⏑−−⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦−−−−¦⏑−⏑−
sa
kālāma-sa-gotreṇa tenālokyaiva
dūrataḥ |
−−−⏑¦⏑−−−¦¦⏑−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑−
uccaiḥ
svāgatam-ity-uktaḥ samīpam-upajagmivān
|| 12.2
12.2
Seen from afar
By that distant kinsman of Kālāma
And greeted immediately
with a welcome that resounded up on
high,
He drew near.
COMMENT:
The MW
dictionary gives “a distant kinsman” as one definition of
sa-gotra. Still, I have used a bit of poetic license in translating
sa-gotra in the 1st pāda of today's verse as “distant
kinsman,” and equally in translating the emphatic eva in the 2nd
pāda as “immediately.”
There are three
or four words in today's verse, however, which even without the
exercise of poetic license, seem to want to speak to our sense of
spatial awareness, or perspective.
Those words are
- dūrataḥ, “from afar”;
- uccaiḥ, which ostenisbly means “loudly” (EBC/PO: in a loud voice; EHJ: aloud) but which originally means aloft, on high, upwards, from above.
- samīpam, “nearness”; and
- upajagmivān, “he approached.”
Literally, then, the 4th
pāda means “he approached nearness” or “he approached
presence” or “he approached imminence.”
Quoting from memory, I think Master
Tendo Nyojo says something somewhere in Shobogenzo to the effect that
the banana plants and bamboos have all entered into a picture.
That ability to see all things as part
of one bigger picture is I think what Aśvaghoṣa is drawing on in
today's verse. Since it has to do with spatial awareness, it is an
ability centred on vestibular functioning.
At the same time, samīpam in the sense
of nearness, presence, or imminence might be more analagous to
touching something.
Apropos of which I am caused to reflect
that the various kinds of Buddhism to which people adhere, might be
said to help people approach the teaching of the Buddha. But
ultimately those approaches are liable to become an obstacle to
actually touching the teaching.
When a teacher's effort becomes part of
the problem he would like to solve – as when an Alexander teacher
who wishes to take a pupil up, actually takes him down; or as when a
Zen teacher who wishes to teach freedom from ignorance actually
promotes ignorance – then the means the teacher is employing to get
off the merry-go-round of saṁsāra, are not working.
Hence, again, the wisdom of Nāgārjuna's
words:
saṁsāra-mūlaṁ
saṁskārān avidvān saṁskaroty ataḥ |
avidvān
kārakas tasmān na vidvāṁs tattva-darśanāt ||MMK26.10||
The
doings which are the root of saṁsāra
Thus
does the ignorant one do.
The
ignorant one therefore is the doer;
The
wise one is not, because
of reality making itself known.
“Reality
making itself known,” I venture to submit, is an expression of the
practice of non-doing (Skt: nivṛtti) wherein the real solution might lie.
VOCABULARY
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
kālāma-sa-gotreṇa
(inst. sg. m.): by the kinsman of Kālāma
kālāma = kālāpa: m.
(fr. kalāpa) , a serpent's hood ; N. of ārāḍa (a teacher of
śākya-muni)
sa-gotra: mfn. being of
the same family or kin , related to (gen. or comp.); m. a kinsman of
the same family (one sprung from a common ancestor or one connected
by funeral oblations of food and water) ; m. a distant kinsman
tena (inst. sg. m.): by
him
ālokya = abs. ā- √ lok
: to look at, behold
eva: (in its most frequent
use of strengthening the idea expressed by any word , eva must be
variously rendered by such adverbs as) just , exactly , very , same ,
only , even , alone , merely , immediately on , still , already , &c
dūrataḥ: ind. from afar
uccaiḥ: ind. (sometimes used
adjectively) aloft , high , above , upwards , from above; loud ,
accentuated ; intensely , much , powerfully
svāgatam (nom. sg.): n. welcome
iti: “...,” thus
uktaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. spoken
samīpam (acc. sg.): n. nearness ,
proximity , vicinity , presence , imminence (with gen. or ifc. , am ,
" to , towards”)
upajagmivān = nom. sg. m. past. part.
upa- √ gam: to go near
迦藍玄族子 遠見菩薩來
高聲遙讃歎 安慰言善來
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