⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑− Vaṁśastha
viṣāda-pāriplava-locanā
tataḥ pranaṣṭa-potā kurarīva
duḥkhitā |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
vihāya dhairyaṁ
virurāva gautamī tatāma
caivāśru-mukhī jagāda ca || 8.51
8.51
Then, her eyes swimming
in despondency,
The grief-stricken
Gautamī, like an osprey who had lost her chicks,
Gave up all semblance
of composure and squealed.
Tearful-faced, she
gasped for the breath in which she said:
COMMENT:
Today's verse, for a
start, is rooted in neuro-physiological psychology. Which is to say
that, like the study of the grief of Nanda's abandoned wife Sundarī
in SN Canto 6, today's verse describes grief as a psychological
phenomenon (viz. suffering associated with loss, and abandonment of
self-control) and equally as a physiological phenomenon (tears, osprey-like squealing, gasping for breath).
On
the surface, we might say, grief is a psychological phenomenon, but
when we dig deeper, we begin to understand that all psychological
phenomena are rooted in physiological processes and all have physical
manifestations, hence:
Then the king's queen, Gautamī, tearful as a doting water buffalo that had lost her calf, / Abducted her arms and fell, fronds shuddering, like a golden banana plant. // BC8.24//
Conversely,
as the antithesis to this materialistic proposition, a contrarian
non-Buddhist might go against the prevailing scientific wisdom and
assert that all physiological phenomena are rooted in psychological
phenomena – form being emptiness, and emptiness being form.
When
we really go deeper, however, all of the above philosophizing might
be so much splashing around on the surface.
What
is really going on below the surface, in the words of Gautamī and
Yaśodharā in the present canto, as in the words of Sundarī in SN
Canto 6, is a stating of the case against a bodhisattva necessarily
having to abandon his wife and family.
Below
the surface, in other words, Aśvaghoṣa is letting the women state
a case which the buddha-to-be is going to refute in the next and
subsequent cantos.
Perhaps
the refutation of the emotional arguments of abandoned wives and
mothers is made even more strongly in Saundara-nanda than it is in
Buddha-carita – the difference being that in Saundara-nanda neither
the Buddha nor Nanda refutes Sundarī's arguments in words; but, the
reader might be left to conclude, the Buddha's actions speak louder
than words.
Going further, for a bloke who -- whether alone by the forest or in a family -- mainly likes to sit, but who also likes to chew on words about sitting, are there any words
to chew on in today's verse?
For example, could
vihāya dhairyaṁ virurāva, “she abandoned firmness and roared
aloud,” be intended to suggest, below the surface, dropping off
body and mind, i.e. forgetting oneself, and letting the lion's roar
be heard?
Possibly, but if we
want to relate today's verse to sitting-meditation (and I do), a
better way to understand today's verse might be as one of those
verses which remind us what sitting-meditation is NOT.
The main point, in that
case, is that whether or not sitting-meditation includes swimming eyes
and a tearful face, whether it involves getting a grip on oneself or
loosening one's grip on oneself, it does NOT include gasping for
breath, and it does NOT involve squealing like an osprey or saying
any words.
These comments of mine
are always open to the criticism of being too wordy. But in mitigation, I
would ask for it to be taken into account before sentencing, that every
morning before attending to this blog I always sit for an hour
investigating what it is not to say anything – and in that not
saying anything, not to gasp for breath.
VOCABULARY
viṣāda-pāriplava-locanā
(nom. sg. f.): her eyes swimming in despondency
viṣāda:
m. drooping state , languor , lassitude ; dejection , depression ,
despondency (esp. as the result of unrequited love) ; disappointment,
despair
vi-
√ṣad: to sink (sit) down
pāriplava:
mfn. swimming ; moving to and fro , agitated , unsteady , tremulous
locana:
n. " organ of sight " , the eye
tataḥ:
ind. then, from that
pranaṣṭa-potā
(nom. sg. f.): who has lost her young
pranaṣṭa:
mfn. lost , disappeared , vanished , ceased , gone , perished ,
destroyed , annihilated
pota:
m. a young animal or plant (mostly ifc. e.g. mṛga-p° " a
young deer " , cūta-p° " a young mango tree ")
kurarī:
f. a female osprey (fr. √3. ku)
√3.
ku = kū: to sound , make any noise , cry out , moan , cry (as a
bird)
iva:
like
duḥkhitā
(nom. sg. f.): mfn. pained , distressed ; afflicted, unhappy
vihāya
= abs. vi- √ hā: to leave behind, abandon ; to be deprived of ,
lose
dhairyam
(acc. sg.): n. firmness , constancy , calmness , patience , gravity
, fortitude , courage
dhīra:
mfn. steady , constant , firm , resolute , brave , energetic ,
courageous , self-possessed , composed , calm , grave
virurāva
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. vi- √ ru: to roar aloud , cry ,
buzz , hum , yell , sing , lament ,
gautamī
(nom. sg.): f. a female descendant of gotama ; name of Prince
Sarvartha-siddha's step-mother
tatāma
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. tam: to gasp for breath (as one
suffocating) , choke , be suffocated , faint away , be exhausted ,
perish , be distressed or disturbed or perplexed
ca:
and
eva
(emphatic)
aśru-mukhī
(nom. sg. f.): mfn. tearful-faced
jagāda
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. to speak articulately , speak ,
say , relate ,
ca:
and (ca-ca may express immediate connection between two acts or
their simultaneous occurrence)
No
corresponding Chinese – did a verse of Chinese go missing, or was a
verse omitted, as the original section of text was either
accidentally mislaid or wrongly re-arranged?
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