holding , seizing , keeping , supporting , firmness , constancy , resolution
triShu (locative): three
kaaleShu = locative, plural of kaalu: time
sarveShu (locative): all
nipaataH = nominative, singular of nipaata: (in gram.) irregular form , irregularity , exception ; a particle
asti: (indeclinable particle) sometimes used as a mere particle at the beginning of fables; existent , present
iva: like, as
smRta: mfn. remembered , recollected , handed down , taught , prescribed , (esp.) enjoined by smRti or traditional law , declared or propounded in the law-books (na smRtam = " not allowed " , " forbidden ")
Monday, June 1, 2009
SAUNDARANANDA 12.9: Existential Shock Leads to Growth
babhuuva sa hi saMvegaH
shreyasas tasya vRddhaye
dhaatur edhir iv' aakhyaate
paThito 'kShara-cintakaiH
12.9
The shock happened
For the growth in him of ultimate good --
Just as the verb "grow" is listed [after "happen"]
In the lexicon recited by grammarians.
COMMENT:
Linda Covill adds, in an extremely helpful footnote (without which I would be in the same mire as EH Johnston):
in the Dhatupath, Panini's lexicon of Sanskrit verbal roots, the root edh "to increase" occurs immediately after the root bhu, "to exist."
In general Ashvaghosha's writing, and particularly his use of metaphor, seems remarkably non-cultural-specific. This verse also, though at first sight the reference to Panini strikes us as a bit highbrow, is not so much specific to Indian culture as it is specific to formal study of the Sanskrit language. And that, surely, is fair enough. Sanskrit was and is a language that is studied, rather than a language whose music people begin to learn in their mother's womb. Ashvaghosha was writing in Sanskrit for students of Sanskrit, who might be expected to be familiar with Panini's lexicon of Sanskrit verbs -- even if only at one remove. Perhaps, indeed, this verse should be received by a translator of Ashvaghosha as a stimulus to study Panini's lexicon first hand, not taking anybody else's word for it.
In any event, what is truly close to home for all of us is the second line with its three pivotal words vRddhaye (for the growth), shreyasas (of the ultimate good), and tasya (of that individual).
Being concerned with that kind of growth, a couple of years ago my wife did a course with Alexander teacher and midwife Ilana Machover on using Alexander's discoveries to help the process of pregnancy and childbirth. After the course, she reported back with some information that I found awe-inspiring: As a baby emerges from a natural birth, its immune system is shocked into action by the stimulus of the smell of its mother's shit. Hearing for the first time this explanation of an event I had twice experienced with my own eyes, made me reflect on how very little -- practically nothing -- I understand of the wonders of the growth of a human individual.
Facts like that, alongside facts like the successive emergence and inhibition of the four main vestibular reflexes, it seems to me, are not a cause for pessimism or for optimism; but they are a cause for wonder.
EH Johnston:
For that agitation enured to increasing his tendency towards the highest good, just as the root edh is said by grammarians to take vRddhi in its verbal form.
Linda Covill:
For the shock existed for furthering the increase of Excellence in him, just as, for the grammarians, the root "to increase" is listed among the verbs after "to exist."
VOCABULARY:
babhuuva = perfect of bhuu: to be, exist, become, arise, happen
sa: that, the
hi: for
saMvegaH = nominative singular of saMvega: agitation, shock/panic
shreyasas = genitive of shreyas: n. the better state , the better fortune or condition; (= dharma)
tasya (genitive of sa): of him
vRddhaye = dative of vRddhi: f. growth , increase , augmentation ; the second modification or increase of vowels (to which they are subject under certain conditions e.g. aa is the vRddhi of the vowel a ; ai of i , ii , and e ; au of u , uu , and o)
dhaatuH = nominative, singular of dhaatu: element, grammatical or verbal root or stem
edhiH = nominative, singular from edh: to prosper , increase, gain ground, swell
iva: like
aakhyaate (passive of aa-√khyaa): to be named or enumerated
paThitaH = nominal, singular of paThita: recited , read , studied , mentioned
akShara: a syllable, letter, vowel, sound, words
cintakaiH = instrumental, plural of cintaka: mfn. ifc. one who thinks or reflects upon , familiar with; m. an overseer
shreyasas tasya vRddhaye
dhaatur edhir iv' aakhyaate
paThito 'kShara-cintakaiH
12.9
The shock happened
For the growth in him of ultimate good --
Just as the verb "grow" is listed [after "happen"]
In the lexicon recited by grammarians.
COMMENT:
Linda Covill adds, in an extremely helpful footnote (without which I would be in the same mire as EH Johnston):
in the Dhatupath, Panini's lexicon of Sanskrit verbal roots, the root edh "to increase" occurs immediately after the root bhu, "to exist."
In general Ashvaghosha's writing, and particularly his use of metaphor, seems remarkably non-cultural-specific. This verse also, though at first sight the reference to Panini strikes us as a bit highbrow, is not so much specific to Indian culture as it is specific to formal study of the Sanskrit language. And that, surely, is fair enough. Sanskrit was and is a language that is studied, rather than a language whose music people begin to learn in their mother's womb. Ashvaghosha was writing in Sanskrit for students of Sanskrit, who might be expected to be familiar with Panini's lexicon of Sanskrit verbs -- even if only at one remove. Perhaps, indeed, this verse should be received by a translator of Ashvaghosha as a stimulus to study Panini's lexicon first hand, not taking anybody else's word for it.
In any event, what is truly close to home for all of us is the second line with its three pivotal words vRddhaye (for the growth), shreyasas (of the ultimate good), and tasya (of that individual).
Being concerned with that kind of growth, a couple of years ago my wife did a course with Alexander teacher and midwife Ilana Machover on using Alexander's discoveries to help the process of pregnancy and childbirth. After the course, she reported back with some information that I found awe-inspiring: As a baby emerges from a natural birth, its immune system is shocked into action by the stimulus of the smell of its mother's shit. Hearing for the first time this explanation of an event I had twice experienced with my own eyes, made me reflect on how very little -- practically nothing -- I understand of the wonders of the growth of a human individual.
Facts like that, alongside facts like the successive emergence and inhibition of the four main vestibular reflexes, it seems to me, are not a cause for pessimism or for optimism; but they are a cause for wonder.
EH Johnston:
For that agitation enured to increasing his tendency towards the highest good, just as the root edh is said by grammarians to take vRddhi in its verbal form.
Linda Covill:
For the shock existed for furthering the increase of Excellence in him, just as, for the grammarians, the root "to increase" is listed among the verbs after "to exist."
VOCABULARY:
babhuuva = perfect of bhuu: to be, exist, become, arise, happen
sa: that, the
hi: for
saMvegaH = nominative singular of saMvega: agitation, shock/panic
shreyasas = genitive of shreyas: n. the better state , the better fortune or condition; (= dharma)
tasya (genitive of sa): of him
vRddhaye = dative of vRddhi: f. growth , increase , augmentation ; the second modification or increase of vowels (to which they are subject under certain conditions e.g. aa is the vRddhi of the vowel a ; ai of i , ii , and e ; au of u , uu , and o)
dhaatuH = nominative, singular of dhaatu: element, grammatical or verbal root or stem
edhiH = nominative, singular from edh: to prosper , increase, gain ground, swell
iva: like
aakhyaate (passive of aa-√khyaa): to be named or enumerated
paThitaH = nominal, singular of paThita: recited , read , studied , mentioned
akShara: a syllable, letter, vowel, sound, words
cintakaiH = instrumental, plural of cintaka: mfn. ifc. one who thinks or reflects upon , familiar with; m. an overseer
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