SAUNDARANANDA 1.6: The Charming & The Dismal

caaru-viirut-taru-vanaH
prasnigdha-mRdu-shaadvalaH
havir-dhuuma-vitaanena
yaH sad" aabhra iv' aababhau

= - = - - - - =
- = - - - = - =
- = = - - = = -
= - = - - = - =

1.6
Wooded with charming shrubs and trees

And abounding with lush, soft grass,

It was so thick with sacrificial smoke

That it constantly resembled a raincloud.

COMMENT:
In the next series of verses, as I read it, Ashvaghosha's descriptions of nature are uniformly and unequivocally affirmative, whereas his descriptions of human behaviour following the norms of brahminical or kshatriya traditions are always ambiguous. Behind these latter descriptions, as I read them, Ashvaghosha is seditiously nodding and winking.

Thus, the present verse can be read simply as a poetic description of how lovely Kapila's ashram was. Alternatively, abhra (raincloud or thundercloud), with its connotation of dismal and foreboding weather, might be understood as suggesting that the auspicious site on a bright slope of the Himalayas was somewhat wasted on a champion of dismal austerities like Kapila.

The word vitaana in line 3 seems to mean "the great quantity [of smoke]." But, as you can see from the dictionary definitions below, vitaana can also mean, literally "out of tune," i.e. off-colour, sad, dejected, dismal. So in this choice of word too, Ashvaghosha's intention may have been secretly subversive.

The original soundscape of the forest where I now am is incredibly peaceful and healing, naturally detoxifying. But the times when I am truly able to open my whole ear and listen to it are not long. Sometimes I am too sleepy or my mind is too busy. Sometimes some human being comes along with a chain-saw and sets off an auditory Moro reflex, along with all the old gubbins that surrounds it. In that case the dark cloudedness of my mind temporarily becomes part of the problem -- the problem of unconsciously misguided human behaviour, being "out of tune" (vitaanena) with nature.

Ashvaghosha's words, in contrast, are constantly part of the solution.

Ashvaghosha clarified in Saundarananda a time-honoured teaching of the middle way which is very accurate and subtle, as opposed to the kind of wild and gross unconscious behaviour which is held in the grip of a raw Moro reflex.

Much as I hate the chain-saw, it reminds me how weak I am to noise. The whining saw helps me to see more clearly that at the root of much suffering in the world is rawness of the Moro reflex, stimulated primarily through the ear. The Moro reflex doesn't have to be stimulated grossly through the auditory or vestibular channels, by a loud noise or the fear of falling; it can be stimulated more subtly by the hint of an anxious thought, or by the trace of an end-gaining idea -- a dismal idea, for example, like asceticism.


EH Johnston:
It had groves of lovely shrubs and trees and smooth soft lawns, and with its canopy of smoke from the oblations it ever looked like a cloud.

Linda Covill:
It was a place of lush and springy grass, sweetly wooded with creepers and trees, seeming cloud-like in its permanent veil of sacrificial smoke.

VOCABULARY:
caaru-viirut-taru-vanaH (nom. sg. m.): wooded with pleasing low shrubs and trees
caaru: pleasing , lovely , beautiful
viirudh: a plant , herb (esp. a creeping plant or a low shrub)
taru: tree
vana: a forest , wood , grove , thicket

prasnigdha: mfn. ( √ snih) very oily or greasy ; very soft or tender
mRdu: soft , delicate , tender
shaadvalaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. abounding in fresh or green grass , grassy , verdant , green ; n. sg. and pl. ( L. also m. ; ifc. f(aa)) a place abounding in young grass , grassy spot , turf

havis: n. an oblation or burnt offering , anything offered as an oblation with fire (as clarified butter , milk , Some , grain
dhuuma: m. smoke , vapour , mist
vitaanena = inst. sg. vitaana: (1) mfn. " out of tune " , dejected , sad ; empty ; dull , stupid ; wicked , abandoned
(2) mn. extension , great extent or quantity , mass , heap , plenty , abundance; manifoldness, variety; an oblation , sacrifice ; the separate arrangement of the three sacred fires or the separate fires themselves
vi- √ tan: to spread out or through or over , cover , pervade , fill

yaH (nom. sg. m.): which
sadaa: ind. always , ever , every time , continually , perpetually
abhraH = nom. sg. m. abhra: n. (sometimes spelt abbhra , according to the derivation ab-bhra , " water-bearer") (rarely m.) cloud , thunder-cloud , rainy weather
iva: like
aababhau = 3rd pers. sg. perfect aa√ bhaa: to irradiate , outshine , illumine ; to appear , become visible or apparent ; to look like

SAUNDARANANDA 1.5: Always Looking on the Bright Side?

tasya vistiirNa-tapasaH
paarshve himavataH shubhe
kShetraM c'-aayatanaM c'aiva
tapasaam aashramo 'bhavat

= - = = - - - =
= = - - - = - =
= = = - - = = -
- - = = - = - -

1.5
He who was steeped in asceticism,

Had, on a bright slope of the Himalayas,

For the practice of austerities,

His site and his very seat, his ashram:

COMMENT:
The key word in this verse, repeated in lines 1 and 4, is tapas, whose original meaning is what is hot and which means by extension what hurts, in particular, ascetic practice.

The point of ascetic practice is that it should hurt, it should be painful, and this is a mind-set that the Buddha's teaching invites us to drop off.

The mind-set that practice should not hurt, that is should not be painful, is the opposite mind-set that the Buddha's teaching also invites us to drop off -- as the Buddha will later explain in detail in Cantos 15 and 16.

But our starting point in this opening series of verses has been a description of the first of many -isms that are to be dropped off, and that is asceticism.

EH Johnston:
For the practice of his long-enduring austerities he had on an auspicious slope of the Himalayas his hermitage, the domain and temple of asceticism.

Linda Covill:
On the bright slopes of the Himalayas this sage of extensive austerities had his ashram, the domain and abode of asceticism.

VOCABULARY:
tasya (gen. sg.): of him
vistiirNa-tapasaH (gen. sg.): studded with ascetic practice
vistiirNa: mfn. strewn or covered or studded with (instr. or comp); spread out , expanded , broad , large , great , copious , numerous ; extensive , long (as a tale)
tapas: n. warmth , heat (paNca tamaMsi , the 5 fires to which a devotee exposes himself in the hot season , viz. 4 fires lighted in the four quarters and the sun burning from above ) ; pain , suffering ; religious austerity , bodily mortification , penance , severe meditation
paarshve (loc. sg.): n. the side, flank
himavataH = gen. sg. m. himavat: mfn. having frost or snow , snowy , frosty , icy , snow-clad ; exposing one's self to coldness or enduring it; m. a snowy mountain ; the Himaalaya
shubhe (loc. sg n.): mfn. splendid , bright , beautiful , handsome ; pleasant , agreeable , suitable; auspicious, good

kShetram (nom. sg.): n. landed property , land , soil ; a field ; a place , region , country ; a house ; department , sphere of action ; place of origin , place where anything is found ; a sacred spot or district , place of pilgrimage (as Benares &c) an enclosed plot of ground
ca: and
aayatana (nom. sg.): n. resting-place , support , seat , place , home , house , abode ; the place of the sacred fire, an altar ; a sanctuary, a plot of ground , the site of a house ; (with Buddhists) the five senses and manas (considered as the inner seats or aayatanas) and the qualities perceived by the above (the outer aayatanas) .
ca: and
eva: [emphatic]

tapasaam (gen. pl.): n. austerities, ascetic practices
aashramaH (nom. sg.): m. ( √shram) , a hermitage , the abode of ascetics , the cell of a hermit or of retired saints or sages
√shram: to be or become weary or tired ; to make effort, exert oneself
abhavat (3rd pers. sg. imperfect bhuu): there was [of him]; he had

SAUNDARANANDA 1.4: High-mindedness & Excellence in Religious Thought

maah'-aatmyaad diirgha-tapaso
yo dvitiiya iv' aabhavat
tRtiiya iva yash c'aabhuut
kaavy-aaNgirasayor dhiyaa

= = = = - - - =
= - = - - = - -
- = - - - = = =
= = - - - = - =

1.4
In high-mindedness,

He was like a second Dirgha-tapas;

And he was like a third in the mould

Of Kavya and Angiras, in religious thought.

COMMENT:
These opening verses of Saundarananda require much deeper digging than I realised they required on first reading them.

This verse might be read simply as praise of Kapila's magnanimity and wisdom, but I don't read it like that.

Dirgha-tapas means "Long Suffering of Asceticism." Kavya and Angirasa may be taken as representative examples of religious thinkers -- poem-writers, hymn-composers and the like.

Can religious thought be useful to a person suffering under the influence of an auditory Moro reflex which is being stimulated by a source of unremitting external noise -- like a chain saw, or like a gun firing artillery shells?

When soldiers in WWI were suffering from shell shock, how much use to them was a Christian chaplain? How far in relieving their suffering could "Thy will be done" go?

The essence of religious thought might be Thy will be done. Seeing these words written by the graves of young men at war cemeteries in Northern France, I tend to be moved to tears.

So maybe there is a place for magnanimity and religious thought, but I rather read Ashvaghosha's expressions of high-mindedness and striving to be excellent in religious thought as expressing tendencies that I despise, primarily in myself -- as tendencies to be opposed in the battle against Mara.

Mara is said to quake on seeing even the outline of someone sitting cross-legged in balanced stillness.

Does Mara quake in the face of some high-minded ascetic's excellence in religious thought? In conclusion, I think not.

EH Johnston:
Who was the peer of Dirghatapas in magnanimity, the equal of Kavya and the son of Angiras in sagacity.

Linda Covill:
He was like a second Dirgha-tapas in high-mindedness, a third to Kavya and the son of Angiras in wisdom.

VOCABULARY:
maah'-aatmyaad (abl. sg.): n. (fr. mahaatman) magnanimity , highmindedness
mahaatman: " high-souled " , magnanimous , having a great or noble nature , high-minded , noble ; highly gifted , exceedingly wise ; eminent , mighty , powerful , distinguished
diirghatapasaH = gen. sg. m. diirghatapas: mfn. performing long penances ; m. N. of several RShis
diirgha: mfn. long (in space and time)
tapas: n. austerity, ascetic practice

yaH (nom. sg. m.): [he] who
dvitiiyaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. second; m. companion , fellow (friend or foe); m. the 2nd in a family (i.e. a son)
iva: like
abhavat: he was

tRtiiyaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. third
iva: like
yaH (nom. sg. m.): [he] who
ca: and
abhuut (3rd pers. sg. aorist bhu): he was

kaavy-aaNgirasayoH (gen. dual): of Kavya and Angirasa
kaavya: mfn. (fr. kavi) , endowed with the qualities of a sage or poet , descended or coming from a sage ; m. a patronymic of ushanas
Ushanas: N. of an ancient sage with the patronymic kaavya (in later times identified with shukra , the teacher of the asuras , who presides over the planet Venus)
aNgirasa: m. an enemy of viShNu in his incarnation of parashuraama (= aNgiras ?)
aNgiras: m. N. of a RShi , author of the hymns of the Rg Veda, of a code of laws , and of a treatise on astronomy (he is considered as one of the seven RShis of the first ; the Vedic hymns , the manes of haviShmat , and mankind itself are styled his offspring. In astronomy he is the planet Jupiter , and a star in Ursa Major)
aNgirasas: m. pl. descendants of aGgiras or of agni (mostly personifications of luminous objects)
dhiyaa = inst. sg. dhii: f. thought , (esp.) religious thought , reflection , meditation , devotion , prayer ; understanding , intelligence , wisdom ; knowledge , science , art

SAUNDARANANDA 1.3: Milking Ambiguity

haviHShu yash ca sv'-aatm'-aarthaM
gaam adhukShad vasiShTha-vat
tapaH-shiShTeShu [ca] shiShyeShu
gaam adhukShad vasiShTha-vat

- = - = = = = =
= - = = - = - -
- = = = - [-] = = -
= - = = - = - -

1.3
For self-serving offerings

He milked a cow, like Vasistha;

While among the disciples he schooled in asceticism

He milked a cow, like Vasistha.

COMMENT:
This verse is not easy to understand, and not easy to translate. I read it as an ironic negation of asceticism which might also include an indirect negation of Brahmanism.

EHJ notes that go , which originally means cow, has no less than nine meanings, including cow, earth (as the milk-cow of kings), and voice/speech. If Ashvaghosha's intention was to alert us to the ambiguity of his meaning, he couldn't have chosen a word more apt than go.

In this verse Ashvaghosha likens the ascetic sage Kapila to Vasistha. Who was Vasistha? To begin with, he was the mythical owner of a mythical cow -- "the cow of plenty."

In that light, how should we understand offerings that were sv'-aatm'-aartham -- "for self-own sake"? Were they offerings made just for the sake of offering itself, without any agenda? Or were they offerings that Kapila made selfishly for his own sake?

Was it that, because Vasistha already had everything he desired, he was able to make offerings just for their own sake, without the desire to get something further in return? In light of the teaching of Shobogenzo chap. 87, for example, such an assumption that Vasistha might be free of any personal agenda, is a very big assumption.

Still, Ashvaghosha's original Sanskrit as I read it leaves open either interpretation -- sva could refer either to the offerer himself, or to the act of offering itself. We need a phrase in English that preserves the two possibilities of "offerings for the sake of offering itself" and "offerings for the sake of his own selfish self." "Self-serving offerings" is the best so far that I could come up with.

The Monier-Williams dictionary further informs us that Vasishta was a stereotypical representative of Brahmanical rank - the Indian upper class. With this in mind I think that milking a cow in the 4th line means draining the goodness out of an exploitable resource -- whether the exploitable resource is a cow, or whether the exploitable resource is the earth as the milk-cow of kings, or whether the exploitable resource is a class of human beings who Brahmins expect to do their dirty work.

In conclusion, then, what Ashvaghosha is describing in this verse, as I read it, is how a teacher whose teaching is off the middle way -- whether his original motives are pure or impure -- inevitably ends up milking the goodness right out of his disciples.

A teacher of asceticism drains the goodness out of his disciples in the same way that a bad dairy farmer drains all the energy out of a cow, or in the same way that a bad arable farmer draws the goodness right out of the earth, or in the same way that a bad king over-exploits his lands, or in the same way that upper classes of human being everywhere have tended through history to find ways of exploiting working classes of human being.

Kapila, as a champion of asceticism, could never be anything but such a teacher.

EH Johnston:
Who milked libations from his cow for his own sake, just as a king milks the earth for his own purposes, and milked speech in the midst of his disciples trained in asceticism, just as Vasistha milked his cow,

Linda Covill:
He milked his cow for sacrificial milk, like Vasishtha, and like him too milked speech for his disciples, trained in asceticism.

VOCABULARY:
haviHShu = loc. pl. havis: offering
[haviHShu is the original reading in EHJ's Sanskrit text, based on the palmleaf manuscript; later when he came to do the English translation, EHJ changed the reading to haviiMShi, as nearer to the paper manuscript and as giving the double accusative that duh, to milk, often takes]
haviiMShi = acc. pl. havis: n. an oblation or burnt offering , anything offered as an oblation with fire (as clarified butter , milk , Some , grain ; haviSh √ kR , " to prepare an oblation " , " make into an oblation ")
yaH (nom. sg. m.): [he] who
ca: and
sv'-aatm'-aartham: for his own sake, for its own sake
sv'aatman: m. one's own self , one's self (= reflexive pron.)
artha: mn. aim , purpose (very often artham ifc. or with gen. " for the sake of , on account of , in behalf of , for ")
aatmaartham: ind. for the sake of one's self

gaam = acc. sg. f. go: f. a cow; " anything coming from or belonging to an ox or cow " , milk (generally pl.) , flesh, skin , hide , leather , strap of leather , bow-string , sinew; (pl.) " the herds of the sky " , the stars ; f. the earth (as the milk-cow of kings); f. speech; f. voice , note (fr. √ gai)
adhukShat = 3rd pers. sg. aorist duh: to milk (a cow or an udder) ; to milk or squeeze out , extract (milk , soma e.g. any good thing) ; draw anything out of another thing (with 2 acc.)
vasiShTha-vat (nom. sg. m.): like Vasishtha
vasiShTha: m. " the most wealthy " , N. of a celebrated Vedic RShi or sage (owner of the " cow of plenty " , called nandinii , offspring of surabhi , which by granting all desires made him , as his name implies , master of every vasu or desirable object ; he was the typical representative of Brahmanical rank , and the legends of his conflict with vishvaa-mitra , who raised himself from the kingly or kShatriya to the Brahmanical class , were probably founded on the actual struggles which took place between the Brahmans and kShatriyas ; a great many hymns of the Rig Veda are ascribed to these two great rivals .... other legends make him one of the 7 patriarchal sages regarded as forming the Great Bear)

tapaH-shiShTeShu (loc. pl. m.): schooled in ascetic practice
tapas: ascetic practice
shiShTa: mfn. taught , directed , ordered , commanded (applied to persons and things)
shiShyeShu = loc. pl. shiShya: m. a pupil , scholar , disciple

gaam = acc. sg. go: f. a cow; f. the earth (as the milk-cow of kings); f. speech; f. voice , note (fr. √ gai)
adhukShat = 3rd pers. sg. aorist duh: to milk (a cow or an udder) ; to milk or squeeze out , extract (milk , soma e.g. any good thing) ; draw anything out of another thing (with 2 acc.)
vasiShTha-vat (nom. sg. m.): like Vasishtha

SAUNDARANANDA 1.2: Taking Blazing Ascetism to the Extreme

ashishriyad yaH satataM
diiptaM kaashyapa-vat tapaH
aashishraaya ca tad-vRddhau
siddhiM kaashyapa-vat paraam

- = - = = - - =
= = = - - = - =
- = = - - = = =
= = = - - = - =

1.2
He beat down ceaselessly,

Like Kashyapa the sun, on blazing asceticism;

And in the promotion thereof he pushed himself on,

Like Kashyapa the sage, to extreme achievement.

COMMENT:
The pun on the name Kashyapa might be the harbinger of further double-meaning in this canto.

Running through Ashvaghosha's description in this canto of the asceticism of ancient sages, there is not only an ambivalence but also I think, at least in places, a deliberate irony.

So in this verse, on the surface, Ashvaghosha's words sound somewhat affirmative towards the burning zeal of the ascetic sage Kapila, who Ashvaghosha even compares to the Buddha's mythical master Kashyapa. (In the transmission of the Buddha-Dharma the ancient sage Kashyapa is revered as the 6th of the 7th ancient Buddhas, of whom the 7th and last was Shakyamuni Buddha himself.)

At the same time, however, the final word of the verse (paraam ) can be read as suggesting practice taken to an extreme -- as opposed to the alternative interpretation of practice that has gone to the far shore of conscious control in the middle way.

Similarly, in the background to several verses of this canto, one senses that Ashvaghosha might be nodding and winking.

In 1.11, for example, Ashvaghosha describes in Kapila's ashram "the peacocks with their tufted crests murmuring indistinctly."

Was Ashvaghosha just exercising his poetic sentiments in describing a peaceful scene? Or was he having a quiet dig at the vanity of those strutting peacocks who, from ancient days through to the present, have matted their hair into dreadlocks?

For two years between the ages of 26 and 28, when many a young man is still in strutting peacock mode, I sat in full lotus for no less than five hours every day without fail. Even though my head was shaved, there was a marked tendency in that practice towards extreme achievement (siddhim paraam) and this tendency was primarily due, I see in retrospect, to the influence of an immature tonic labyrinthine reflex.

So to answer my own question with regard to the 2nd line of 1.11, I think that line is not a simple description of a peaceful scene but that it is suffused with underlying irony. Similarly, in this verse too, I intuit an irreverent undertone, and have translated the verse accordingly.

By siddhim paraam, how could Ashvaghosha mean "highest perfection" or "highest success"? How could blazing asceticism be a means of achieving the highest perfection and highest success which, as we have been examining in Canto 17, is a bit of nothing (or a lot of something) which follows from cutting the five upper fetters?

No, siddhim paraam, in my book, means extreme achievement -- nothing for a follower of the Buddha's teaching to be proud of.

EH Johnston:
Who continuously practised glorious austerities just as the sun continually fives forth blazing heat; and attained in their progress the highest perfection like Kashyapa,

Linda Covill:
as ceaselessly fixed on burning asceticism as Kashyapa, he achieved the highest success through its development.

VOCABULARY:
ashishriyad = 3rd pers. sg. aorist shri: to cause to lean or rest on , lay on or in , fix on , fasten to , direct or turn towards , (esp.) spread or diffuse (light or radiance or beauty) over (loc.); to lean on , rest on , recline against (acc.); to go to , approach , resort or have recourse to (for help or refuge) , tend towards (acc.); abide in or on (acc. loc. or adv.);
yaH (nom. sg. m.): who
satatam: ind. constantly , always , ever

diiptam (acc. sg. n.): mfn. blazing , flaming , hot , shining , bright , brilliant , splendid
kaashyapa-vat (nom. sg. m.): like Kashyapa, like the sun
kaashyapa: a patronym from kashyapa; N. of aruNa (the sun)
kashyapa: mfn. having black teeth ; m. name of an ancient sage (a descendant of mariici and author of several hymns of the Rg-veda; he is one of the seven great RShis ; he is supposed by some to be a personification of races inhabiting the Caucasus , the Caspian , Kasmir , &c)
tapaH = acc. sg tapas: n. ascetic practice

aashishraaya = 3rd pers. sg, perfect aa- √shri: to affix ; to apply anything ; to join; to adhere , rest on ; to betake one's self to , resort to ; to depend on ; to choose , prefer ; to be subject to , keep in mind ; to seek refuge in , enter , inhabit
ca: and
tad-vRddhau (loc. sg.): in its increase
tad: that [ascetic practice], its
vRddhi: f. growth , increase , augmentation , rise , advancement , extension , welfare , prosperity , success , fortune , happiness

siddhim (acc. sg.): f. accomplishment , performance , fulfilment , complete attainment (of any object) , success ; supreme felicity , bliss , beatitude , complete sanctification (by penance &c ) , final emancipation , perfection ; the acquisition of supernatural powers by magical means or the supposed faculty so acquired ; any unusual skill or faculty or capability (often in comp.)
kaashyapa-vat: like Kashyapa
paraam (acc. sg. f.): far , distant , remote (in space) , opposite , ulterior , farther than , beyond , on the other or farther side of , extreme

SAUNDARANANDA 1.1: An Ascetic Bearer of a Hindu Dharma

gautamaH kapilo naama
munir dharma-bhRtaaM varaH
babhuuva tapasi shraantaH
kaakShiivan iva gautamaH

= - = - - = = -
= = = - - = - =
- = - - - = = =
= = - - - = - =

1.1
A sage named Kapila Gautama,

Most excellent among upholders of dharma,

Was as strenuous in ascetic practice

As was Kakshivat Gautama.

COMMENT:
In Canto 17, Ashvaghosha has described not only how Nanda realised the full awareness and supreme indifference which is the fourth stage of sitting-dhyana, but also how he cut the five upper fetters, and thus experienced Nirvana, as a bit of nothing.

But the bit of nothing did not come out of nothing, from nowhere: it had its roots in the city of Kapila-vastu, built on the site where the ancient champion of asceticism Kapila had his ashram; and it had its origins in the royal ancestry of the Shakya clan, traceable back to King Ikshvaku. So the first two cantos of Saundarananda, heavy going though they may be for those of us who are not yet enthused by ancient Indian history, paint this backdrop for us -- the first canto is a depiction of Kapila-vastu, the second is a depiction of Nanda's father, the Shakya King.

In the mythology of ancient India, evidently, ascetic practice was held in high regard, and Kakshivat Gautama was known as an ancient exemplar of such practice.

Probably that is all we need to know about Kakshivat Gautama -- that he was an ancient exemplar of all-out ascetic practice. He is apparently mentioned in the the Maha-bharata (2.21), in a description of the Kingdom of Magadha:

It was here [in the hermitage of Gautama] that the illustrious Gautama of rigid vows begat on the Sudra woman Ausinari (the daughter of Usinara) Kakshivat and other celebrated sons...



EH Johnston:
There was a seer, supreme among the upholders of the religous Law, Kapila Gautama by name, strenuous in asceticism like Kakshivat Gautama.

Linda Covill:
The sage Kapila Gautama was a great upholder of dharma. As rigorously ascetic as Kakshivat Gautama,

VOCABULARY:
gautamaH (nom. sg m.): Gautama
kapilaH (nom. sg. m.): Kapila; mfn. " monkey-coloured " , brown , tawny , reddish ; red-haired
naama: ind. (acc. of naaman) by name i.e. named , called

muniH (nom. sg.): m. a saint , sage , seer , ascetic , monk , devotee , hermit (esp. one who has taken the vow of silence)
dharma-bhRtaam = gen. pl. dharma-bhRt: m. " law-supporter " , N. of princes and other men
dharma: law, duty, practice, etc.
bhRt: mfn. bearing , carrying , bringing , procuring , possessing , wearing , having , nourishing , supporting , maintaining (only ifc.)
varaH (nom. sg.. m.): mfn. (v/ara) " select " , choicest , valuable , precious , best , most excellent or eminent among (gen. loc. abl. , or comp.) or for (gen.)

babhuuva (3rd pers. sg. perfect bhuu): he was
tapasi = loc. sg. tapas: n. warmth , heat ; pain , suffering ; religious austerity , bodily mortification , penance , severe meditation
shraantaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. wearied , fatigued , tired , exhausted ; hungry ; calmed , tranquil (= shaanta)

kaakShiivan (nom. sg. m.): Kakshivat
iva: like
gautamaH (nom. sg m.): Gautama

Invocation

oM namo buddhaaya

= - = = = -


Om! Homage to the Awakened!

COMMENT:
Translating a text like Saundarananda requires the translator to do a lot of work. But the essential job of translation is not a job of doing; it is a job of listening. The task is, to the best of one's ability, to listen to the voice of Buddha, primarily by sitting in the listening posture of Buddha. The word "OM", as I hear it, is a kind of invitation to wake up the whole body-mind and listen with the whole body-mind to the sound of the whole body-mind resonating...

Om!

Om! Homage to a phrase that frees,
Like "letting go", of pain and ease.
Om! Homage to the birds and bees.
Om! Homage to the grass and trees.

Because the birds and bees are the Awakened, they sing and buzz the Dharma. And because the grass and trees are the Awakened, the grass and trees are just a Sangha -- a true and great, all-encompassing, non-Buddhist Sangha.

Om! Homage to the Awakened!

EH Johnston:
OM! Hail to the Buddha!

Linda Covill:
Homage to the Buddha!

VOCABULARY:
om: ind. a word of solemn affirmation and respectful assent; it is placed at the commencement of most Hindu works , and as a sacred exclamation may be uttered [but not so as to be heard by ears profane] at the beginning and end of a reading of the vedas or previously to any prayer ; it is also regarded as a particle of auspicious salutation [Hail!] ; om appears first in the upaniShads as a mystic monosyllable , and is there set forth as the object of profound religious meditation , the highest spiritual efficacy being attributed not only to the whole word but also to the three sounds a , u , m , of which it consists ; in later times om is the mystic name for the Hindu triad , and represents the union of the three gods; (Buddhists place om at the beginning of their vidyaa ShaDhakSharii or mystical formulary in six syllables [viz. om maNi padme huuM]
namas: n. bow , obeisance , reverential salutation, homage
buddhaaya = dat. sg. buddha: mfn. awakened , awake ; m. a wise or learned man , sage ; m. (with Buddhists) a fully enlightened man who has achieved perfect knowledge of the truth and thereby is liberated from all existence and before his own attainment of nirvaaNa reveals the method of obtaining it , (esp.) the principal buddha of the present age (born at kapila-vastu about the year 500 B.C)