−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Buddhi)
saṁvardhayitrīṁ
samavehi devīm-agastya-juṣṭāṁ
diśam-aprayātām |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−
pranaṣṭa-vatsām-iva
vatsalāṁ gām-ajasram-ārtāṁ
karuṇaṁ rudantīm || 9.26
9.26
Have regard for the
queen who fostered you –
For her who has yet to go south,
into the region inhabited by Agastya,
into the region inhabited by Agastya,
For her who, like a
loving mother-cow that lost her calf,
Is constantly and
piteously wailing in distress.
COMMENT:
The metaphor of the cow
that lost her calf, as I have mentioned before, has meant something
to me ever since I slept (or rather didn't sleep) in a caravan next
to a field of cows all of which were suckling their calves, except
for one distressed mother whose calf had evidently been taken away to
satisfy the French appetite for veal. This cow, when I observed her,
truly was a piteous sight, her massive red eye-balls bulging out as
she constantly bellowed – so piteous that I have studiously avoided
eating veal ever since.
The ostensible gist of
today's verse, then, is that the veteran priest is continuing to do
King Śuddhodana's bidding by tugging at the prince's heartstrings,
trying to convince him that he ought to show some compassion by
returning now to Kapilavastu.
The irony below the
surface, of course, is that the voice of experience is encouraging
the bodhisattva to show his true compassion precisely by not
going back.
In the former reading,
the region inhabited by Agastya, as per EBC's footnote, means the
south — the region of the god of death.
Translating
“and has almost gone to the region over which Agastya presides,”
EHJ notes further that The second pāda, by saying that she has
not died, implies that she is on the point of doing so; C [the
Chinese translator] seems to have understood it thus.
(The Chinese translation
describes the queen as 忘眠食
“forgetting
to sleep or eat.”)
PO's
footnote spells out more clearly still the ostensible meaning of
agastya-juṣṭāṁ
diśam-aprayātām (PO: although to Agastya's region she has not
gone) :–
Agastya's
departure to the southern regions of India is a well-known myth. He
is regarded as still dwelling in the south, and thus the south, the
region of death, is identified as Agastya's region. Not going to
Agastya's region means that she had not died yet.
In the latter, hidden
reading, whereby the voice of experience is encouraging the prince NOT to pander to the wishes of an unenlightened being, “not having passed yet into Agatsya's region” or “not
yet having gone south,” might mean “yet to drop off body and
mind” or “yet to give up one's own body and life.”
Eventually, of course, as described in SN Canto 3, the sage of the Śākyas does go back out of compassion to
Kapilavastu which, under his guiding influence, enters a
kind of golden age. So it was never that the bodhisattva had no
regard for the distress of the unenlightened drama queen: it was
rather that he understood that going back now to embrace the queen, like
she wanted, was not the way to manifest his regard.
So today's verse, in
conclusion, causes us to reflect on the virtue of not allowing
compassion to stimulate us to go directly for the target, like a
non-swimmer who jumps into a lake to try and save a drowning child,
with fatal consequences for both. The bodhisattva manifests his
compassion for the inhabitants of Kapilavastu precisely not by taking
the direct route, but by taking instead the indirect route, via
realization of the state of buddha.
VOCABULARY
saṁvardhayitrīm
(acc. sg. f.): mfn. rearing, bringing up, Bcar.
saṁ-
√ vṛdh: to grow to perfection or completion , grow up , increase
; (causative) to cause to grow , rear , bring up , foster , cherish
, augment , enlarge , strengthen , beautify , make prosperous or
happy
ca:
and
samehi
= 2nd pers. sg. imperative sam-√i: to go or come
together , meet at (acc.) or with (instr. or dat.) , encounter (as
friends or enemies) ; to come to , arrive at , approach , visit ,
seek , enter upon , begin
samavehi
[EHJ] = 2nd pers. sg. imperative sam-ava-√i: , to come
or meet or mix or assemble together , be united in (acc.) ; to
regard , consider
devīm
(acc. sg.): f. queen, goddess
agastya-juṣṭām
(acc. sg. f.): inhabited by Agastya
agastya
= agasti: m. N. of a ṛṣi (author of several Vedic hymns ; said to
have been the son of both mitra and varuṇa by urvaśī ; to have
been born in a water-jar ; to have been of short stature ; to have
swallowed the ocean , and compelled the vindhya mountains to
prostrate themselves before him ; to have conquered and civilized the
South ; to have written on medicine , &c ); the star Canopus (of
which agastya is the regent , said to be the " cleanser of water
" , because of turbid waters becoming clean at its rising Ragh.
xiii , 36)
diśam
(acc. sg.): f. quarter or region pointed at , direction
aprayātām
(acc. sg. f.): not yet gone to [EHJ: has almost gone to]
prayāta:
mfn. set out , gone , advanced ; gone or passed away , vanished ,
deceased , dead
pranaṣṭa-vatsām
(acc. sg. f.): having lost her calf
vatsa:
m. a calf , the young of any animal , offspring , child
iva:
like
vatsalām
(acc . sg. f.): mfn. child-loving , affectionate towards offspring
gām
(acc. sg. f.): cow
a-jasram:
ind. perpetually , for ever , ever
ārtām
(acc. sg. f.): mfn. fallen into (misfortune) , struck by calamity ,
afflicted , pained , disturbed
karuṇam:
ind. mournfully , woefully , pitifully , in distress
rudantīm
= acc. sg. f. pres. part. rud: to weep , cry , howl , roar , lament ,
wail
慈母鞠養恩 盡壽報罔極
如牛失其犢 悲呼忘眠食
如牛失其犢 悲呼忘眠食
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