⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑− Vaṁśastha
mahormimanto
mdavo 'sitāḥ śubhāḥ pthak-pthaṅ-mūla-ruhāḥ
samudgatāḥ |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
praveritās-te
bhuvi tasya mūrdha-jā narendra-maulī-pariveṣṭana-kṣamāḥ
|| 8.52
8.52
“Flowing
in great waves, soft, black and beautiful,
[Flowing
in great waves, soft, beautiful, and not white,]
Each
hair rising up singly, growing from its own root:
[Each
thought emerging singly, springing up from the fundamental:]
Have
those locks of his, born from his head,
been
cast upon the ground? –
[Those
thoughts of his, born from the summit,
have
been cast upon the act of becoming – ]
Locks
of hair which are fit to be encircled by a king's crown!
[Thoughts
which are fit to encase the cranium of the best of men!]
COMMENT:
The
subject of today's verse is mūrdha-jāḥ, which ostensibly means
“the [hairs] born from his head,” but which below the surface
might be intended also to mean “the [thoughts] born from his head”
or else “the [thoughts] born from the summit.”
Ostensibly,
then, Gautamī is bemoaning the loss of her step-son's beautiful
locks – in much the same manner as my own maternal grandmother used
to say to me, “Michael, you had such lovely hair! Grow it back... go on... for me.”
It is below the surface, however, that Aśvaghoṣa as usual has buried his real treasure. By yet another in a long line of strokes of genius, Aśvaghoṣa must have reflected that, in a world where everything from hair to human thought and emotion goes in waves, he could, in a foster mother's description of her son's hair, hide his own allusion to how a non-buddha thinks.
It is below the surface, however, that Aśvaghoṣa as usual has buried his real treasure. By yet another in a long line of strokes of genius, Aśvaghoṣa must have reflected that, in a world where everything from hair to human thought and emotion goes in waves, he could, in a foster mother's description of her son's hair, hide his own allusion to how a non-buddha thinks.
Thus
whereas ūrmimat (wavy), mṛrdhu (soft ) and śubha (beautiful ) are adjectives that might equally be
expected to describe the hair of (a) an Indian prince and (b) enlightened thoughts, the interesting word in the 1st pāda as I read
it is asita (black). Below the surface, as in BC Canto 1, I think
asita means “not white,” i.e., not so pure and innocent as
believing people are prone to assume.
In
the 2nd pāda mūla-ruhāḥ,
“springing up from the fundamental,” means, in my book, emerging
out of sitting-meditation.
The
3rd
pāda can be read, for example, as counterposing the highest and the
lowest states of being, the summit (mūrdhan) being the place from where an
enlightened mind considers the lowly end-gaining (bhuvi) which causes living
beings to suffer.
The
4th
pāda, again, could be translated and read in a number of ways. But
the translation of maulī-pariveṣṭana
that
emerged in my mind, springing up from the fundamental, was “encasing
the cranium.” The translation emerged first, then I started
thinking about what it meant and how I might justify it.
Was
Aśvaghoṣa suggesting that clear, preventive thoughts can be as
real and tangible and protective as a piece of head-gear like a
turban or a crash helmet?
My
Zen teacher would not have approved of this line of inquiry. For him
thinking and the reality of action were separated by an absolute
gulf.
VOCABULARY
mahormimantaḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. forming great waves, Bcar.
mahat:
mfn. great
ūrmimat:
mfn. wavy , undulating , billowy ; plaited , curled (as hair) ; m.
the ocean
ūrmi:
mf. a wave , billow ; (figuratively) wave of pain or passion or
grief
mṛdavaḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. soft , delicate , tender , pliant , mild , gentle
asitāḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. (sita , " white " , appears to have
been formed from this word , which is probably original , and not a
compound of a and sita ; cf. asura and sura) , dark-coloured , black
śubhāḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. splendid , bright , beautiful , handsome
pṛthak:
ind. widely apart , separately , differently , singly , severally ,
one by one (often repeated)
mūla-ruhāḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. rising from a root
mūla:
n. root ; basis , foundation , cause , origin , commencement ,
beginning
ruha:
mfn. mounted, ascending
ruh:
to ascend , mount , climb ; to rise , spring up , grow , develop ,
increase , prosper , thrive
samudgatāḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. risen up , come forth , appeared , begun
sam-ud-
√ gam: to go or rise up together , come or break forth
praveritāḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. cast , hurled
pra-veraya:
(cf. √ vel , vell) , to cast , hurl
vel:
to move, shake
vell:
to shake about , tremble , sway , be tossed or agitated
te
(nom. pl. m.): those
bhuvi
(loc. sg.): f. the act of becoming or arising ; f. the place of
being , space , world or universe (also pl.) ; f. the earth (as
constituting one of the 3 worlds , and therefore a symbolical N. for
the number " one ") ; f. earth (as a substance) , ground ,
soil , land
tasya
(gen. sg.): his
mūrdha-jāḥ
(nom. pl.) m. " head-born " , the hair of the head
mūrdhan:
m. the forehead , head in general , skull , (fig.) the highest or
first part of anything , top , point , summit , front (of battle) ,
commencement , beginning , first , chief (applied to persons); m.
(with Buddhists) " the summit " , N. of a state of
spiritual exaltation
narendra-maulī-pariveṣṭana-kṣamāḥ
(nom. pl. m.): mfn. fit to cover the crown of an indra among men
narendra:
m. indra among men, best of men, man-lord, king
maulī:
m. the head , the top of anything; mf. a diadem , crown , crest ;
mf. a tuft or lock of hair left on the crown of the head after
tonsure , a top-knot
pariveṣṭana:
n. a cover , covering
pariveṣṭanā:
f. tying round or up
pari-
√ veṣṭ : to wrap up , cover , clothe , surround , embrace
kṣama:
mfn. fit , appropriate , becoming , suitable , proper for (gen. dat.
, loc. inf. or in comp.)
右旋細軟髮 一孔一髮生
黒淨鮮光澤 平住而灑地
何意合天冠 剃著草土中
何意合天冠 剃著草土中
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