BUDDHACARITA 3.11: A Face-to-Face Transmission

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Vāṇī)

taṁ tuṣṭuvuḥ saumya-guṇena ke-cid-vavandire dīptatayā tathānye |

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saumukhyatas-tu śriyam-asya ke-cid-vaipulyam-āśaṁsiṣur-āyuṣaś-ca || 3.11

3.11

Some praised him for his gentle, moon-like quality;

Others celebrated his blazing brilliance.

But such was the brightness of his face,

That some wished to make his majesty their own,

and to attain the depth of his vital power.

COMMENT:

As a rule I approach each verse of this translation as a work in its own right, which is to say that I didn't translate and comment on yesterday's verse with one eye on today's verse.

That being so, it is reassuring to find that what I wrote yesterday about the relationship between balance and constant effort – as in Albert Einstein's famous observation about riding a bicycle – gels with the content of today's verse. 

The point, as I see it, is that singing the praises of the symptoms of balance in another person is one thing, and being inspired to make balance into one's own possession is another thing altogether.

The point, in other words, is not to build a statue in adoration of some person. This may be why in less degenerate times followers of the Buddha never bothered with building images of the Buddha. Instead they worked single-mindedly to make his teaching their own. 

To people who wished to build monuments in praise of moon-faced buddhas and sun face-buddhas, so they say, the Buddha put his bowl on top of his folded robe and recommended them to heap earth and stones into that shape. So there may be merit to be had in piling up earth and stones, bucket by bucket and rock by rock, into a great big stūpa – as long as one doesn't expect said stūpa to become a permanent monument, which would be stūpid.

Once upon a time, a wise Irish mother, come the school summer holidays, gave her son a spade and asked him to dig a large hole in the back garden. The son would eat his breakfast, spend the morning digging the hole, come in for his lunch, get back to digging in the afternoon, and so on. After several weeks of such constant effort, the son received instructions for the second half of his mission – you guessed it, to fill the hole back in again.

Such, as I understand it, is the merit of building a stūpa in praise of moon-faced buddhas and sun face-buddhas. The merit is not in the veneration, not in the religious impulse to praise: the merit is rather in the constant effort to direct one's energy in a particular direction.

Thus the Buddha tells Nanda at the end of Saundara-nanda Canto 16: 
“So direct your energy in pursuit of peace, for in directed energy, undoubtedly, lies all growth."

tad-vīryaṃ kuru śāntaye viniyataṃ vīrye hi sarva-rddhayaḥ 

In directed energy lies all growth.

vīrye hi sarva-rddhayaḥ

Yesterday, a day during which, as usual, I sat four times, I memorized today's verse. Then when I woke up this morning, before I even opened my eyes, my first thought was not my own thought. It was the words of the Buddha, resounding through the centuries via Aśvaghoṣa: 

In directed energy lies all growth.

vīrye hi sarva-rddhayaḥ

That must be the essential and real point of today's verse -- not to admire and praise something in others, and not to wish for something in others, but really to want it for yourself. 

The ostensible meaning of āśaṁsiṣur in the 4^th pāda is reflected in the respective translations of EBC (eulogised / desired for him) , EHJ/PO (wished him):

EBC: “others eulogised his beauty from his fine countenance and desired for him length of days.”

EHJ: “but for his benignity others wished him sovereignty and length of days.”

PO: “some, on account of his benignity, wished him long life and sovereignty.”

But what Aśvaghoṣa is really pointing to, as I hear him, is the reality of the face-to-face transmission, so that the definition of ā-√śaṁs which is relevant is “to wish to attain” -- in other words to want to share in it, to have the will to make it your own.

To think that the face-to-face transmission is all about personal chemistry is a mistake. The personal chemistry between Gudo Nishijima and me, for example, was sometimes not very good. At other times it was terrible. But Gudo undeniably had something – something which he, in his ineffable stupidity, tried to reduce to “balance of the autonomic nervous system.” Whatever it was, it was evidently rooted in daily sitting practice and study of Dogen's teachings, and so whatever understanding Gudo had of sitting pratice and Dogen's teachings, I had a very strong will to make it my own.

Between the ages of 22 to 26, I must have been a regular pain in Gudo's backside. Specifically I remember an episode in the autumnn of 1983, when I had a lot of fallow time on my hands, and a lot of frustrated sexual energy. If a wise Irish mother had been around, she might have given me a spade. I had left my girlfriend in England to come back to learn from Gudo Nishijima but was only getting to see him intermittently, once or twice a week. So I proposed coming to visit him at his office more regularly – as I was aware that Jeffrey Bailey (with whom Gudo seemed to enjoy a very good personal chemistry) was permitted or even encouraged to do. But Gudo refused my proposal, telling me that one visit per week to his office was enough, because he had other important jobs to do.

Things changed in 1986, when I stopped relying on Gudo so much and started studying Dogen's words for myself in their original Japanese, which was like finally getting a spade of my own. I would add that Gudo did not give me the spade, not in any sense. Far from it. In the matter of sitting-dhyāna, he offered no practical teaching of any merit whatsoever, but simply grabbed people's chins and pulled them backwards, transmitting his woefully inadequate understanding of “right posture” in sitting. In the work of translation, he only wanted the cooperation of native speakers who could re-write his English, not somebody who would “violate my personal job.”

Still, Gudo had deep understanding of Dogen's teaching that I wanted to make my own. And I made constant tenacious effort in that direction. Thus, despite the lack of a good personal chemistry between us, by 1988 things had changed to the point where Gudo wrote me a letter when I was in Thailand asking me very sincerely to cooperate with him on the Shobogenzo translation. As I remember, he asked me for five years. I wish I could find the letter. Anybody who saw it might understand the anger I felt when nearly ten years later, in 1997, Gudo shafted me and went back to seeing the Shobogenzo translation, ex-post, as his own personal job.

The point I am endeavoring to clarify is that to think that the face-to-face transmission is all about personal chemistry, or personal friendship, is a mistake. The reason there was a face-to-face transmission between Gudo and me was that I wanted a piece of whatever he had and I made constant effort in that direction.

It is in these terms that the Buddha describes the face-to-face transmission in Saundara-nanda Canto 16, in exhorting Nanda to make the teaching his own, by his own constant effort:

So, in order to make the noble truths your own, first clear a path according to this plan of action, /Like a king going on campaign to subdue his foes, wishing to conquer unconquered dominions. // 16.85 //These salubrious wilds that surround us are suited to practice and not thronged with people. / Furnishing the body with ample solitude, cut a path for abandoning the afflictions. // 16.86 //Kauṇḍinya, Nanda, Kṛmila, Aniruddha, Tiṣya, Upasena, Vimala, Rādha, /Vāśpa, Uttara, Dhautaki, Moha-rāja, Kātyāyana, Dravya, Pilinda-vatsa,// 16.87 //Bhaddāli, Bhadrāyaṇa, Sarpa-dāsa, Subhūti, Go-datta, Sujāta, Vatsa, /Saṁgrāmajit, Bhadrajit, Aśvajit, Śrona and Sona Koṭikarna,// 16.88 //Kṣemā, Ajita, the mothers of Nandaka and Nanda, Upāli, Vāgīśa, Yaśas, Yaśoda, / Mahāhvaya, Valkalin, Rāṣṭra-pāla, Sudarśana, Svāgata and Meghika, // 16.89 //Kapphina, Kāśyapa of Uruvilvā, the great Mahā-kāśyapa, Tiṣya, Nanda, /Pūrṇa and Pūrṇa as well as Pūrṇaka and Pūrṇa Śonāparānta, // 16.90 //The son of Śāradvatī, Subāhu, Cunda, Kondeya, Kāpya, Bhṛgu, Kuṇṭha-dhāna, /Plus Śaivala, Revata and Kauṣṭhila, and he of the Maudgalya clan and Gavām-pati-- // 16.91 //Be quick to show the courage that they have shown in their practice, working to principle. /Then you will assuredly take the step that they took and will realise the splendour that they realised. // 16.92 // Just as a fruit may have flesh that is bitter to the taste and yet is sweet when eaten ripe, /So heroic effort, through the struggle it involves, is bitter and yet, in accomplishment of the aim, its mature fruit is sweet. // 16.93 //Directed energy is paramount: for, in doing what needs to be done, it is the foundation; without directed energy there is no accomplishment at all; /All success in this world arises from directed energy -- and in the absence of directed energy wrongdoing is rampant. // 16.94 //No gaining of what is yet to be gained, and certain loss of what has been gained, /Along with low self-esteem, wretchedness, the scorn of superiors, Darkness, lack of spirit, and the breakdown of learning, restraint and contentment: / For men without directed energy a great fall awaits. // 16.95 // When a capable person hears the guiding principle but realises no growth, When he knows the most excellent method but realises no upward repose, / When he leaves home but in freedom realises no peace: The cause is the laziness in him and not an enemy. // 16.96 // A man obtains water if he digs the ground with unflagging exertion And produces fire from fire-sticks by continuous twirling. / But those are sure to reap the fruit of their effort whose energies are harnessed to practice, For rivers that flow swiftly and constantly cut through even a mountain. // 16.97 // After ploughing and protecting the soil with great pains, a farmer gains a bounteous crop of corn; After striving to plumb the ocean's waters, a diver revels in a bounty of coral and pearls; / After seeing off with arrows the endeavour of rival kings, a king enjoys royal dominion. So direct your energy in pursuit of peace, for in directed energy, undoubtedly, lies all growth." // 16.98 //

VOCABULARY

tam (acc. sg. m.): him

tuṣṭuvur = 3^rd pers. pl. perf. stu: to praise , laud , eulogize , extol , celebrate in song or hymns

saumya-guṇena (inst. sg. m.): because of his moon-like quality

saumya: mfn. having the nature or qualities of the moon-god; " resembling the moon " , placid , gentle , mild

guṇa: a quality , peculiarity , attribute or property ; good quality , virtue , merit , excellence

ke-cid (nom. pl. m.): some

vavandire = 3^rd pers. pl. perf. vand: to praise , celebrate , laud , extol ; to show honour , do homage , salute respectfully or deferentially , venerate , worship , adore

dīptatayā (inst. sg. f.): because of his brilliance

dīpta: mfn. blazing , flaming , hot , shining , bright , brilliant , splendid ; (in augury) exposed to the sun

-tā: (feminine noun suffix)

tathā: ind. likewise

anye (nom. pl. m.): others, different ones

saumukhyataḥ: ind. because of his cheerful-facedness

saumukhya: n. (fr. su-mukha) cheerfulness

su-mukha: n. a good or beautiful mouth ; a bright face; mfn. having a good or beautiful mouth , fair-faced , handsome ; bright-faced , cheerful , glad

-taḥ: (ablative suffix)

tu: but

śriyam (acc. sg.): f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness ; prosperity , welfare , good fortune , success , auspiciousness , wealth , treasure , riches , high rank , power , might , majesty , royal dignity

asya (gen. sg.): his

ke-cid (nom. pl. m.): some

vaipulyam (acc. sg.): n. largeness

āśaṁsiṣur = 3^rd pers. pl. perf. ā- √ śaṁs: to hope for , expect ; to wish to attain , desire ; to ask ; to praise , extol

āyuṣaḥ (gen. sg.): n. life , vital power , vigour , health , duration of life , long life ; active power , efficacy

ca: and

臣民悉扈從 如星隨宿王
異口同聲歎 稱慶世希有

BUDDHACARITA 3.10 Plodding the Royal Road, In Public View

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

kautūhalāt-sphītataraiś-ca netrair-nīlotpalārdhair-iva kīryamāṇaḥ |

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śanaiḥ śanai rāja-pathaṁ jagāhe pauraiḥ samantād-abhivīkṣyamāṇaḥ || 3.10

3.10

And while eyes that bulged with curiosity,

Covered him, like so many halves of blue lotuses,

He travelled the royal road, quietly and calmly,

Viewed on all sides by the townsfolk.

COMMENT:

Today's verse, I am guessing, presages descriptions of the Buddha that appeared in the  latter cantos of Buddhacarita, the original Sanskrit of which has been lost.

That being so, rāja-patham, which ostensibly means “the king's highway,” again really means “the royal road,” which is a metaphor for a life constantly punctuated by sitting-dhyāna.

In the 1^st phase, people's eyes grow as big as their face because of the mental phenomenon of curiosity or vehement desire (kautūhala). The description of eyes bulging with curiosity therefore naturally belongs in the 1^st pāda.

In the 1^st phase, as described yesterday, flowers and moons tend to be depicted as generic abstractions which are perfect and full. In the 2^nd phase, on the contrary, flowers and moons tend to be pictured as concrete, individual things which are imperfect and not full. The word ardha (“half”) in the 2^nd pāda can be understood in this light.

In the 3^rd pāda, taking “the royal road” to be a metaphor for the path travelled by the Buddha after his enlightenment, my first thought, selecting among various dictionary definitions of √gāh (to dive into, to penetrate, to roam), was to translate jagāhe as “he roamed” rather than “he dove into” or “he penetrated.” But since “he roamed” would not fit the ostensible description of the prince travelling along the king's highway, I decided to translate jagāhe non-committally as “he travelled.”

The 4^th pāda as I read it points to a historical fact about how the Buddha lived his life after his enlightenment, which is to say that he lived his life in the public gaze.

The Buddha memorably tells the as yet unenlightened Nanda:

One who eats anything at any place, and wears any clothes, Who dwells in enjoyment of his own being and loves to be anywhere without people: / He is to be known as a success, a knower of the taste of peace and ease, whose mind is made up -- He avoids involvement with others like a thorn. // SN14.50 //

After Nanda has made the four noble truths his own, however, the Buddha changes his tune:

Deemed to be higher than the highest in this world is he who, having realized the supreme ultimate dharma, / Desires, without worrying about the trouble to himself, to teach tranquillity to others. // SN18.56 // Therefore forgetting the work that needs to be done in this world on the self, do now, stout soul, what can be done for others. / Among beings who are wandering in the night, their minds shrouded in darkness, let the lamp of this transmission be carried. // SN18.57 // Just let the astonished people in the city say, while you are standing firm, voicing dharma-directions, / 'Well! What a wonder this is, that he who was a man of passion is preaching liberation!' // SN18.58 //

Having written the gist of the above comment last night, and also watched a film documentary on BBC4 about musical all-rounder and all-round good egg Jeff Lynne, in my sleep and in my sitting this morning the 3^rd pāda of today's verse in particular seemed to be calling out for further digging.

Jeff Lynne, who in my youth I knew, though not personally, as a fellow supporter of Birmingham City Football Club, is very much in the public eye at the moment as he is promoting some music he has been producing, quietly and calmly, for the past several years. It has been impossible to turn on the TV for the past couple of days without being confronted by Jeff's hairy visage. In the documentary JL was celebrated by such worthies as Paul McCartney and Tom Petty for being a modest bloke whose devotion to music making, at least these days, has got little or nothing to do with desire for fame or greed for money. Paul McCartney described JL as being notable for his balance, and balanced is indeed how JL came across. He came across, as King Śuddhodana comes across in Aśvaghoṣa's writing, as a non-Buddhist epitome of the universal virtue which is quiet, modest and constant devotion to some dharma. In JL's case the non-Buddhist dharma in question would appear to be the making -- quietly, modestly, steadily -- of popular music. 

Reflecting thus, I considered changing the translation of jagāhe from "he travelled" to "he plodded" – in order to convey a sense of slow, steady, constant work. "Plod," however, has a connotation of heaviness which does not fit. "He dove into" has the merit of conveying a sense of devotion, but "he dove into the royal road" does not seem to fit either, and so I have provisionally settled on "he trod," conscious of the fact that the original Sanskrit jagāhe contains a much richer vein of meanings.

My intention now in discussing Jeff Lynne is not to build a statue to the hairy Blues fan and found a new religion of Jeffism, but is rather to stimulate awareness in self and others of what balance is and how it might be possible to cultivate it. 

For example, to what extent is a bloke's balance genetic? To what extent is it rooted in good functioning of the ear? To what extent does it arise from a bloke having a good relationship with his father? To what extent does it arise from being brought up and educated without the imparting of any lofty, immodest pretensions?

On these four counts, Jeff Lynne would indeed seem to score highly. But if these were the sole determinants of balance, many of us would be utterly screwed. We might as well give up and turn to the bottle.

Today's verse, as I read it, as also last night's documentary, as I recall it, point to another determinant of balance, and one that can give all of us a shred of hope. The shred of hope is implicit in the relation between √gāh, meaning to devote oneself or to plod on, and śanaiḥ śanaih expressing quietness, calmness, balance.

VOCABULARY

kautūhalāt (abl. sg.): n. curiosity ; interest in anything , vehement desire for

sphītataraiḥ (ins. pl. n.): exceedingly enlarged, wide open

sphīta: mfn. swollen , enlarged

-tara: (an affix forming the compar. degree of adjectives)

ca: and

netraiḥ (inst. pl.): n. the eye (as the guiding organ)

nīlotpalārdhaiḥ (ins. pl. n.): blue lotus halves

nīlotpala: n. a blue lotus

ardha: mn. the half

iva: like

kīryamāṇaḥ = nom. sg. m. pres. part. kṝ: to pour out , scatter , throw , cast , disperse ; to throw up in a heap , heap up ; to strew , pour over , fill with , cover with

śanaiḥ: ind. quietly , softly , gently , gradually , alternately

śana: (prob. connected with √ śam) , quiet , calm , soft (only in instr. pl. śanais q.v.)

√ śam: to become tired , finish , stop , come to an end , rest , be quiet or calm or satisfied or contented

rāja-patham (acc. sg.): m. the king's highway , a main road , public road or street

jagāhe = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. gāh: to dive into , bathe in , plunge into (acc.) , penetrate , enter deeply into (acc.); to roam , range , rove

pauraiḥ (inst. pl.): m. townsfolk

samantāt: ind. on all sides

abhivīkṣyamāṇaḥ = nom. sg. m. pres. part. abhi-vi-√īkṣ: to look at , view , perceive ; to examine

觀者挾長路 側身目連光
瞪矚而不瞬 如並青蓮花 

BUDDHACARITA 3.9: Stellar Means

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Mālā)

tataḥ prakīrṇojjvala-puṣpa-jālaṁ viṣakta-mālyaṁ pracalat-patākam |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

mārgaṁ prapede sadṛśānuyātraś-candraḥ sanakṣatra ivāntarīkṣam || 3.9

3.9

And so a road bestrewn with masses of flowers in full bloom,

Along which wreaths hung down and flags fleetingly fluttered,

He entered, with suitable backing,

Like the moon entering the sky in the company of stars.

COMMENT:

Flowers in the 1^st pāda belong to the first phase because they are flowers in full bloom – as flowers are invariably depicted by little children.

A cynical old bugger who has lost the innocence of his youth, on the contrary, when asked to picture a flower, might picture a scene at a cemetery or a memorial service, where wreaths are laid and hung, and where the fleeting fluttering of flags serves as a reminder to all of approaching death. Thus are the flowers described in the 2^nd pāda, as I read it.

In the 3^rd pāda sadṛśānuyātraḥ ostensibly means “with a worthy/suitable retinue” (EBC/EHJ). But anuyātrā, in addition to its primary meaning of “retinue” has a secondary meaning of “that which is required for a journey.” So insofar as the road (mārgam) is a metaphor for the ultimate teaching of the Buddha, then the metaphorical meaning of sadṛśānuyātraḥ might be “being suitably equipped with necessities” or “being in possession of the appropriate means-whereby” for travelling that road.

In metaphor of the 4^th pāda, the/a moon is a person or a sitting-practitioner – but what kind of moon did Aśvaghoṣa have in mind? The kind of golden full moon a child would picture? I think not. A white half or crescent moon of the kind beloved of cynics and skeptics? No, because that kind of moon, shining in a blue sky, is not backed by stars.

In metaphor of the 4^th pāda, again, the sky is a road or a path – but evidently not a single track. Aśvaghoṣa's sky, evidently, was much broader than that. 

More unfathomable still is what Aśvaghoṣa intended to symbolize by the stars? In light of the ambiguity of  sadṛśānuyātraḥ, did he secretly intend to compare the stars to a means?

The Buddha said his ultimate teaching was a road or path (mārga-satya), and he also said it was a means (upāya):

"This is suffering; this is the tangled mass of causes producing it; / This is cessation; and here is a means (ayam upāya)." Thus, one by one, this supreme set of four, // SN3.12 // The seer set out.

When the Buddha said ayam upāya, “here is a means,” how wide did he intend the meaning of ayam “this/here” to be? Wide enough to include the stars, for example? Wide enough to include the sky? Today's verse, as I read it, suggests so.

Is there a sense that the stars can be a means of cessation? Again, I think so.

But in that case what Aśvaghoṣa means by stars is not what astrologists or astronomists mean by the stars – any more than what Aśvaghoṣa means by not letting go (in BC3.7) is what psychologists mean by not letting go, and any more than what Aśvaghoṣa means by gold (in BC3.8) is what economists mean by gold.

People (including yours truly) are prone to think that the teaching of the buddha-ancestors should be all about letting go, and not so much about the stars, and still less about gold. But digging every day for the deeper meaning in Aśvaghoṣa's words causes us to suspect that this might be a wrong and biased view, an idea to be abandoned – in short, a view.

"What is your view on gold?" Zen practitioner A asks Zen practioner B. 

"I am not interested in gold.  I am interested in letting go. I am interested in the gap beween human thought and reality," practitioner B replies. 

"You do have a view on gold," practitioner A insists. "It is just that you haven't examined it yet. You haven't even recognized it yet as a view."

VOCABULARY

tataḥ: ind. then

prakīrṇojjvala-puṣpa-jālam (acc. sg. m.): strewn with nets/multitudes of flowers in full bloom

prakīrṇa: mfn. scattered , thrown about , dispersed;

ujjvala: mfn. blazing up , luminous , splendid ; lovely, glorious; full-blown

puṣpa: flower

jālam n. a net ; (chiefly ifc.) collection, multitude

viṣakta-mālyam (acc. sg. m.): with hanging wreaths/garlands

viṣakta: mfn. hung to or on or upon

mālya: n. a wreath , garland , chaplet

pracalat-patākam (acc. sg. m.): with fluttering flags

pracalat: mfn. moving , trembling , shaking ; going , proceeding far or much ; circulating , being current or customary ; prevailing , being recognized (as authority or law)

patāka: m. (" flying ") , a flag or banner

mārgam (acc. sg.): m. the track of a wild animal , any track , road , path ,

prapede = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. pra- √ pad: to go forwards set out for , resort to , arrive at , attain , enter (with acc.)

sadṛśānuyātraḥ (nom. sg. m.): having a suitable retinue

sadṛśa: conformable , suitable , fit , proper , right , worthy

anuyātrā: f. retinue , attendance; that which is required for a journey.

candraḥ (nom. sg.): m. the moon

sanakṣatra (nom. sg. m.): with its asterism ; together with the stars

sa: (possessive prefix)

nakṣatra: n. a star or any heavenly body ; n. sg. sometimes collectively " the stars " ; n. an asterism or constellation through which the moon passes , a lunar mansion AV. &c &c (27 , later 28 , viz. śraviṣṭhā or dhaniṣṭhā , śata-bhiṣaj , pūrva-bhadrapadā , uttara-bhadrapadā , revatī , aśvinī , bharaṇī , kṛttikā , rohiṇī or brāhmī , mṛga-śiras or āgrahāyaṇī , ārdrā , punarvasū or yāmakau , puṣya or sidhya , āśleṣā , maghā , pūrva-phalgunī , uttara-phalgunī , hasta , citrā , svātī , viśākhā or rādhā , anurādhā , jyeṣṭha , mūla , pūrvā*ṣāḍhā , uttarāṣāḍhā , abhijit , śravaṇa)

iva: like

antarīkṣam (acc. sg.): n. the intermediate space between heaven and earth ; the atmosphere or sky

街巷散衆華 寶縵蔽路傍
垣樹列道側 寶器以莊嚴
繒蓋諸幢幡 繽紛隨風揚

BUDDHACARITA 3.8: Gold Trappings, Four Horses, Good Driver, Gold Carriage

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti (Ārdrā)

tataḥ sa jāmbūnada-bhānḍa-bhṛdbhir-yuktaṁ caturbhir-nibhṛtais-turaṅgaiḥ |
         −−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
aklība-vidvac-chuci-raśmi-dhāraṁ hiraṇ-mayaṁ syandanam-āruroha || 3.8

3.8
Yoked to four calm submissive horses

Bearing golden trappings,

With an assertive driver at the reins,
a man of knowledge and integrity,

Was the golden carriage which he then ascended. 

COMMENT:
If yesterday's verse was an investigation into the unreality which is a function of our human self-consciousness, today's verse as I read it is pointing, through the use of metaphor, to the kind of unfathomable reality we encounter as if in a dream.

The elements of the metaphor are (1) golden trappings, (2) four horses, (3) the driver, and (4) ascending the golden carriage – in that order.

The order of the four elements is important insofar as (1) the gold of the golden trappings can be taken as symbolizing what is supremely valuable and beautiful; (2) each of the four horses is a concrete individual, having attained its present calm submissive state through a particular relationship with the whip (see Shobogenzo chap. 85, Shime); (3) the driver is the buddha, the man of action who guides the horses to direct their energy in the direction he desires; and (4) ascending the golden carriage on the royal road can be taken as a metaphor for the real life of an individual non-buddha who keeps going on up.

I have not been able to maintain this fourfold order in any kind of natural-sounding way in English, and so in the above translation the order of the four elements is (2), (1), (3), (4).

Today's verse and yesterday's verse seem to be opposed to each other in the same way as Dogen's metaphorical description of sitting-meditation as “a backward step of turning light and letting it shine” can be seen as opposed to Aśvaghoṣa's more detailed and literal description of four stages of sitting-meditation, which are each entered by finding fault in oneself at a progressively deeper level – for example, by seeing the fault in end-gaining desire, in thinking/ideas, in attachment to joy, and in attachment to ease.

In today's verse, which I have thus understood to be not so much a literal description of the prince's journey on the king's highway as a metaphor for a sitting practitioner's journey on the royal road, gold makes two appearances – in the 1st pāda (jambūnada) and in the 4th pāda (hiraṇ-mayam).

I think this reflects that Aśvaghoṣa firstly uses gold to symbolize something to which human beings universally tend to assign high value – and consideration of what human subjects value belongs to the first phase.

Secondly he uses gold to symbolize what is real, as opposed to what human beings treat as if it were real, like digitized money for example. So long as we all believe our digitized money is real, financial mayhem may be averted. But if we begin to lose confidence in money, as governments create more and more of it in the effort to keep the economy afloat, then the demand for gold goes up, and since the global supply of gold is limited, the price of gold (in terms of made-up money) rises. This is what has been happening for the past several years, so that some people think that the rising price of gold already represents a speculative bubble. Those central banks which are now adding to their own gold reserves are evidently not of this view, and neither am I -- though I am always liable to be wrong.

The good thing about a global free market in gold is that the rising or falling price keeps in perfect balance the desires, on the one side, of people who wish to sell gold for made-up money, and on the other side, of people who wish to buy gold for made-up money -- and so looking at the price, everybody who has gold, or who has made-up money, can decide where they stand.

John Maynard Keynes, who belongs to that class of brainy classical economists whose bright ideas precipitated the current crisis, in 1924 described the gold standard as “a barbarous relic.” 

The poor Indian farmers who have continued nonetheless to use gold as the primary vehicle for their savings, have doubtless never read Keynes.

Is one side right and one side wrong?

When a sitting practitioner learns to turn his own light and let it shine, is that golden light a metaphor? Or is it a real energy?

Again, if it is energy, is it a particle? Or is it a wave?

I don't know. But when it comes to trusting big governments, I am with the Indian farmers.

VOCABULARY

tataḥ: ind. thence, from that

sa (nom. sg.): he

jānbūnada-bhānḍa-bhṛdbhiḥ (inst. pl. m.): bearing golden trappings

jāmbūnada: n. gold from the jambū river , any gold

bhānḍa: n. tool; n. horse-trappings , harness

bhṛdbhiḥ = inst. pl. m. bhṛt: mfn. bearing , carrying , bringing , procuring , possessing , wearing , having

yuktam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. yoked, harnessed

caturbhiḥ (inst. pl. m.): four

nibhṛtaiḥ (inst. pl. m.): mfn. ( √ bhṛ) borne or placed down , hidden , secret; firm , immovable ; attached , faithful ; still , silent ; quiet , humble , modest , mild , gentle

turaṅgaiḥ (inst. pl.): m. 'fast-goers,' horses

aklība-vidvac-chuci-raśmi-dhāram (acc. sg. n.): with a man who was manly, knowing, and honest holding the reins

aklība: mfn. not impotent, manly

klība: mfn. impotent , emasculated , a eunuch; unmanly , timorous , weak , idle , a coward ; having no water (as a cloud)

klīb: to be impotent , behave like a eunuch ; to be timorous or modest or unassuming

vidvas: mfn. one who knows , knowing , understanding , learned , intelligent , wise , mindful of , familiar with , skilled in

śuci: mfn. shining , glowing , gleaming , radiant , bright ; clear , clean , pure (lit. and fig.) , holy , unsullied , undefiled , innocent , honest , virtuous ; (ifc.) one who has acquitted himself of or discharged (a duty » rahaḥ-śuci, 'one who has executed a secret commission')

raśmi: m. a string , rope , cord , trace , rein , bridle , leash , goad , whip; a ray of light , beam , splendour

dhāra: mfn. ( √ dhṛ) holding , supporting , containing

hiraṇ-mayam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. golden , gold-coloured

syandanam (acc. sg.): n. 'moving on swiftly,' a war-chariot , chariot , car

āruroha = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. ā- √ ruh: to ascend , mount , bestride , rise up

衆寶軒飾車 結駟駿平流
賢良善術藝 年少美姿容
妙淨鮮花服 同車爲執御

BUDDHACARITA 3.7: The Old Gap

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Mālā)

atho narendraḥ sutam-āgatāśruḥ śirasy-upāghrāya ciraṁ nirīkṣya |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

gaccheti cājñāpayati sma vācā snehān-na cainaṁ manasā mumoca || 3.7

3.7

Then the king, tears welling,

Gazed long upon his son, kissed his head,

And issued his command, with the word “Go!”

But with his heart, because of attachment,

he did not let him go.

COMMENT:

In Saundara-nanda Canto 4, Nanda is described as mukto bhujābhyāṁ na tu mānasena, “let go by [Sundarī's] arms but not by her heart”:

And so, with arms made fragrant by her swollen sandal-scented breasts, she let him go -- but not with her heart. (SN4.38)

It looks at first glance as though Aśvaghoṣa's intention in such evocative verses might be to move the reader or listener with romantic poetry, on the way to understanding Buddhist enlightenment. Aśvaghoṣa's real intention, on the contrary, might be totally to subvert romantic thinking, on the way to better understanding of delusion.

Read in that light, today's verse is no sympathetic portrayal of dear old golden-hearted King Śuddhodana; it is rather akin to a clinical dissection, whose aim is to lay open to public view that old gap between the overt or ostensible aspect of our human action, and how we really are.

It is always easier to see that gap in others than to see it in ourselves....

You've got a lot of nerve
To say you are my friend.
When I was down you just stood there grinning.

You've got a lot of nerve
To say you've got a helping hand to lend.
You just want to be on the side that's winning.

You see me on the street.
You always act surprised.
You say, how are you, good luck, but you don't mean it.
When you know as well as me,
You'd rather see me paralyzed
Why don't you just come out once and scream it!

Generally speaking we human beings – especially when compared with, say, a breed of dog like a labrador that has been bred to be faithful and true – seem to have evolved, with our manipulative brains and hands, to be insincere. We say “how are you? good luck!” but we don't mean it.

Even the best of Alexander teachers are liable to say, using the words let and go, “Let the head go forward and up,” while all the time that teacher is unknowingly imparting with his or her hands a downward direction. In that case, of course, the downward direction does not originate in the hands; it originates in the teacher's irresolute heart and mind. The hands are simply a conduit between two brains and nervous systems.

Really good Alexander teachers are able to help average Alexander teachers wake up to this kind of gap between what one thinks one is doing and what one is actually doing. I speak here from plentiful personal experience, as one of the average ones. (On second thoughts, am I lying to myself even here with self-flattering  words like "plentiful" and "average" -- as opposed to, say, "scant" and "rubbish"?) 

If the above observations sound cynical, today's verse as I read it is no less cynical. What Aśvaghoṣa as I hear him is pointing to is the difficult fact that for 30 years I have pursued Zen enlightenment without ever really wanting – except perhaps in odd moments -- to give up the gamut of habits and objects to which I have attached. I have wanted to have my cake and eat it.

Those of us who take it on ourselves to preach generally fall short in practising what we preach.

In my own intermittent work as an Alexander teacher, for example, I prattle on about letting this and allowing that, but for what percentage of that time am I practising what I preach? For what percentage of the time am I lying to myself -- 99%? 99.9%? 100%?

Giving Alexander directions, so experienced teachers say, is like posting a letter. “I wish to let the neck be free, to let the head go forward and up, to allow the back to lengthen and widen.” 

Having sent the message, one should trust that the message will go to the right address. Having posted a letter, one does not drive after a succession of Post Office vans before finally shadowing the postman to make sure the letter has got there. Similarly, the point of thinking an Alexander direction is not to feel something happening, in this or that area, as a result of thinking. But that is what tends to happen, because of attachment (snehāt) to results.

Thus, FM Alexander observed that, “when you think you're thinking, you are actually feeling. And when you think you're feeling you are doing.”

In other words, FM pointed to a gap, in working on the self, between what we think we are doing and what we are actually doing.

Marjory Barlow pointed to the same gap when she remarked: “I think of doing nothing. And then I ask myself what kind of nothing am I doing?”

It is easy, in Zen and in Alexander work, to speak, with a word (vācā), of the freedom to be found in doing nothing. But with the heart (manasā), because of attachment (snehāt), we do not truly wish for a bit of nothing. We fear a bit of nothing. Instead of truly willing the means of liberation, we give in to quivering anxiety.

It is when Nanda shows himself not to be like that, that the Buddha praises Nanda -- both when Nanda establishes the will to attain the truth in Canto 12, and after Nanda attains the truth in Canto 18.

"Long carried off course by the restless horses of the senses, / You have now set foot on a path, with a clarity of vision that, happily, will not dim. // SN12.20 // Today your birth bears fruit; your gain today is great; / For though you know the taste of love, your mind is yearning for indifference. // SN12.21 // In this world which likes what is close to home, a fondness for non-doing is rare; / For men shrink from the end of becoming like the puerile from the edge of a cliff." // SN12.22 //

"Ah! What firmness in you, who is a slave to objects no more, in that you have willed the means of liberation. / For, facing the end of existence in this world and thinking 'I will be finished,' it is a fool who gives in to a state of quivering anxiety." // SN18.26 //

VOCABULARY

atho: ind. and, then, and so

narendraḥ (nom. sg.): m. lord of men, king

sutam (acc. sg.): m. son, child, offspring

āgatāśruḥ (nom. sg. m.): with tears arriving

āgata: mfn. come, arrived

aśru: n. a tear

śirasi (loc. sg.): n. head

upāghrāya = abs. upā - √ ghrā: to smell at ; to kiss , apply the lips to (loc.)

ciram: ind. for a long time

nirīkṣya = abs. nir- √ īkṣ: to look at or towards , behold , regard , observe (also the stars) , perceive

gaccha = 2^nd pers. sg. imperative gam: to go

iti: “...,” thus

ca: and

ājñāpayati = 3^rd pers. sg. causative ā- √ jñā: to order , command , direct

sma: particle often used pleonastically , and in earlier language generally follows a similar particle [esp. ha , na] , or relative , or prep. or verb , while in later language it frequently follows iti , na and nā́ [cf. 1. mā́] ; it is also joined with a pres. tense or pres. participle to give them a past sense [e.g. praviśanti sma , " they entered "]

vācā (inst. sg.): f. speech , voice , talk; a word

snehāt (abl. sg.): m. blandness , tenderness , love , attachment to , fondness or affection

na: not

ca: and

enam (acc. sg.): him

manasā (inst. sg.): n. heart, mind

mumoca = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. muc: to let go

王見太子至 摩頭瞻顏色
悲喜情交結 口許而心留 

BUDDHACARITA 3.6: In Action On the Royal Road

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−   Upajāti (Ārdrā)

tataḥ kṛte śrīmati rāja-mārge śrīmān vinītānucaraḥ kumāraḥ |

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

prāsāda-pṛṣṭhād-avatīrya kāle kṛtābhyanujño nṛpam-abhyagacchat || 3.6

3.6

And so in majestic action on the royal road,

A majesty-possessing heir-apparent

with an amenable assembly in his train,

Having alighted at the proper time

from atop his elevated perch,

Approached, with his assent, a protector of men.

COMMENT:

Today's verse as I read it has below its surface a particularly strong autobiographical component. It may be true to say that every verse that Aśvaghoṣa wrote has an autobiographical component, insofar as Aśvaghoṣa was not in the business of composing a biography, like a voyeuristic journalist, or a Buddhist scholar, as if the Buddha's teaching had nothing to do with him personally. Rather he was always writing out of his own practice and experience.

That being so, whereas on the surface kṛte śrīmati rāja-mārge means “on the king's highway which had been made beautiful/splendid [by getting rid of the great unwashed, the disabled etc.]" (EBC: “Along this road made beautiful”; EHJ: “when the road had been made beautiful”; PO: "when the royal highway had been made splendid"), below the surface kṛte śrīmati rāja-mārge might really mean “on the royal road in the splendid sate of action.” In that case, pratyaṅga-hīnaḥ (being bereft of extremities) and kṛte śrīmati (being in the splendid state of action) are one and the same state of being, which is called a royal road.

Whereas on the surface śrīmān vinītānucaraḥ kumāraḥ describes the son of King Śuddhodana as “the fortunate prince with his well-trained attendants” (EBC) or “the prince in full splendour with well-trained attendants” (EHJ) or “the splendid prince along with his trained attendants” (PO),  below the surface śrīmān vinītānucaraḥ kumāraḥ might be intended to describe every individual practitioner of Aśvaghoṣa's acquaintance who practised slow walking in a group of fellow practitioners, such that everybody led everybody else, as “a majesty-possessing heir-apparent with an amenable assembly in his train.” In other words, śrīmān vinītānucaraḥ kumāraḥ, as I read it, is an expression of Aśvaghoṣa's practice and experience in the order of the 11^th Zen patriarch in India, Puṇyayaśas.

That being so, whereas prāsāda ostensibly means the upper storey of Śuddhodana's royal palace, I think prāsāda is really intended to mean a raised sitting platform.

And whereas when Aśvaghoṣa wrote nṛpam, “protector of men,” he was ostensibly referring to King Śuddhodana, Aśvaghoṣa might really have had in mind his own experience of approaching a teacher like Puṇyayaśas.

Speaking of elevated perches, when I sit in France I generally sit on one of a number of basic sitting platforms that I have enjoyed constructing for that purpose, both inside a Zendo/shed and out  in the open air, whereas in England I generally sit on a thick mat placed on the floor. And one thing I have noticed since coming back from France after the summer is that it is easier for me to establish the “knees forwards and away” direction prior to sitting on a platform constructed at roughly knee height, than it is when I am called upon to sit on a cushion on the floor. This was particularly the case following an injury to my left knee which made it more difficult for me to keep directing myself up while going into a low squat. For those who sit on the floor but who lack the flexibility to go into a low squat, another alternative is to go onto hands and knees first, get a lengthening and widening direction going there, and then from all fours place the pelivs on top of the round cushion. But all things considered, if it is possible, with the aid of a raised platform, to go into the “position of mechanical advantage” that Alexander teachers and students through the ages have referred to as “monkey,” in the process of and immediately prior to parking one's backside upon a round cushion, this in my experience is most conducive to sitting with the knees going forwards and away, which I would recommend to anybody.

Majestic action (kṛṭam śriyam), I submit, is a state of being bereft of extremities (pratyaṅga-hīnaḥ). And as a subtle, delicate, indirect and at the same time very accurate means-whereby for realizing that state, nothing in my experience beats the technique evolved for that purpose by FM Alexander. 

VOCABULARY

tataḥ: ind. then, thence; from that, in consequence of that

kṛte (loc. sg.): mfn. made ; n. deed , work , action

śrīmati (loc. sg.): mfn. beautiful , charming , lovely , pleasant , splendid , glorious ; possessed of fortune , fortunate , auspicious , wealthy , prosperous , eminent , illustrious , venerable (used , like śrī , as a prefix before the names of eminent persons and celebrated works and sometimes corrupted into śrīmant) , of high rank or dignity

śrī: f. light , lustre , radiance , splendour , glory , beauty , grace , loveliness; prosperity , welfare , good fortune , success , auspiciousness , wealth , treasure , riches ; high rank , power , might , majesty , royal dignity ; symbol or insignia of royalty

-mat: (possessive suffix)

rāja-mārge (loc. sg.): m. the king's highway , a royal or main road , principal street (passable for horses and elephants); (met.) the great path

śrīmān (nom. sg. m.): splendid; illustrious

vinītānucaraḥ (nom. sg. m.): with a well-behaved assembly in his train

vinīta: mfn. led ; tamed , trained , educated , well-behaved , humble , modest

anucara: m. companion , follower , servant

anu- √ car: to walk or move after or along ; to follow , pursue , seek after ; to follow out , adhere to , attend

kumāraḥ (nom. sg.): m. child, youth; son; prince ; heir-apparent

prāsāda-pṛṣṭhāt (abl. sg.): from the palace roof ; from atop his sitting platform

prāsāda: m. (for pra-sāda lit. " sitting forward " , sitting on a seat in a conspicuous place) a lofty seat or platform for spectators , terrace; the top-story of a lofty building ; a lofty palatial mansion (approached by steps) , palace , temple ; (with Buddhists) the monks' hall for assembly and confession

pṛṣṭha: n. the back, the hinder part or rear of anything; the upper side

avatīrya = abs. ava- √ tṝ: alight from , alight (abl.) ; to descend (as a deity) in becoming incarnate

kāle (loc. sg.): in time, in good time, at the right time

kṛtābhyanujñaḥ (nom. sg. m.): with his assent

kṛta: mfn. done, achieved

abhyanujñā: f. assent , approval ; authorization , permission

nṛpam (acc. sg.): m. ruler/protector of men, king

abhyagacchat = 3^rd pers. sg. imperfect abhi- √ gam: to go near to, to approach

莊嚴悉備已 啓請求拜辭

BUDDHACARITA 3.5: Clearing Aśvaghoṣa's Road

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

pratyaṅga-hīnān vikalendriyāṁś-ca jīrṇāturādīn kṛpaṇāṁś-ca dikṣu |

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

tataḥ samutsārya pareṇa sāmnā śobhāṁ parāṁ rāja-pathasya cakruḥ || 3.5

3.5

Those bereft of extremities, with disabled organs of sense,

Along with pitiable people everywhere

-- the old, the infirm, and the like --

Were therefore caused, with great gentleness, 
to clear the area,

So that the royal road 
was made to shine with great splendour.

COMMENT:

It feels like I have been in training for the last four years to nail the translation of today's verse. If I have failed, never mind, because tomorrow will be the day of another Olympic final. 

On the face of it, the king in today's verse is a patrician ruler who, ableit gently, says in so many words to so many squalid plebs on his royal road, "Know your place, you plebs and morons. You are not running this country. I am. So clear off out of the way." (Any resemblance of the king, thus portrayed, to any patrician British politician recently in the news, is purely intentional.)

Thus EBC translated today's verse, perfectly literally, as follows:

Then having removed out of the way with the greatest gentleness all those who had mutilated limbs or maimed senses, the decrepit and the sick and all squalid beggars, they made the highway assume its perfect beauty.

EHJ likewise:

Then with the greatest gentleness they cleared away on all sides those whose limbs were maimed or senses defective, the aged, sick and the like, and the wretched, and made the royal highway supremely magnificent.

PO likewise: 

Then, removing very gently from every side those lacking a limb or with defective organs, the wretched, the decrepit, the sick, and the like, they heightened the grandeur of the royal highway. 

On the face of it, today's verse is not one of those that encourages us to dig for hidden meaning.

But if we do dig anyway, if only for the sake of digging itself, the first pointer to buried meaning might be in rāja-pathasya (EBC: the highway; EHJ/PO: the royal highway).

In yesterday's verse Aśvaghoṣa used the expression rāja-marge (“on the royal road”). In today's verse he writes of śobhāṁ parāṁ rāja-pathasya (“the great splendour of the royal road”). In BC3.6 he again uses the expression rāja-marge (“on the royal road”), and in BC3.10 and BC3.25 rāja-patham (“the royal road”).

In addition to the ostensible meaning of “the king's highway,” the real intention of rāja-patha might be to suggest, as "a royal road," the life of a bloke for whom the most important thing is simply sitting and who is thus very gradually freed, with great indirectness, from lack of integrity and from enslavement to faulty sensory appreciation. 

In that case, “one bereft of extremities, with disabled organs of sense,” means a non-buddha. A non-buddha means, for example, a bloke whose main aṅgas (e.g. head and torso) when he sits are not discomknockerated out of alignment by his misuse of pratyaṅgas (e.g. by clenching his jaw, unduly tensing his toes and, above all, grasping with his hands). A non-buddha, again, might be a bloke with seriously faulty sensory appreciation who has worked out a means whereby in his practice of upright sitting faulty feelings may be circumvented.

In that case, if samutsārya is translated as “causing to clear away,” even if away is spelled “away,”  samutsārya might best be understood as meaning “causing to clear a way" --  in which case the objects to be swept out of the way are not human beings who are less than perfect, but rather faulty habits of use rooted in faulty sensory appreciation and end-gaining ideas.

In that case, again, if samutsārya is translated as "causing to get out of the area," the area to be got out of is not the royal road -- except insofar as the area to get out of might be the whole idea of "a royal road." The area to be got out of, again, is the area of faulty habits of use rooted in faulty sensory appreciation and end-gaining ideas. 

The final word of today's verse, cakruḥ is in the 3rd person plural: it means "they did/made/effected." Aśvaghoṣa, however, did not specify the subject who made the royal road shine with splendour, by clearing stuff away, or by clearing a way, or by clearing the whole area. 

Was omitting to specficy the subject of a verb an uncharacteristically inelegant oversight on Aśvaghoṣa's part? I don't think so. My intuition is that Aśvaghoṣa saw it as his own job, as also it was the job of his predecessors and it would be the job of his progeny, to clear a way for non-buddhas, and a way for ordinary plebs and ordinary toffs too. The unspecified subject of cakruḥ, in that case, might be the buddha-ancestors along with blokes who labour in service of buddha-ancestors, with shovels and brooms in hand, mining Aśvaghoṣa's gold and sweeping Aśvaghoṣa's road. 

The real meaning that Aśvaghoṣa intended by pratyaṅga-hīnān, “being bereft of extremities,” I am sure, is what Dogen meant by 自成一片 JI-JO-IPPEN “becoming all of a piece.” And to clarify that meaning, for self and others, is what I have been endeavouring to do for the past thirty years, so far, I must admit, with very limited success.

Incidentally, when I came to search this blog for  自成一片 JI-JO-IPPEN “becoming all of a piece," in order to cut and paste it here, I was confounded by not being able to find the navigation bar which always used to appear at the top of the screen. In attempting to fix that problem I accidentally changed the whole template of the blog, and then was unable to change it back. So the new layout of the blog is nothing intentional, just another in a continuing series of mistakes. 

VOCABULARY

pratyaṅga-hīnān (acc. pl. m.): those with missing/defective limbs ; those [whose core is] free from [interference from] extremities

pratyaṅga: n. a minor or secondary member of the body (as the forehead , nose , chin , fingers , ears &c ; the 6 aṅgas or chief members being the trunk , head , arms and legs)

hīna: mfn. deficient , defective , faulty , insufficient , short , incomplete , poor , little , low , vile , bad , base , mean ; bereft or deprived of , free from , devoid or destitute of , without (instr. abl. loc. acc. , or comp)

vikalendriyān (acc. pl. m.): those deprived of organs of sense ; those in whom reliance on the power of the senses is absent

vi-kala: mfn. deprived of a part or a limb or a member , mutilated , maimed , crippled , impaired , imperfect , deficient in or destitute of (instr. or comp)

indriya: n. bodily power , power of the senses ; faculty of sense , sense , organ of sense

ca: and

jīrṇāturādīn (acc. pl. m.): the decrepit, the sick, and the like

jīrṇa: mfn. old , worn out , withered , wasted , decayed

ātura: mfn. suffering , sick (in body or mind) ; diseased or pained by (in comp.)

ādi: et cetera

kṛpaṇān (acc. pl. m.): mfn. inclined to grieve , pitiable , miserable , poor , wretched , feeble; low, vile; m. a poor man; a scraper, a niggard

ca: and

dikṣu (loc. pl.): f. quarter or region pointed at , direction , cardinal point

tataḥ: ind. then, thence

samutsārya = abs. caus. sam-ut- √ sṛ: to send away , dismiss ; to drive away , disperse , dispel

ut- √ sṛ: to hasten away , escape; (causative) to expel , turn out , drive away , put or throw away , leave off ; to cause to come out ; to challenge

pareṇa: ind. farther , beyond ; out of the way

sāmnā (inst. sg.): n. calming , tranquillizing , (esp.) kind or gentle words for winning an adversary , conciliation , negotiation (one of the 4 upāyas or means of success against an enemy)

śobhām (acc. sg.): f. splendour , brilliance , lustre , beauty , grace , loveliness

parām (acc. sg. f.): mfn. extreme; superior , best , highest , supreme

rāja-pathasya (gen. sg.): m. the king's highway , a main road , public road or street

cakruḥ = 3^rd pers. pl. perf. kṛ: to do, make

[NO CORRESPONDING CHINESE TRANSLATION]