BUDDHACARITA 2.36: Non-Buddhist Virtues (ctd.) - Serving A Dharma

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−    Upajāti (Buddhi)

bhaṁ bhāsuraṁ cāṅgirasādhidevaṁ yathāvad-ānarca tad-āyuṣe saḥ

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

juhāva havyāny-akṛśe kṛśānau dadau dvi-jebhyaḥ kṛśanaṁ ca gāś-ca || 2.36

2.36

To the shining constellation 

whose regent is the planet Āṅgirasa

He religiously recited a song of praise,

for his son's long life.

In a fiery fire of Agni, he offered what was to be offered.

And to the twice-born brahmins he gave both gold and cows.

COMMENT:

As far as I can remember, I was already fairly cynical about religion before starting work on translating Aśvaghoṣa. But there is no doubt, in any case, that over the past four years I have become more cynical than I ever was before. Others can judge for themselves, but my own sense is that Aśvaghoṣa's writing has trained my critical faculties, so that whereas before I saw irony here and there, nowadays I can hardly read a single word that Aśvaghoṣa wrote without seeing irony behind it.

King Śuddhodhana's devout service of a Hindu dharma is described in several verses in the 2^nd canto of Saundara-nanda. On the surface, insofar as those descriptions belong to a portrayal of the king's virtues, those verses and today's verse can be understood as affirming that to serve dharma, or to serve a dharma, is a virtue.

The irony comes in when one begins to realize that, in their religious efforts to serve a particular dharma, religious people invariably go against the true universal dharma.

This tendency is manifested in the behaviour of the king who makes a totally bogus causal connection between offering a traditional prayer to a cluster of stars with Jupiter in their midst and ensuring the long life of his son. The king's attitude is pure superstition. His mind is typical of superstitious minds everywhere that imagine bogus causal connections between god-fearing means and some selfish end.

Understood like this, today's verse is not only affirming the service of a dharma but is also mercilessly ripping the piss out of the service of a dharma – insofar as that dharma is a religious and superstitious one, carried out with a personal agenda to the fore.

In their effort to serve their particular dharma, which they call True …... -ism, or True ….. -ity, or True ....-aam, religious people easily commit a-dharma (un-dharma, id-dharma, anti-dharma, the very opposite of dharma, bad dharma). When their religious belief is contradicted by evidence, they distrust the evidence, and carry on regardless with behaviour that is not what it purports to be. 

Richard Gombrich says that Buddhism is different from other religions. Gudo Nishijima said that True Buddhism is not a religion.

I say that the Buddha's teaching is not a religion, and that Gudo Nishijima, my teacher, fell in his old age into religious hypocrisy, and on that basis did me an  a-dharma. A symptom of that a-dharma  has been manifested for the past 6 years in the listing of the Nishijima/Cross translation on Amazon, in which Nishijima is credited at the author and Cross as contributor. It is not so much the lack of credit that has continued to bother me, as the difficulty of seeing clearly, in terms of cause and effect, how the hell such a thing happened. That effect has been there for anybody to see, for the last 6 years. That effect is only a symptom, but it is glaring symptom showing itself in the most public of arenas, the Amazon marketplace. So what were the causes of that effect? 

The fact that Aśvaghoṣa's writing seems to keep pointing me back to is the ever-presence in human life of irony, one aspect of which is “incongruity between what actually happens and what might be expected to happen, especially when this disparity seems absurd or laughable.”

The ultimate irony might be that serving a dharma turns into serving a-dharma. That is what I was endeavoring to clarify with the blog I kept for a time, before starting this one, whose title was ERRATA, and whose tag line was: Who turned freedom into its opposite? 

From where I sat, the agents who were instrumental in Gudo acting out his delusion were all people who he had made his "dharma-heirs." In their minds, they were simply serving his dharma -- like the obedient members of any religious cult. But from where I sat what was going on was clearly the service of  a-dharma. A tough lesson indeed. 

A-dharma is defined in the dictionary as “unrighteousness, injustice, irreligion, wickedness.” That definition is ironic in itself, given that Aśvaghoṣa's dharma is full of irreligion and the wickedness of his irony.

Of the above dictionary definitions, I see "injustice" as closest to a-dharma. But the essence of a-dharma, as I see it, lies in going against cause and effect, which is just what the king in today's verse is doing, at least at the level of his understanding. At the level of his action, the king is not being portrayed as practising bad karma. But he is being portrayed, as I see him, as practising bad dharma.

EHJ identifies the constellation referred to in the 1st pāda as Puṣya (see BC1.9), whose divinity is Bṛhaspati (i.e. the planet Jupiter), son of Āṅgiras (hence called Āṅgirasa). PO notes further: “The astronomical text Bṛhatsamhitā of Varahara-mihira (ch. 48) prescribes that the king should take a bath during the full moon falling within Puṣya, considered the most powerful of the constellations, so as to assure the prosperity of his family and subjects.”

Wearing the hat of a post-modernist scholar of ancient Indian belief systems, one would be obliged to assign all due respect to the time-honoured tradition. But not wearing any hat, I think it is a load of old baloney, and the old cynic Aśvaghoṣa, as I read him, secretly thinks so too.

A famous aphorism from Chinese Zen which can be taken as an expression of dry cynicism is Unmon's observation along the lines that when he was young and impressionable, mountains temporarily ceased to be mountains, whereas in his maturity he was no longer deluded about mountains, so that mountains were mountains.

I get a sense of that kind of dryness, or resignation, in the 3^rd and 4^th pādas, with (1) the repetition of the two words, juhāva havyāni (he offered offerings), from the root √hu, to offer; (2) the plays on kṛśa; and (3) the resigned description of the brahmins (supposedly top of the Hindu tree by dint of their superior knowledge) being gifted with the cream of a society's resources, gold and cows.

The function of the 4^th pāda, as I read it, is to hammer home the point that the king served a dharma that was utterly different from the Buddha-dharma. Aśvaghoṣa has already made us aware in Canto One that the twice-born brahmins who served a Hindu dharma were not averse to walking away with gifts from a grateful monarch, but of what possible use might gold and cows have been to a wandering beggar of the Buddha's time who followed the Buddha-dharma? No use at all. For a bhikṣu of the Buddha's time, to receive gifts of gold and cows would have been a-dharma – not so much unrighteous or unjust as nonsensical. As nonsensical as praying to a star for a child's long life.

VOCABULARY

bham (acc. sg): n. a star , planet , asterism , lunar asterism or mansion

bhāsuram (acc. sg. n.): mfn. shining , radiant , bright , splendid

ca: and

āṅgirasādhidevam (acc. sg. n): whose presiding deity is the planet Āṅgirasa

āṅgirasa: mfn. descended from or belonging or referring to the Angirases or to aṅgiras ; m. a descendant of aṅgiras; m. especially N. of bṛhaspati ; m. the planet bṛhaspati i.e. Jupiter

adhideva: m. a presiding or tutelary deity

adhi: ind. , as a prefix to verbs and nouns , expresses above , over and above , besides

deva: m. a god

yathāvat: ind. duly , properly , rightly , suitably , exactly

yathā: ind. according to what is right , properly , correctly (= yathāvat)

ānarca = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. ṛc: to praise

ṛc: f. praise , verse , esp. a sacred verse recited in praise of a deity

tad-āyuṣe (dat. sg.): for the long life of him [his son]

āyuṣa: n. ifc. = āyus , duration of life

saḥ (nom. sg. m.): he

juhāva = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. hu: to sacrifice (esp. pour butter into the fire) , offer or present an oblation (acc. or gen.) to (dat.) or in (loc.) , sacrifice to , worship or honour (acc.) with (instr.)

havyāni (acc. pl.): n. anything to be offered as an oblation , sacrificial gift or food

akṛśe (loc. sg. m.): mfn. not emaciated ; unimpaired

kṛśa: mfn. lean , emaciated , thin , spare , weak , feeble ; small , little , minute , insignificant

kṛśānau (loc. sg. m.): m. " bending the bow " , N. applied to a good archer ; N. of agni or fire ; (hence) fire

dadau = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. dā: to give

dvi-jebhyaḥ (dat. pl.): m. “twice born,” brahmin

kṛśanam (acc. sg.): n. a pearl , mother-of-pearl ; gold

ca: and

gāḥ (acc. pl. m./f.): m. bull; f. cow

ca: and

事火奉諸神 叉手飮月光

BUDDHACARITA 2.35: Non-Buddhist Virtues (ctd.) - Wishing the Other All the Best

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−    Upajāti (Indravajrā)

nādhyaiṣṭa duḥkhāya parasya vidyāṁ jñānaṁ śivaṁ yat-tu tad-adhyagīṣṭa

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

svābhyaḥ prajābhyo hi yathā tathaiva sarva-prajābhyaḥ śivam-āśaśaṁse || 2.35

2.35

He did not pursue learning to the detriment of the other

But was steeped in that wisdom which is kindness;

For he wished all the best, in like manner,

For his own offspring and for every offshoot.

COMMENT:

The 1^st pāda, on a gross level, seems to negate the application of, for example, nuclear science to the building of weapons of mass destruction – “he did not seek knowledge for the suffering of others.” On a subtler level it might negate, for example, the attitude of a Zen practitioner who studied an ancient Zen text with a view to shaming those who, via the mirror principle, he fearfully saw as “the other.” “The other” in that case, might be a Buddhist scholar who studied a Zen text intellectually but did not practise sitting-Zen. Or “the other” might be a fake Zen elephant – a bluffer– who garnered fame and position by pretending...

You've got a lot of nerve To say you are my friend. When I was down you just stood there grinning. You've got a lot of nerve To say you've got a helping hand to lend. You just want to be on the side that's winning....

You see me on the street. You always act surprised. You say, how are you, good luck, but you don't mean it. When you know as well as me, You'd rather see me paralyzed Why don't you just come out once and scream it?

Among many strong lyrics that Bob Dylan wrote in his younger years, the strongest to my mind are the above lyrics. Equally, a phrase of Bob's that sticks in the mind is the one delivered at that moment in Manchester when a lover of acoustic guitar shouted from the audience, “Judas!” and Bob, after a moment of consideration, shouted back “I don't believe you. You are a liar.”

In similar vein, Marjory Barlow once memorably said to me after an Alexander lesson, “It has to be real.”

The 2nd pāda, and the relation between the 1st and 2nd pādas, has to be understood in that light. It is not about pursuing, or expecting, the wisdom that is kindness. It is not even about aspiring to such wisdom. It is not about trying to be like the Dalai Lama. It is about, in the first instance, not being a grasping, striving hypocrite.

What is negated by the na in the 1st pāda is striving, or expectation of a result, or both – adhyaiṣṭa can be understood as the 3rd pers. sg. imperfect of adhi-√iṣ: to seek or strive after, or as the 3rd pers. sg. aorist of adhi-√ikṣ: to expect.

The verb at the end of the 2nd pada, adhyagīṣṭa, is from adhi-√gā, which means to go over, to learn, to study.

Both the √iṣ of adhi-√iṣ and the √gā of adhi-√gā have a connotation of seeking after or pursuing. So at first glance vidyām adhi-√iṣ (to seek learning) and adhi-√gā (to study) mean much the same thing.

Hence EBC: “He sought not learning to vex another; such knowledge as was beneficent, that only he studied;” EHJ: “He did not learn science to cause suffering to others but studied only the knowledge that was beneficent;" and PO "He did not acquire learning to hurt other men; he mastered the knowledge that was beneficial." 

Influenced by these translations, and mindful of the fact that the √gā of adhi-√gā means “to go after or pursue,” my first effort to to translate the first two pādas was:

“He did not seek learning for the sorrow of the other, but pursued the wisdom that is kind.”

I reasoned that “pursue” has more of a connotation of physical effort, or of effort with the whole body-mind, than “seek knowledge/learning” and so “pursue” was suitable for the 2nd of four pādas.

But as I sat beneath the stars on Monday night, coming back to the most fundamental teaching of the Buddha – not doing wrong, allowing the right thing to grow by itself – and reflected what today's verse is really all about, I realized that “pursued” did not fit.

As I sat reflecting beneath the stars I thought of the kind of Buddhist hypocrite who Dylan might have been addressing in his song – the kind of detestable character who I could easily use as a mirror in which to see the person I don't wish to be (but fear I might be). That Buddhist hypocrite is just the kind of spiritual end-gainer who would aspire to the wisdom which is kind (jñānaṁ śivam), and who would pursue it accordingly. That's what happens when the positive butts in before the negative has cleared the ground, when there is direction without inhibition.

The order of elements in today's verse is not like that. Rather the verse is written in accordance with the most fundamental teaching of the Buddha, namely, first do no wrong. Not doing wrong is expressed in the 1st pāda. Then, wrong not being done, the right thing is allowed to do itself -- like wisdom seeping in. 

To pursue the right thing (paraphrasing Dogen) is delusion. But when the right thing is allowed to do itself, that might be when real wisdom seeps in.

Having established that I had gone off track with “pursued,” I went back to the dictionary and took notice of something important that I had neglected, which is that adhyagīṣṭa is in the middle voice  (ātmanepada) – which it is to say, it is occupying the middle ground between active and passive.

Once it is recognized that adhyagīṣṭa is as much passive as it active, that opens the way to some interesting variations:

“But that wisdom which is kind, he was learned by.”

"But that wisdom which is kind, he was penetrated by.”

"But that wisdom which is kindness, he was mastered by.”

In the effort to bring it back more towards the middle, I ended up with

“But in that wisdom which is kindness, he became learned.”

And finally “But he was steeped in that wisdom which is kindness.”

Thus, buried in what at first glance appears to be a fairly inconsequential description of the Buddha's father's virtuous attitude towards science/knowledge/learning, is Aśvaghoṣa's subtle and indirect preaching of the principle at the very heart of the Buddha's enlightenment – namely, not doing wrong, letting it do it.

Why does Aśvaghoṣa, as he did in Saundara-nanda, use the Buddha's father as such a mirror of enlightened behaviour? I think because the Buddha's father, as a non-Buddhist, or pre-Buddhist, represents virtue which is not Buddhist virtue but which is universal virtue.

“If we stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing tends to do itself” is not a Buddhist principle. It is a universal law, intimately related with the 2^nd law of thermodynamics, on which the Buddha based his teaching.

The 3^rd and 4th pādas feature a word which gives pause for reflection in many places in Saundara-nanda, and that is prajā, among whose meanings are offspring and people/subjects. But prajā also means the after-growth of plants, and so sarva-prajā seems to carry a connotation of all offshoots of the human species. But then again prajā can also mean animal or creature, so perhaps “every offshoot of the tree of life” might be close to the intended meaning.

Any way up, I think the point is that the king is being portrayed as one who when he wished everybody all the best, really did mean it -- he wished the best for all living beings connected together on the tree of life, and not some subset thereof. And if that sounds like a nice state to be in, trying to be like that is always a mistake, the essence of delusion.

Trying to be like anything is not a good place to start. The best place to start, in an activity like sitting-meditation, on the contrary, might be to stop trying.

VOCABULARY

na: not

adhyaiṣṭa = 3^rd pers. sg. imperfect adhi- √iṣ: to seek (or 3^rd pers. sg. aorist adhi- √ikṣ: to expect)

iṣ: to endeavour to obtain , strive , seek for

duḥkhāya (dat. sg.): n. uneasiness , pain , sorrow , trouble , difficulty

parasya (gen. sg.): another, the other, others

vidyām (acc. sg.): f. knowledge , science , learning , scholarship

jñānam (acc. sg.): n. knowing, wisdom

śivam (acc. sg.): mfn. auspicious , propitious , gracious , favourable , benign , kind , benevolent ; n. welfare , prosperity , bliss

yat (acc. sg. n.): [that] which

tu: but

tat (acc. sg. n.): that

adhyagīṣṭa = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. adhi- √ gā: to go over , learn , read , study

gā: to go, to go after, pursue

svābhyaḥ (dat. pl. f.): his own

prajābhyaḥ (dat. pl.): f. offspring , children , family , race , posterity , descendants , after-growth (of plants); a creature , animal , man , mankind; people, subjects (of a prince)

hi: for

yathā: just as

tathā: so likewise

yathā tathā: in every way

eva (emphatic)

sarva-prajābhyaḥ (dat. pl. f.): all the people, all his subjects, every offshoot

śivam: n. welfare , prosperity , bliss

āśaśaṁse = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. ā- √ śaṁs: to hope for , expect ; to wish to attain , desire ;

和顏善聽訟 慈教厭衆心

宣化諸外道 斷諸謀逆術

教學濟世方 萬民得安樂

如令我子安 萬民亦如是  

BUDDHACARITA 2.34: Transcendent (Non-Buddhist) Virtues

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−    Upajāti (Vāṇī)

nādhīravat kāma-sukhe sasañje na saṁrarañje viṣamaṁ jananyām

−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

dhṛtyendriyāśvāṁś-capalān vijigye bandhūṁś-ca paurāṁś-ca guṇair-jigāya || 2.34

2.34

He did not cling, like an irresolute type, 

to sensual pleasure;

Nor was he unduly enamoured 

with a female agent of rebirth;

The restless horses of the senses 

he tamed through constancy.

He surpassed by his virtues 

both royal relatives and townsfolk.

COMMENT:

The trickiest word to translate in today's verse is janayām (locative singular of jananī;   MW: “mother”) in the 2^nd pāda. EBC asked in a footnote to his translation, Can jananī mean mātṛgrāma? EHJ noted that the Tibetan translation showed EBC's reading of the 2nd pāda to be correct, and he accepted that jananī was indeed a synonym for mātṛgrāma – “the aggregate of mother”; i.e. the female sex. Hence EHJ translated jananī simply as “women” (“he cherished no improper passion for women”).

Jananī literally means, however, “the [female] one who generates,” and EBC partially reflected this sense when he translated the 2nd pāda “he felt no violent delight in any state of birth.”

I think Aśvaghoṣa's intention was indeed to express “a woman,” but to do so in a way that befitted the 2nd of four pādas – that is, in a cynical way. The cynicism, it should be emphasized, is not cynicism with regard to that half of the human species who are women; it is cynicism with regard to ideas and expectations that the male half brings – whether those ideas and expectations be romantic and optimistic, as in the case of a bloke who has fallen in love (or “into love” as Gudo Nishijima would say), or whether those ideas and expectations be misogynist and pessimistic, as in the case of the misogynist striver in Saundara-nanda. In the same way that the calm water of an empty swimming pool represents no danger to a nervous swimmer unless he reacts emotionally to it, a woman is a woman. She only becomes an agent of rebirth when a bloke becomes unduly enamoured with her; or, subsequently and consequently, when such a bloke becomes unreasonably disappointed with her.

The 3rd pāda brings our attention back to dhṛti, constancy, as the means of taming the restless horses of the senses. BC2.23 also gives pride of place to constancy, and I finished my comment to that post by asserting that “constancy, like a trickle of water slowly drilling through rock, comes from regular sitting in lotus” – one of my better concluding remarks. Another metaphor for constancy, a metaphor that I heard recently is favoured by the US Marine Corps, is the bulldog spirit. A shortcoming of the bulldog, however, might be the difficulty he has in letting go. (I know whereof I speak.) So a trickle of water that keeps on flowing might be a better metaphor to keep in mind – that is, it might be a better subject/object/cause/stimulus (nimitta) – for a person whose aim is to understand the four noble truths and to prevail over anger and other mental pollutants, using the means of growing the mind (bhāvanā)...

Understanding these noble truths, by a process of reasoning, while getting to know the four as one, / He prevails over all pollutants, by the means of mental development (bhāvanayā) and, on finding peace, is no longer subject to becoming. // SN16.5 //

The point of the 4th pāda as I read it is that the king's virtues were universal. Some things that are seen as virtues in one culture are seen as faults in another – like for instance being full of your own bright ideas in a school classroom (a virtue where I went to school in England) vs being like a blank slate (a virtue in classes I didn't enjoy teaching while working as an English teacher in Japan). But (1) wimpish clinging to sensual pleasures, (2) dependently getting caught in a cycle of unhealthy habits, and (3) being a fickle slave to deluded feelings, in a manner unbefitting a British bulldog or a US Marine, are not virtues anywhere. Conversely, (1) resolutely not clinging, (2) autonomy, and (3) constancy in the fight against enslavement to deluded feelings, might be virtues everywhere.

The point of the 4th pāda is, then, that when the non-Buddhist king surpassed others by his virtues, because those virtues were universal, his superiority over others had nothing to do with his high birth -- and at the same time it had nothing to do with the kind of inverted snobbery of which certain brahmin-hating British blokes are frequently guilty. Chippy bastards.

VOCABULARY

na: not

adhīravat: like one deficient in self-control, like an irresolute man

adhīra: mfn. deficient in calm self-command, exciteable, capricious, weak-minded

dhīra: mfn. steady , constant , firm , resolute , brave , energetic , courageous , self-possessed , composed , calm , grave

-vat: an affix added to words to imply likeness or resemblance , and generally translatable by " as " , " like "

kāma-sukhe (loc. sg.): sensual pleasure

sasañje = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. sañj: to cling or stick or adhere to , be attached to or engaged in or occupied with (loc.)

na: not

saṁrarañje = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. saṁ- √ rañj: to be dyed or coloured , become red ; to be affected with any passion

viṣamam: ind. unequally , unfairly

viṣama: mfn. uneven , rugged , rough ; unequal , irregular , dissimilar , different , inconstant ; unsuitable , wrong; unfair , dishonest , partial

jananyām = loc. sg. f. janana: mfn. ifc. generating , begetting , producing , causing ; n. birth , coming into existence;

jananī: f. a mother

mātṛgrāma: m. " the aggregate of mother " , the female sex ; any woman

dhṛtyā (inst. sg.): f. holding, firmness , constancy , resolution , will ,

indriyāśvān (acc. pl. m.): the horses of the senses

indriya: n. power , force , the quality which belongs especially to the mighty indra ; bodily power, power of the senses; organ of sense, sense

aśva: m. horse

capalān (acc. pl. m.): mfn. moving to and fro , shaking , trembling , unsteady , wavering ; wanton , fickle , inconstant

vijigye = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. vi- √ ji: to conquer , win or acquire by conquest ; to vanquish , defeat , subdue , overpower , master , control

bandhūn (acc. pl.): m. connection , relation ; a kinsman (esp. on the mother's side) , relative

ca: and

paurān (acc. pl.): m. a townsman , citizen (opp. to jānapada)

ca: and

guṇaiḥ (inst. pl.): m. good quality , virtue , merit , excellence

jigāya = 3^rd pers. sg. perf. ji: to win or acquire (by conquest or in gambling) , conquer (in battle) , vanquish (in a game or lawsuit) , defeat , excel , surpass

心不染恩愛 於欲起毒想

攝情撿諸根 滅除輕躁意  

BUDDHACARITA 2.33: Good Causes

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−    Upajāti (Haṁsī)

nṛpas-tu tasyaiva vivṛddhi-hetos-tad-bhāvinārthena ca codyamānaḥ

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

śame 'bhireme virarāma pāpād-bheje damaṁ saṁvibabhāja sādhūn || 2.33

2.33

The king, meanwhile,

having as his inner motive only his son's growth,

While also being goaded

by [Asita's] prediction of his son's future purpose,

Maintained himself in balance

and restrained himself from evil;

He did his share of self-regulation

and he left their share to the good.

COMMENT:

The content from here to the end of the canto (verse 2.56) is very similar to the content of the 2nd Canto of Saundara-nanda, titled “A Portrait of the King.”

That being so, today's verse, which introduces the new phase, might be an important one in signalling Aśvaghoṣa's intention.

In that light, I see the first significant phrase to consider, in the 1st pāda, is vivṛddhi-hetu, which means “having growth as a cause or motive.” The surface meaning is that the king's motive was to see his son grow, or get on in the world. At the same time, subliminally, the phrase might be intended to keep our attention focused on two elements that are central to this canto and to the teaching of the noble truths – namely (1) growth, and (2) causation.

Since causation and motivation in Sanskrit are expressed by the same word, hetu, the first two pādas are both about causation and about how the king was motivated, from inside and outside.

The point about causation might be that the Buddha, however, sparkling his nature, was also caused to be the Buddha through nurture, and especially the nurture received through the father who was so ambitious for his son.

The point about motivation might be that not only the king but everybody is motivated in those two ways, from inside and from outside, though different individuals lean one way or the other to different degrees. Hence:

There are understood to be two aspects to defilement; correspondingly, there are two approaches to purification: / In one with stronger motivation from within (hetu-balādhikasya), there is self-reliance; in one who assigns weight to conditions, there is outer-dependence. // SN5.16 // The one who is more strongly self-motivated (hetu-balādhikaḥ) loosens ties without even trying, on receipt of the slightest stimulus; / Whereas the one whose mind is led by circumstances struggles to find freedom, because of his dependence on others. // SN5.17 // And Nanda, whose mind was led by circumstances, became absorbed into whomever he depended on; / The Sage, therefore, made this effort in his case, wishing to lift him out of the mire of love. // SN5.18 //

The 3rd and 4th pādas are yet another expression of the fundamental principle which is brought out again and again in Aśvaghoṣa's portrait of the king in Saundara-nanda Canto 2. That principle, the starting point of the Buddha's teaching career, expressed as an imperative is: 
first, do no wrong. 

Expressed as a universal truth, a truth that is closely related to the 2nd law of thermodynamics, the principle is that 
if we stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing tends to do itself. 

One doesn't have to be a follower of the Buddha to benefit from this truth: it is a universal truth, applicable to everybody. Aśvaghoṣa describes it in connection with King Śuddhodhana, a posh and religious person who came before the Buddha; but it is accessible equally to a bloke like me, a common and irreligious person who has followed after the Buddha.

If we stop doing the wrong thing, the right thing tends to do itself. 
In other words, as long as we refrain from doing evil, we can leave the good (sādhūn [acc. pl.]) to do itself.

And in that case, "the good"  might mean, for example, the respiratory system, the digestive system, the circulatory system, the autonomic nervous system, the unfathomable mechanisms of upright posture, and so on – not to mention grass and trees, and the moon and stars.

On the surface, saṁvibabhāja sādhūn seems to mean that the king gave gifts to good or virtuous men. Hence EBC/EHJ "[he] rewarded the good" and PO "[he] gave gifts to holy men." But if that were the only meaning, the phrase would not mean much. We are required to look for another meaning, below the surface.

By listing the three elements of (1) calmness/balance, (2) abstention from evil, (3) self-regulation and then (4?) a fourth element that on the surface doesn't seem to fit -- "rewarding the good" or "giving gifts to holy men" -- Aśvaghoṣa is inviting the imagination of the reader/listener to make a creative leap and connect with the most fundamental teaching of the Buddha, which is to control what is in our power to control, in terms of inhibiting wrong patterns of behaviour, and to allow (rather than trying to "do") the good. 

To be fair to Aśvaghoṣa, he is not asking for much of a leap, nor demanding very arduous digging – to mix my metaphors, it is as if Aśvaghoṣa has taken us to the edge of a children's sandpit where a golden coin is buried, and given us a plastic spade. And yet, however small the leap may be, however close to the surface the gold may be buried, it is obviously difficult for a person who has not struggled in his own sitting practice with the meaning of words like "let" and "allow" and "leave," to make that leap or to dig out that gold.

In order to understand what Aśvaghoṣa is really saying, below the surface, what is necessary above all is to have tasted for oneself the simplicity and yet ineffable difficulty of the teaching that was expressed in Chinese as

諸悪莫作

SHO-AKU MAKU-SA

Not doing any evil,

衆善奉行

SHU-ZEN BUGYO

Letting the good do itself.

The simplicity is in simply not doing; the difficulty is in the allowing, the letting, the leaving be.

Even on a glorious late summer's morning by the forest, it is not easy -- some little stimulus arises and the bad habits of a lifetime kick in (if indeed, they were not secretly operating already). 

VOCABULARY

nṛpaḥ (nom. sg.): m. 'ruler of men', king

tu: but

tasya (gen. sg.): his

eva (emphatic)

vivṛddhi-hetoḥ (gen. sg.): having his [son's] prosperity as his motive

vivṛddhi: f. growth , increase , augmentation , enlargement , furthering , promotion ; prosperity

hetu: m. motive, cause; ifc. = " having as a cause or motive " , " caused or effected or actuated or attracted or impelled by "

tad-bhāvinā (inst. sg. m.): about to be for him; predicted for him

bhāvin: about to be , future , imminent , predestined , inevitable ; (ifc.) being possessed of

arthena (inst. sg.): mn. aim , purpose

ca: and

codyamānaḥ = nom. sg. m. pres. part. passive cud: to impel , incite , animate

śame (loc. sg.): m. tranquillity , calmness , rest , equanimity ; peace

abhireme = 3rd pers. sg. perf. abhi- √ ram: to dwell, repose, delight in

virarāma = 3rd pers. sg. perf. vi- √ ram : to stop (esp. speaking) , pause , cease , come to an end ; to give up , abandon , abstain or desist from (abl.)

pāpāt (abl. sg.): n. evil , misfortune , ill-luck , trouble , mischief, harm ; n. sin , vice , crime , guilt

bheje = 3rd pers. sg. perf. bhaj: to obtain as one's share , receive as (two acc.) , partake of , enjoy (also carnally) , possess , have ; to turn or resort to , engage in , assume (as a form) , put on (garments) , experience , incur , undergo , feel , go or fall into

damam (acc. sg.) m. taming; self-command , self-restraint , self-control

saṁvibabhāja = 3rd pers. sg. perf. saṁ-vi- √ bhaj: to divide , separate ; give a share or portion to , distribute , apportion , share with ; to furnish or provide or present with (instr.)

sādhūn (acc. pl.): m. a good or virtuous or honest man; a holy man, saint; mfn. straight, right, good

父王爲太子 靜居修純徳

仁慈正法化 親賢遠惡友

BUDDHACARITA 2.32: More Sex & Wickedness

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−    Upajāti (Ṛddhi)

tataḥ sa kāmāśraya-paṇḍitābhiḥ strībhir-gṛhīto rati-karkaśābhiḥ

⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−

vimāna-pṛṣṭhān-na mahīṁ jagāma vimāna-pṛṣthād-iva puṇya-karmā || 2.32

2.32
And so, embraced by experts in addiction to love,

By women who were unsagging in pursuit of pleasure,

He did not descend
from high up in the palace down to earth –

As a doer of good would not,
from an upper carriage of gods on high.

COMMENT:

Today's verse, again, can be analysed, at a stretch, into four phases:

The 1st pāda describes the courtesans as paṇḍitā, pundits, experts, people with abstract knowledge, people who understand how things work in theory.

In describing the women as tireless in physical love, the 2nd pāda features the word karkaśa which EHJ reliably informs us originally means firm or hard, and is used especially in the context of a desirable young woman's breasts. So the 2nd pāda is not at all concerned with the abstract, but on the contrary brings to mind the firmly physical.

The 3rd pāda describes the concrete, historical fact that the young prince remained in his digs high up in the palace. At the same time it sets us up for the punch line....

The 4th pāda, as I read it, features a multiple play on the word vimāna, the ironic intention of which is to poke fun at pious religious types who like to sit atop a high horse.

By his inelegant repetition of the same phrase vimāna-pṛṣthāt in the same place in each of the last two pādas, where one might have expected a poet to resort to a bit of elegant variation, Aśvaghoṣa seems to be asking the reader/listener to attend to alternative meanings of the same phrase, vimāna-pṛṣthāt.

The first definition of vimāna given in the dictionary, is “disrespect, dishonour." A second, quite different definition is “a lofty chariot or palace,” heavenly or earthly.

On the surface, vimāna-pṛṣthāt in the 3rd pāda is the same word as vimāna-pṛṣthāt in the 4th pāda, except that the former refers to an earthly abode (the roof or upper storey of an emperor's palace, especially one with seven storeys), while the latter refers to a celestial abode (a chariot or palace of the gods). Hence EBC's “from the roof of a pavillion... from a heavenly chariot,” and EHJ's “from the palace... from the heavenly mansion.”

PO, mirroring the original text more closely, which is never a discreditable strategy (except when done unduly rigorously) translated “from that heavenly mansion... from his heavenly mansion.”

In my translation, I have taken the same route as EBC and EHJ but have gone much further down that route, suspecting that Aśvaghoṣa also had in mind the first definition of vimāna as “disrespect, dishonour.” In this definition vimāna is from the root √man, to regard as; whereas in the definition of vimāna as a heavenly palace it is from the root √mā, to measure out. This is a divergence of meaning on which Aśvaghoṣa seems to make a play in the 4th canto of Saundara-nanda:

While Nanda, inside the palace (vimāna-garbhe), in what almost amounted to a dishonour (vimāna-kalpe), was thus enjoying himself, / The Tathāgata, the One Thus Come, come begging time, had entered the palace, for the purpose of begging. // 4.24 /

Taking vimāna to mean disrespect, vimāna-pṛṣthāt literally means “from the upper side of disrespect,” or in other words from the standpoint of condescension -- or rather, from the standpoint of one who does not condescend to come down from his high horse. (Yes, I have been there. I know whereof I speak.) Such I think is Aśvaghoṣa real intention, which I have attempted to hint at by using the words “upper carriage,” with its associations with upper-class snobbery, and “on high,” which is not infrequently used in an ironic context.

The punchline in today's verse, then, as I read it, is particularly pointed and particularly powerful, this being the fourth in a series of four verses whose ostensible aim is to describe the sexy courtesans who catered to the young prince's every whim.

My original title for today's post was Subverting Sanctimonious Non-Condescension. On reflection, with one eye on my flag counter, I decided to sell out and go for something pithier and more attractive, and so came up with “More Sex & Wickedness.” But the wickedness referred to has got nothing to do with the sex; the wickedness refers to Aśvaghoṣa's characteristically wicked use of irony to subvert religious piety.

Aśvaghoṣa, as I read him, has really got it in for religion. So when Buddhist scholars say that Aśvaghoṣa was particularly interested in the subject of religious conversion, in my opinion they are sadly missing the point – largely because of failing to get Aśvaghoṣa's irony. I spent a lot of time writing a paper earlier this year setting out why Saundara-nanda is NOT a story of religious conversion but is rather a story of individual transformation, or growth. I submitted the article for publication in the Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, but I don't think my effort was much appreciated! Needless to say, the lack of appreciation of my effort didn't bother me, much.

On the face of it, puṇya-karmā sounds like a good thing to be – a man who acts right, a doer of good, a man of good conduct, a man of meritorous action. Thus, in S1.39 Aśvaghoṣa describes the founders of Kapilavastu as coming to maturity “through good conduct” (puṇya-karmāṇaḥ), and the Buddha tells Nanda at the end of the 10th canto of Saundara-nanda:

Through strenuous efforts on earth -- drawing a bow and suchlike -- a man may sometimes win women, or else he may not; / But what is certain is that, through his practice of dharma here and now, these women in heaven can belong to a man of meritorious action (puṇya-karmaṇaḥ). // SN10.62 //

On the face of it, the Buddha in SN10.62, as also Aśvaghoṣa in SN6.3, affirms the ancient Indian conception that an ascetic maker of merit can expect the undivided and unbridled appreciation of celestial nymphs as his reward for his end-gaining efforts. Thus:

With her pearl necklaces hanging down, and straps dishevelled, as she bent down from the palace, / She looked like the most gorgeous of the heavenly nymphs gazing from her celestial abode (vimānāt) at her lover, as he falls down, having used up his ascetic credit. // SN6.3 //

But in reality how could the Buddha and Aśvaghoṣa be affirming such an end-gaining conception? The whole point of Saundara-nanda is to smash such a stupid conception, using the weapon of irony. This weapon is a subtle, delicate and precise instrument, whose existence might hang on the difference in connotation between "man of good conduct" and "do-gooder" -- that subtle difference being the gulf that separates (a) a man of action, whose good conduct is primarily the manifestation of not doing wrong, and (b) a pious do-gooder, a sanctimonious old so and so who expects to be revered and rewarded. (Again, I know whereof I speak.)

Aśvaghoṣa's real intention in today's verse is, not for the first time, to subvert religious piety, or to subvert the merit-making of merit-makers who expect some kind of reward for their meritorious efforts – just like me who, as described yesterday, have been looking forward for many years to receiving the just reward for my heroic (at least in my own mind) actions. Never has the advice “Be careful what you wish for” been more pertinent.

Rather than expectantly seeking my karmic reward, I might be better off, if I were wise, seeking to lighten my karmic burden, by regularly confessing in the traditional manner, for a start, that all my mistakes have stemmed, since times without beginning, from greedy end-gaining, anger, and faulty sensory appreciation.

Such confession might sound like something religious, but it need not be anything religious. It might rather be something akin to recognition of a debt, like reflecting on a big minus on the liabilities side of a financial balance sheet. This kind of confession and reflection --which old Zen drills like Tendo Nyojo called unnecessary, even as they practised them -- might be an aid to consciously coming off one's high horse and back down to earth (mahīm). 

For example, when I look back on my fifty-odd years, have I been immune to greedy end-gaining, anger, and faulty sensory appreciation.? No, I absolutely have not.

VOCABULARY

tataḥ: ind. then, in consequence of which

sa (nom. sg. m.): he

kāmāśraya-paṇḍitābhiḥ (inst. pl. f.): expert in erotic addiction

kāma: love, desire, sensuality

āśraya: m. a recipient , the person or thing in which any quality or article is inherent or retained or received; the being inclined or addicted to , following , practising

paṇḍita: mfn. learned , wise , shrewd , clever , skilful in , conversant with

strībhiḥ (inst. pl.): f. women

gṛhītaḥ (nom. sg. m.): mfn. grasped , taken , seized , caught , held

grah: to seize , take (by the hand); grasp, lay hold of; to arrest, stop; to catch , take captive , take prisoner , capture , imprison ; to take possession of , gain over , captivate ; to lay the hand on , claim

rati-karkaśābhiḥ (inst. pl. f.): being firm/unsagging in giving pleasure

rati: f. pleasure; the pleasure of love , sexual passion or union , amorous enjoyment

karkaśa: mfn. hard , firm , rough , harsh (lit. and metaph.)

EHJ note: karkaśa properly 'firm,' 'hard,' often of a woman's body or breasts, and then 'experienced,' 'indefatigable,' as in raṇakarkaśa, Ram. v.44, 5.

vimāna-pṛṣṭhāt (abl. sg.): from the palace heights

vimāna: (1. fr. vi- √man) disrespect , dishonour ; (2. f. vi- √mā) m. n. a car or chariot of the gods ; m. any car or vehicle (esp. a bier); m. the palace of an emperor or supreme monarch (esp. one with 7 stories)

pṛṣṭha: n. the upper side , surface , top , height; the flat roof of a house

na: not

mahīm (acc. sg.): f. " the great world " , the earth

jagāma = 3rd pers. sg. perf. gam: to go

vimāna-pṛṣthāt (abl. sg.): from the palace heights / from the upper side of a godly chariot / from the snobbish side of disrespect

vimāna: (1. fr. vi- √man) disrespect , dishonour ; (2. f. vi- √mā) m. n. a car or chariot of the gods ; m. any car or vehicle (esp. a bier); m. the palace of an emperor or supreme monarch (esp. one with 7 stories)

iva: like, as

puṇya-karmā (nom. sg. m.): a do-gooder, a man of piety, a sanctimonious so and so

puṇya-karman: mfn. acting right , virtuous , pious

puṇya: mfn. auspicious , propitious , fair , pleasant , good , right , virtuous , meritorious ; n. the good or right , virtue , purity , good work , meritorious act , moral or religious merit

karman: n. action

See SN10.62 and 6.3

菩薩處高宮

音樂亦如是