bhajeta rogan na bhajeta tat-kShamaM
tathaa shariire bahu-duHkha-bhaajane
rameta mohaad viShay'-aabhikaaNkShayaa
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9.45
For just as desire for pleasure from one's medicine
Might cause one to accept one's infirmity
instead of taking proper measures against it,
So, because of desire for one's object,
might one ignorantly rejoice,
In that receptacle of much suffering, a body.
COMMENT:
EHJ's original text has tat-kShamam ("that which is proper to it") at the end of line 2. LC emended tat-kShamam to tat-kShayam ("its eradication"), which admittedly makes sense and makes for a more concise translation.
Use of the word kShama, however, fits with the striver's persona as a preacher of propriety (kShama-vaadin; 8.11), and so after some initial hesitation I decided last night to go with EHJ's original. Then, having slept on it, I decided without any hesitation to go with EHJ's original -- because it struck me that the sense of non-propriety, or not trying to be right, might be integral to an irony that Ashvaghosha secretly intended.
If we take today's verse at face value, the striver's gist contrasts with the Buddha's gist at the end of his exhortation that Nanda should go forth into the wandering life:
"Therefore, while you are meeting the present moment, while death has yet to come, / So long as you have the energy for practice, set your heart on a better way.//" [5.49]
The striver's apparent pessimistic attitude to possession of a human body contrasts also with the words below left, which are copied from the original version of Dogen's rules for sitting-zen for everybody:
SUDE NI NIN-SHIN NO O-E O ETARI
MUNASHIKU KO-IN O WATARU KOTO NAKARE
"Having already received the adaptive intelligence which is a human body, do not pass time in vain!"
In the revised version, Dogen changed the wording slightly to
SUDE NI NIN-SHIN NO KIYO O ETARI
MUNASHIKU KO-IN O WATARU KOTO NAKARE
"Having already received the vital mainspring which is a human body, do not pass time in vain!"
I think Dogen's essential idea was that the true object of life as he lived it was to realise the dharma of a buddha, which is just to sit with right foot on left thigh and left foot on right thigh -- for which purpose it is necessary to have the vital mainspring which is a human body.
The most vital and valuable moments in my life seem to me to have been spent on a rugby pitch, in the gym, in the karate dojo, in the Alexander teaching room, standing on a gravel path stick in hand with plentiful earth below and limitless sky above, and above all sitting on a round black cushion -- all activities requiring possession of a human body. Conversely, when I regret time I have wasted, I seem to be prone to waste a hell of a lot of time on verbal discussion after the fact.
Receptacle for much suffering though a human body may be, vehicle for many mistakes though a human body may be, in the Buddha's teaching as I understand it having a human body is not a cause for pessimism. Having a human body is a blessing, something to be grateful for and something to rejoice in.
Ultimately then, though the gist of the striver's words is opposite to this gist of the Buddha's teaching, Ashvaghosha's wicked sense of irony may once again be at play. On the surface the striver's words seem pessimistic. But they can also be read as expressing the very negation of ascetic pessimism, and the very gist of the Buddha's teaching, in regard to possession of a human body:
The pleasure of taking our dharma-medicine of sitting-meditation might be such that we are happy to accept our ignorance and wrongness as it is, instead of trying to be enlightened and right; and thus in acceptance of our ignorance we can, because of our primary desire to understand the Buddha's true teaching, truly rejoice in our possession of a human body.
EH Johnston:
For to find delight in the body, that vessel of much suffering, out of delusion and a desire for the objects of the senses would be like (purposely) becoming ill and avoiding the course capable of curing it out of a desire for the pleasure of physic.
Linda Covill:
For as one might cultivate diseases rather than their eradication through a desire for the pleasures of medication, so through a befuddled desire for the sensory realm one might find pleasure in the body, that recipient of many pains.
VOCABULARY:
yathaa: ind. just as
hi: for
bhaiShajya-sukh'-aabhikaaNkShayaa (inst. sg.): because of desire for the pleasures of a drug
bhaiShajya: n. curativeness , healing efficacy; n. any remedy , drug or medicine ; n. the administering of medicines &c
sukha: n. ease , easiness , comfort , prosperity , pleasure , happiness
abhikaaNkShaa: f. longing for , desire (with acc. or ifc.)
abhi- √kaaNkSh: to long for , desire ; to strive
abhi: ind. (a prefix to verbs and nouns , expressing) to , towards , into , over , upon
√kaaNkSh: to wish , desire , long for , hope for (with acc.) , expect , wait for , await (with acc.) , strive to obtain
bhajeta = 3rd pes. sg. (middle voice) bhaj: to obtain as one's share , receive as (two acc.) , partake of , enjoy (also carnally) , possess , have ; to turn or resort to , engage in , experience , incur , undergo , feel ; to pursue , practise , cultivate
rogaan (acc. pl.): m. " breaking up of strength " , disease , infirmity , sickness
na: na
bhajeta = 3rd pes. sg. (middle voice) bhaj: to obtain as one's share , receive as (two acc.) , partake of , enjoy (also carnally) , possess , have ; to turn or resort to , engage in , experience , incur , undergo , feel ; to pursue , practise , cultivate
tat-kShamam (acc. sg.): the proper [remedy] for them
tat-kShayam (acc. sg.): their eradication
tat: them; those illnesses
kShama: mfn. fit , appropriate , becoming , suitable , proper for (gen. dat. , loc. inf. or in comp.)
kShaya: m. loss , waste , wane , diminution , destruction ; end, termination
tathaa: ind. so, likewise
shariire (loc. sg.): n. the body
bahu-duHkha-bhaajane (loc. sg. n.): receptacle of many discomforts
bahu-duHkha: much suffering, many pains
bhaajana: n. " partaker of " (from √bhah) a recipient , receptacle , (esp.) a vessel , pot
rameta = 3rd pers. sg. optative ram: to be glad or pleased , rejoice at , delight in , be fond of (loc.)
mohaat (abl. sg.): out of delusion
viShay'-aabhikaaNkShayaa (inst. sg.): with longing for sensual objects
viShaya: anything perceptible by the senses , any object of affection or concern or attention , any special worldly object or aim or matter or business , (pl.) sensual enjoyments , sensuality
abhikaaNkShaa: f. longing for , desire (with acc. or ifc.)
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