−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Bālā)
aiḍaś-ca
rājā tri-divaṁ vigāhya nītvāpi devīṁ vaśam-urvaśīṁ tām
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lobhād-ṣibhyaḥ
kanakaṁ jihīrṣur-jagāma
nāśaṁ viṣayeṣv-atptaḥ || 11.15
11.15
Again, King Purū-ravas,
son of Iḍā, having penetrated triple heaven
And even brought into
his thrall that goddess Dawn, Urvaśī,
Was still desirous, in
his greed, of carrying off the Rishis' gold –
Unsatisfied, among all
his possessions in sensory realms,
he went to his end.
COMMENT:
The story of the love
affair between Purūravas and Urvaśī
is told in Kālidāsa's drama Vikramorvaśī,
which means Urvaśī [Won] by Vikrama, or Dawn
[Won] by Valour. So well-known is the story in India that EHJ
evidently deemed it not to warrant a footnote. (EBC had included a short
footnote referencing the story to Mahābh. I, 3147.)
Nanda refers to the
story as follows in SN Canto 7 (where 'Moon-Armoured' Soma-varman is
an epithet of Purū-ravas, as grandson of the moon).
naptā śaśāṅkasya
yaśo-guṇāṅko budhasya sūnur-vibudha-prabhāvaḥ /
As grandson of the
hare-marked moon,
as son of 'The Learned'
Budha and the goddess Iḍā,
and as one marked by
personal honour and virtue,
[Purū-ravas] had the
special powers of the lunar and the very learned;
tathorvaśīm-apsarasaṃ
vicintya rāja-rṣir-unmādam-agacchad-aiḍaḥ // SN7.38
But thinking of
the apsaras Urvaśī, this royal seer also went mad.
hṛtāṃ ca
saunandakinānuśocan prāptām-ivorvīṃ striyam-urvaśīṃ tām /
Again, when the avatar
Saunandakin took away his 'Wide Dawn' Urvaśī,
the wife whom, like the
wide earth, Soma-varman had made his own,
sad-vṛtta-varmā kila
somavarmā babhrāma cittodbhava-bhinna-varmā // SN7.42
'Moon-Armoured'
Soma-varman whose armour,
so they say, had been virtuous conduct,
roamed about grieving,
his armour pierced by mind-existent Love.
The Wikipedia entry on the Kālidāsa play suggests that in Kālidāsa's telling of the
story the lovers eventually live happily ever after, whereas the
above references in Saundarananda suggest otherwise.
In any event, today's
verse carries on the theme of describing an ancient hero who despite
having considerable success in consummating his desires (two out of
three, in today's verse as in yesterday's verse, is not bad), was ultimately not satisfied.
Moreover, the 4th
pāda of today's verse invites me to carry on nit-picking about the
use of atṛptaḥ with the locative plural.
EBC translates
viṣayeṣv-atṛptaḥ as “being unsatisfied with pleasures,”
EHJ as “unsatisfied with the objects of sense,” and PO as
“while his craving for sense objects remained unappeased.”
But the bodhisattva's
style of expression as I read, as also in yesterday's verse, is more
indirect in describing the relationship between (a) the agent of
satisfaction or dissatisfaction and (b) objects/desires surrounding
him in the sensory realm. Again, the bodhisattva is not describing
Purū-ravas as unsatisfied with viṣayaiḥ or with
viṣayāṇām; he is describing Purū-ravas as unsatisfied in
viṣayeṣu or among viṣayeṣu.
This may seem like
small potatoes, but I think that Aśvaghoṣa was drawing our
attention to just such a fine point by the particular phrasing of the
4th pāda of BC11.13 which reads
māndhātur-āsīd-viṣayeṣv-atṛptiḥ,
lit. “For Māndhātṛ there was, in/among objects, dissatisfaction.”
lit. “For Māndhātṛ there was, in/among objects, dissatisfaction.”
The phrasing somehow
suggests another possibility, e.g.:
“For a non-Māndhātṛ
there can be, among objects, satisfaction.”
It somehow relates to
Nanda's pointer in SN Canto 18 to the possibility of being present in
the world (lokeṣu) without being of the world (na loka-dharmā).
kṣayaṃ gataṃ
janma nirasta-janman saddharma-caryām-uṣito 'smi samyak /
Rebirth is over, O
Refuter of Rebirth!
I am dwelling as one
with observance of true dharma.
kṛtsnaṃ kṛtaṃ
me kṛta-kārya kāryaṃ lokeṣu bhūto 'smi na loka-dharmā //18.10
What was for me to do,
O Doer of the Necessary! is totally done.
I am present in the
world without being of the world.
In other words, the
bodhisattva in the present series of verses is ostensibly discussing
whether or not there can be satisfaction with desires/objects,
and he is citing historical examples of unenlightened men who were
not satisfied with desires/objects, attained and unattained.
But what the
bodhisattva is actually expressing might be a more subtle and
profound perception, which is that all of us who are in the world are
inevitably living among many desires in the realm of the senses.
And in this situation,
in attaining and failing to attain those many and various
desires/objects, we who are unenlightened are sometimes satisfied
with desires/objects but are generally dissatisfied with
desires/objects.
But the hope remains
that, even in this very situation of living in the world among many
desires in the realm of the senses, we might be able, even while
living among desires/objects, to find satisfaction – for example,
by really understanding the four noble truths and, equally, by
devotedly following the noble eightfold path.
If, in contrast, we
seek to put the blame on desires and sensual objects and look forward
to a day when those external enemies will all be defeated, our
situation in following that approach might be fairly hopeless.
In an attempt to allow some such inkling to be conveyed by today's verse, the one
Sanskrit word viṣayeṣu which EBC translated with two English
words (“with pleasures”) and EHJ translated with five English
words (“with the objects of sense”), I have translated with no
less than seven English words (“among all his possessions in sensory realms”) – which might be some kind of record for lack of
pithiness.
In light of all of the
above, the title of the present Canto is interesting. Kāma-vigarhaṇaḥ
means Blaming/Condemning Desires. But the main gist of the Canto is
the question (repeated in every verse from BC11.22 through BC11.33)
kāmeṣu
kasyātmavato ratiḥ syāt...?,
lit. “For what man in possession
of himself would there be enjoyment of desires [which are like....]?”
So
implicit in the bodhisattva's oft-repeated question is not the
blaming or condemning of desires; implicit in the bodhisattva's
question is rather the blaming or condemning of not being in
possession of oneself.
Desires
out there are not to blame for this lack of satisfaction in here. The
fault is rather in faults in here.
Why
then did Aśvgahoṣa choose the title kāma-vigarhaṇaḥ, Blaming / Condemning Desires?
One
possible answer is that Aśvgahoṣa did not choose the title, but
some later editor did. This conjecture is supported by EBC's texts,
which do not have a title, and by the Chinese
translation which has an altogether different title, viz 答瓶沙
(Reply
to King Bim[bi]sā[ra]).
佛所行讃答瓶沙王品第十一
The Poem
'What the Buddha Did',
Chapter 11, Reply to King Bimbisāra.
Another
possible answer, and one which I somehow favour, is that Aśvaghoṣa
deliberately chose an ironic title, so as to encourage us to engage
our grey matter and think accurately about the relation between an
agent of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and desires.
Having
written the above comment yesterday and, having had my grey matter thus stimulated, slept on it and sat, the
image came to me this morning of a mountain among clouds, birds, rain, snow,
sunshine et cetera. Which is to say that an agent of dissatisfaction
among desires/objects is inevitably dissatisfied. But an agent of
satisfaction among desires/objects might be like a mountain just
sitting there, jubilant, among clouds, birds, rain, wind, snow,
sunshine et cetera. This mountain, moreover, might be the stronghold
of a tiger. And in its secret forests and foothills there may be places
where dragons find water.
VOCABULARY
aiḍaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. 'containing anything that refreshes or strengthens';
descended from Iḍā; N. of purūravas RV. x , 95 , 18
iḍā:
f. refreshing draught , refreshment , animation , recreation ,
comfort , vital spirit ; the goddess iḍā or iḷā (daughter of
manu or of man thinking on and worshipping the gods ; she is the wife
of budha and mother of purū-ravas ; in another aspect she is called
maitrāvaruṇi as daughter of mitra-varuṇa , two gods who were
objects of the highest and most spiritual devotion)
ca:
and
rājā
(nom. sg.): m. king
tri-divam
(acc. sg.): n. the 3rd or most sacred heaven , heaven (in general)
vigāhya
= abs. vi- √ gāh: to plunge or dive into , bathe in , enter ,
penetrate , pervade , betake one's self into (acc. or loc.)
nītvā
= abs. nī: lead, guide ; to bring into any state or condition (with
acc. e.g. with vaśam , to bring into subjection , subdue)
api:
even, though
devīm
(acc. sg.): f. goddess
vaśam
(acc. sg.): m. will ; authority , power , control , dominion
urvaśīm
(acc. sg.): f. " widely extending " , N. of the dawn
(personified as an apsaras or heavenly nymph who became the wife of
purū-ravas)
tām
(acc. sg. f.): her
lobhāt
(abl. sg.): m. impatience , eager desire for or longing after ;
covetousness , cupidity , avarice
ṛṣibhyaḥ
(abl. pl.): m. seers
kanakam
(acc. sg.): n. gold
jihīrṣuḥ
(nom. sg.): mfn. (fr. desid. of hṛ) wishing to carry off or rob or
appropriate
jagāma
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. gam: to go
nāśam
(acc. sg.): ) m. the being lost , loss , disappearance , destruction
, annihilation , ruin , death
viṣayeṣu
(loc. pl.): m. realm (pl. = lands , possessions), objects, sensual
pleasures, ends to be gained
atṛptaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. unsatisfied
罣羅轉輪王 遊於忉利天
取天女爲后 賦歛仙人金
仙人忿如咒 國滅而命終
取天女爲后 賦歛仙人金
仙人忿如咒 國滅而命終
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