SAUNDARANANDA 5.3: The Royal Road of Here & Now

buddhas tatas tatra nar'-endra-maarge
sroto mahad-bhaktimato janasya
jagaama duHkhena vigaahamaano
jal'-aagame srota iv' aapagaayaaH

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5.3
The Buddha then, and there, on the royal road,

Struggled on

Into the gushing throng of the greatly devoted

As if entering the torrent of a river in the rains.


COMMENT:
Ashvaghosha's use of tatra "at that moment / at that place" -- see particularly, for example, the final words of Canto 3 -- is closely analagous to the use in Chinese texts and in the writings of Zen Master Dogen of the ubiquitous Chinese character SOKU (sunawa[chi]). The character appears, for example, in the title of Shobogenzo chap. 6, SOKU-SHIN-ZE-BUTSU, "The Mind Here & Now is Buddha."

So while nar'-endra-maarge, "on the royal road," can be understood as a description of the state of one who has gone forth into the wandering life of the celibate beggar, equally, with the words tatas tatra, "then and there," Ashvaghosha might be pointing to this gone-forth state as the mind here and now which is just buddha.

The 3rd line of this verse mirrors the 3rd line of 4.44. Ashvaghosha uses the same words jagaama duHkhena ("he went with difficulty" ; "he struggled on") to describe both Nanda's struggle and the Buddha's struggle -- Nanda's struggle to separate himself from her of the arched eyebrows and bulging breasts, and the Buddha's struggle to move through the adoring throng.

Again, the intended effect might be to call into question the easy conception that whereas Nanda is easy for us to identify with, the reality of Buddha exists out there, somewhere over the rainbow. The suggestion might be that, in some sense, we are all in the same boat, struggling at the only time and place where the struggle can ever take place, which is not in the past, not in the future, and not someplace else.

By the way Jordan, if you are reading this, how is it going? Still struggling on?

EH Johnston:
Then the Buddha went along, cleaving the great stream of devout people there on the royal highway with as much difficulty as if He were entering the stream of a river at the onset of the rains.

Linda Covill:
Then the Buddha walked along the royal highway, making his way with difficulty through the stream of greatly devoted people there, as if through a streaming monsoon river.


VOCABULARY:
buddhaH (nom. sg.): m. the Buddha, the Awakened One
tataH: ind. then
tatra: ind. there, on that
nar'-endra-maarge
nar'-endra: m. " man-lord " , king , prince
maarga: m. the track of a wild animal , any track , road , path , way

srotaH = acc. sg. srotas: n. the current or bed of a river , a river , stream , torrent
mahad-bhaktimataH (gen. sg.): greatly devoted
mahat: great
bhaktimat: mfn. mfn. possessing true devotion , firmly attached or devoted to; accompanied by devotion or loyalty
janasya (gen. sg.): m. people

jagaama = 3rd pers. sg. perfect gam: to go
duHkhena (inst. sg.): with difficulty
vigaahamaanaH = nom. sg. m. pres. part. vi- √ gaah: to plunge or dive into , bathe in , enter , penetrate , pervade , betake one's self into (acc. or loc.)

jal'-aagame (loc. sg.): m. " water-approach " , rain
srotaH = acc. sg. srotas: n. the current or bed of a river , a river , stream , torrent
iva: like, as if
aapagaayaaH = gen. sg. aapagaa: f. a river , a stream

SAUNDARANANDA 5.2: ... With Head, Hands & Whole

ke cit praNamy' aanuyayur muhuurtaM
ke cit praNamy' aartha-vashena jagmuH
ke cit svakeShv aavasatheShu tasthuH
kRtv" aaNjaliin viikShaNa-tat-par'-aakShaaH

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5.2
Some bowed and then followed for a while;

Some bowed and then went away,
being compelled to work;

Some stood still at their own dwelling-places,

Their hands joined
and eyes observing him in the distance.

COMMENT:
This verse, as I read it, expresses not only the scene there in Kapilavastu but also the three essential means by which we devote ourselves to service of the Buddha in everyday life: namely, through study, work, and sitting-meditation; or in other words, with head, hands, and whole of ourselves.

For example, to study these words of Ashvaghosha is deliberately to follow the Buddha for a while. To sew a robe or a sitting-cushion, to clean the floor, to work in the garden, or to do one's daily job might be ways of devoting oneself through the work one is compelled, by others and by self, to do. But the best way to devote oneself to the Buddha might be just to sit still where one is, not moving anywhere and not doing anything.

EH Johnston:
Some paying reverence to Him followed Him a moment, others after making obeisance went away under stress of their business, while others stood in their dwellings with hands clasped in adoration and eyes absorbed in gazing.

Linda Covill:
After honoring him, some followed him for a short while, others had to leave due to the demands of their work, while some stood outside their houses with their hands folded in respect and their eyes absorbed in gazing at him.


VOCABULARY:
ke cit (nom. pl. m.): some people
praNamya = abs. pra-Nam: to bend or bow down
anuyayur = 3rd pers. pl. perfect anu- √ yaa: to go towards or after , follow ; to imitate , equal
muhuurtam (acc. sg. n.): m. n. a moment , instant , any short space of time

ke cit (nom. pl. m.): some people
praNamya = abs. pra-Nam: to bend or bow down
artha-vashena: due to demand of work
artha: affair , concern (Ved. often acc. artham with √ i , or gam , to go to one's business , take up one's work)
vasha: m. authority , power , control , dominion ; vashena ifc. by command of , by force of , on account of , by means of , according to
jagmur = 3rd pers. pl. perfect gam: to go

ke cit (nom. pl. m.): some people
svakeShu (loc. pl. m.): their own
aavasatheShu = loc. pl. aavasatha: m. (from aa- √ vas) dwelling-place , abode , habitation
aa- √ vas: to abide , dwell; to spend (time)
tasthuH = 3rd pers. pl. perfect sthaa: to stand, stand firm, stand still

kRtva = abs. kR: to do, make
aNjaliin = acc. pl. aNjali: m. the open hands placed side by side and slightly hollowed (as if by a beggar to receive food ; hence when raised to the forehead , a mark of supplication) , reverence , salutation , benediction
viikShaNa-tat-par'-aakShaaH (nom. pl. m.): their eyes looking at him who was yonder
viikShaNa: n. (verbal action noun from vi- √iikSh) looking at , seeing , inspection , investigation
vi- √iikSh: to look at , see , behold ; to consider , observe , discern , ascertain , understand
tat: him
paras: ind. beyond , further , off , away
akSha: n. [only ifc. for akShi] the eye.

SAUNDARANANDA 5.1: Devotion...

ath' aavatiiry' aashva-ratha-dvipebhyaH
shaakyaa yathaa-sva-rddhi-gRhiita-veShaaH
mah"-aapaNebhyo vyavahaariNash ca
mahaa-munau bhakti-vashaat praNemuH

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5.1
Then the Shakyas, each clothed in accordance
with his wealth and accomplishments,

Got down from their horses, chariots, and elephants,

And the traders turned away
from their great places of trade:

Compelled by their devotion,
they bowed down before the great Sage.

COMMENT:
The opening verse of the Canto sets a scene in which, for the reasons set out in Canto 3, the Buddha is venerated by people of all stations and classes in Kapilavastu. The picture is one of social cohesion, an orderly society, in which men of both the warrior and merchant classes were devoted to the teaching of the one who had gone forth beyond all classes.

The title of this Canto is nanda-pravraajanaH, Nanda is Caused to Go Forth. pra-vraj, to go forth, meant to leave one's home and family and wander forth as an ascetic mendicant, living a life of celibacy.

The Buddha followed that tradition himself, and he caused Nanda to follow that tradition, as a royal road (nar'endra-maarga; see 5.3) to nirvana -- which is a very different thing from enforced celibacy as a grubby route to the sexual abuse of children, as so widely practised in recent times in the Catholic church.

Watching on TV the supposed past and present leaders of my country lining up to do homage to the leader of the Catholic church made me feel disgusted. A celibate bigot who is rigidly attached to outdated religious beliefs, in spite of all contrary evidence, is a celibate bigot who is wrongly attached to outdated religious beliefs. Is such a celibate bigot any better than a non-celibate bigot? I don't think so.

Here we are at the beginning of the 21st century watching our so-called leaders line up to pay respects to a German bigot, leader and protector of not a few paedophiles, who espouses belief in miracles of the divine intervention variety. Yuk.

The confidence of which the Buddha speaks in Canto 12, as I hear him, is never the same as religious faith. It is much closer to, or the same as, the confidence of a scientist who has proved by experiment that a hypothesis he formerly held was false. The confidence of which the Buddha speaks then, is based not on hopeful adherence to a view in spite of contrary evidence, but is based rather on a view having dropped off.

For this reason, along with the Shakya warriors and the merchants of ancient Kapilavastu, and along with Nagarjuna, I bow down before the one who taught the true Dharma as the dropping of all views.

Devotion to him might truly unite us, if we were truly prepared to go forth from the old habits and obsolete views that hold us all back.



EH Johnston:
Then the Shakyas, dismounting from their horses, chariots and elephants and clothed according to their wealth, devoutly made obeisance to the Great Sage, as did the merchants from their great shops.

Linda Covill:
Then the Shakyas, their clothes befitting their wealth, got down from their horses, chariots and elephants, while merchants came from their large stores, and overcome by devotion to the great sage, they bowed low.

VOCABULARY:
atha: now, then, and so, etc.
avatiirya = abs. ava- √ tRR: alight from , alight (abl.) ; to take down , take off , remove , turn away from (abl.)
ashva-ratha-dvipebhyaH (abl. m. pl.): horses, chariots, elephants
ashva: horse
ratha: chariot
dvipa: elephant

shaakyaaH (nom. pl. m.): the Shakyas
yathaa-sva-rddhi-gRhiita-veShaaH (nom. m. pl.): each clothed according to his own wealth and accomplishments ; accomplishment , perfection , supernatural power
yathaa: according to, in proportion as
sva: mfn. his own, their own ; n. one's own goods , property , wealth , riches
Rddhi f. increase , growth , prosperity , success , good fortune , wealth , abundance
gRhiita: mfn. grasped , taken, laid hold of
veSha: m. dress , apparel , ornament

mah"-aapaNebhyaH (abl. m. pl.): from their great shops
mahat: great, large
aapaNa: m. a market , a shop
vyavahaariNaH = nom. pl. vyavahaarin: mfn. acting , proceeding , dealing with (ifc.); transacting , practising (any business or trade) ; m. a man of business , trader , merchant
ca: and

mahaa-munau (loc. sg.): to the great Sage
mahat: great
muni: m. a saint , sage , seer
bhakti-vashaat: on account of devotion
bhakti: f. devotion
vasha: m. will, wish, desire ; authority , power , control , dominion ; vashaat ifc. by command of , by force of , on account of , by means of , according to
praNemur = 3rd pers. pl. perfect praNam: to bend or bow down before (often with muurdhnaa , shirasaa &c ) , make obeisance to (dat gen. loc. or acc.)

Canto 4: What He Begged His Wife For

Re-reading the Canto as a whole, particularly in light of 4.21 which likens Sundari's face to a lotus in a pond set off by duckweed, I have interpreted that what Sundari was painting on her cheeks was not so much a representation of a big moustache as specks of the duckweed-like stubble of Nanda's beard.

4.1
But even when the sage was there speaking the dharma,

And even though other family members
heeded the dharma,

Nanda passed the time in the company of his wife

Staying in the palace penthouse,
solely occupied with love.

4.2
For joined with his wife
like a cakra-vaka drake with a cakra-vaka duck,

And fitted for love,

He turned his thoughts
neither to Vaishravana nor to Shakra:

How much less, in that state, did he think about dharma?

4.3
For her grace and beauty
she was called Lovely Sundari

For her headstrong pride, Sulky Manini,

And for her sparkle and spirit, Beautiful Bhamini.

So that she was called by three names.

4.4
She of smiles as white as swans, eyes like black bees,

And swelling breasts like lotus buds jutting upwards,

Shimmered all the more, a lotus-pool in female form,

With the rising of a kindred luminary,
the sun-like Nanda.

4.5
For, with inordinately good looks,

And moves to match those heart-stealing looks,

There was in the human world at that time

Sundari alone among women, and Nanda among men.

4.6
She like a goddess wandering
in Indra's Gardens of Gladness,

And Nanda the bringer of joy to his kin,

Seemed, having gone beyond mortals,
and yet not become gods,

To be a Creator's creation in progress.

4.7
If Nanda had not won Sundari,

Of if she of the arched eyebrows had not gone to him,

Then the pair would surely have seemed impaired,

Like the night and the moon deprived of each other.

4.8
As though the target
of the God of Love and his mistress Pleasure,

As though the resting-place
of male Ecstasy and female Joy,

As though a bowl
containing male Excitement and female Contentment,

The couple took their pleasure together,
blind with exuberant desire.

4.9
Having eyes only for each other's eyes,

Their minds hanging on each other's words,

And the pigments that fragranced their bodies
being carried off by each other's embraces,

The couple carried each other away.

4.10
Like kimnara boy meeting kimnara girl

By a cascading mountain torrent, in love with love,

The two of them flirted and shone

As if vying to outdo one another in alluring radiance.

4.11
By building one another's passion,

The pair gave one another sexual satisfaction;

And by playfully teasing one another
during languid intervals,

They gladdened one another again.

4.12
Wishing to cherish his beloved
he bedecked her there in finery,

But not so as to make her beautiful --

For she was so graced already by her own loveliness

That she was rather the adorner of her adornments.

4.13
She put a mirror in his hand;

"Just hold this in front of me

While I do my face,"

She said to her lover, and he held it up.

4.14
Then looking at her husband's stubble

She began to paint her face just like it,

But, with a breath on the mirror,

Nanda took care of that.

4.15
At this wanton gesture of her husband,

And at his wickedness, she inwardly laughed;

But, pretending to be furious with him,

She cocked her eyebrows and frowned.

4.16
With a left hand left languid by love,

She threw at his shoulder the flower behind her ear,

And sprinkled over his face, as he kept his eyes half-shut,

The scented make-up
she had been using to powder herself.

4.17
Then, at his wife's lotus like feet

Girt in trembling ankle bracelets,

Toes sparkling with nail gloss,

Nanda bowed his head, in mock terror.

4.18
With head emerging from beneath the discarded flower

As he made as if to regain his lover's affections,

He looked like an ornamental naga tree
that, overburdened with blossoms,

Had toppled in the wind onto its golden pedestal.

4.19
Pressing him so close in her arms that her string of pearls

Was lifted from her bulging breasts, she raised him up;

"What are you like!" she giggled from above,

Holding an earring obliquely in her mouth.

4.20
Then, looking repeatedly at the face of her husband,

Whose hand had clung to the mirror,

She completed her face-painting

So that the surface of her cheeks
was wet with tamala juice.

4.21
Set off by the tamala marks, her face

With its cherry red lips,
and wide eyes extending to her hair,

Seemed like a lotus set off by duck-weed,

With crimson tips, and two big bees settled on it.

4.22
Attentively now Nanda held up the mirror

Which was bearing witness to a work of beauty.

Squinting to see the flecks she had painted,

He beheld the face of his impish lover.

4.23
Those painted flecks were nibbled away
at the edges by her earrings

So that her face was like a lotus
that had suffered the attentions of a karadava duck;

Nanda, by gazing upon that face,

Became all the more the cause of his wife's happiness.

4.24
While Nanda, in what almost amounted to a dishonour,

Was enjoying himself inside the palace in this manner,

The One Thus Come, come begging time,

Had entered his residence, for the purpose of begging.

4.25
He stood, facing downwards and not asking for anything,

In his brother's house
just as he would in any other's house;

And then, since due to the servants' oversight

He did not receive any alms, he went away again.

4.26
For one woman was grinding fragrant body oils;

Another was making clothes fragrant;

Another, likewise, was preparing a bath;

While other women strung together
sweet-smelling garlands.

4.27
The young women in that house were thus so busy

Doing work related to their master's romantic play

That none of them had seen the Buddha

-- Or so the Buddha inevitably concluded.

4.28
One woman there, however,
on glancing through a round side-window

On the upper storey of the palace,

Had seen the One Gone Well going away

Like the blazing sun emerging from a cloud.

4.29
Thinking in that moment of the importance
of the Worthy One to the master of the house,

And through her own devotion to the Worthy One,

She stood before Nanda, intending to speak,

And then, with his consent, spoke up:

4.30
"To show favour to us, I suppose,

The Bringer of Happiness, the Guru, entered our house;

Having received no alms, or welcoming words, or seat,

He is going away again, as if from an empty forest."

4.31
Hearing that the great seer had entered his house

And departed again without receiving a welcome,

He in his brightly-coloured gems and garments
and garlands, flinched

Like a tree in Indra's paradise shaken by a gust of wind.

4.32
Bringing to his forehead
hands joined in the shape of a lotus bud,

He then begged his beloved to be allowed to go:

"I would like to go and pay my respects to the Guru.

Please permit me, this once."

4.33
Shivering, she twined herself around him

Like a wind-stirred creeper around a teak tree;

She looked at him through unsteady tear-filled eyes,

Took a deep breath, and told him:

4.34
"Since you wish to go and see the Guru

I must not get in the way of your dharma-duty.

Go, noble husband, but come quickly back,

Before this paint on my face is dry.

4.35
If you dawdle,

I will punish you severely:

As you sleep I shall with my breasts

Repeatedly wake you and then not respond to you.

4.36
But if you hurry back to me

Before my face-paint is dry,

Then I will hold you close in my arms

With nothing embellishing them
save the moisture of fragrant oils."

4.37
Thus spoken to, and squeezed,

By a dissonant-sounding Sundari, he said:

"I will, my little vixen. Now let me go

Before the Guru has gone too far."

4.38
And so, with arms made fragrant
by her bulging sandal-scented breasts,

She let him go -- but not with her heart.

He took off clothes suitable for love

And took on an appearance
appropriate for the paying of respect.

4.39
She contemplated her lover leaving

With brooding, empty, unmoving eyes,

Like a doe standing with ears pricked up,
as she lets grass drop down

And, with a perplexed expression,
contemplates the stag wandering off.

4.40
With his mind gripped by his desire to see the Sage,

Nanda hurried his exit;

And then he went ponderously,
and with backward glances,

Like an elephant watching a playful she-elephant.

4.41
With her swelling breasts for clouds
and her full thighs for buttresses,

Her lean abdomen
was like a golden fissure in a rock formation:

Nanda could no more be satisfied by glancing at Sundari

Than by drinking water with one hand.

4.42
Reverence for the Buddha drew him on;

Love for his wife drew him back again:

Undecided, he neither stepped ahead nor stood still,

Like a king-goose waddling against the waves.

4.43
Once out of her sight

He descended quickly from the palace --

And then he heard the sound of ankle bracelets

And hung back, gripped again in his heart.

4.44
Held back by his love of love,

Drawn forward by his love for dharma,

He struggled on, being turned about

Like a boat on a river going against the stream.

4.45
Then he walked on with longer strides, thinking

"How can the Guru possibly not be gone?"

And "Might I after all embrace my love,

Who is so eminently loveable,
while her face-paint is still wet?"

4.46
And so on the road he saw, free of pride

And -- even in the city of his fathers --
haughtiness similarly absent,

The Possessor of Ten Powers,
stopping and being honoured on all sides,

So that it was as if Nanda were following Indra's flag.



The 4th canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda,
titled "What He Begged His Wife For."

SAUNDARANANDA 4.46: Entering a Kind of Stream

atha sa pathi dadarsha mukta-maanaM
pitR-nagare 'pi tathaa-gat'-aabhimaanaM
dasha-balam abhito vilambamaanaM
dhvajam anuyaana iv' aindram arcyamaanaM

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saudaranande mahaa-kaavye bhaaryaa-yaacitako naama caturthaH sargaH

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4.46
And so on the road he saw, free of pride,

And, even in the city of his fathers,
haughtiness similarly absent,

The Possessor of the Ten Powers,
stopping and being honoured on all sides,

So that it was as if Nanda were following Indra's flag.



The 4th canto in the epic poem Handsome Nanda,
titled "What He Begged His Wife For."


COMMENT:
In 3.21, Ashvaghosha writes of the Buddha seeing the king "coming like this" (tathaagatam). Line 2 seem to contain another play on the word tathaagata, which in this case means "similarly gone."

These alternate uses of tathaagata as a descriptive compound give us a sense of multiple possible meanings of Tathagata when it used as an epithet of the Buddha.

The Thus-Come, or the One Who Arrived Like This, or the One Who Arrived at Reality, or the Realised One, are translations that suggest in the Buddha the presence of something ineffable.

The use of tathaagata in today's verse, on the contrary, seems to point to a bit of nothing -- the One in Whom Absence Was Like This.


The title of this Canto, bhaaryaa-yaacitakaH, might also be intended to be ambiguous. bhaaryaa means wife. yaacitakaH is from the root yaac, which means to ask, beg, solicit, entreat, require, implore. The dictionary adds as a further possible/questionable definition: to promise(?). In 4.32, gamanaM yayaace means he begged her to be allowed to go.

EHJ chose as the title for this Canto "The Wife's Bargain"; LC went with "His Wife's Request."

My sense is that the essence of this Canto is to highlight Nanda's dilemma as one in possession not only a gorgeous wife but also an enlightened older brother. Accordingly it may be that the Canto title is intended to draw our attention to the fact that Nanda essentially wanted two contradictory things from his wife: he wanted her to embrace him, and he wanted her to let him go. To put it another way, something in him begged her for permission to leave, and at the same time something in him begged her for sex.

Until both of him want the same thing, Nanda cannot be Nanda. So as we leave Nanda at the end of this Canto, we leave him still in two minds but at the same time about to be swept up, whether all of him wishes it or not, in a stream leading inexorably to Nanda's undivided realisation of Nanda.

EH Johnston:
Then he saw on the road the Dashabala, Who was revered as the Tathagata and was free from arrogance even in His father's city, stopping and being saluted on all sides like the flag of Indra when it flies in a procession and is worshipped.

Linda Covill:
Then on the road he saw him of the ten powers, free from pride even in his father's city, and with all arrogance similarly gone, stopping everywhere and being worshipped like Indra's banner in a procession.


VOCABULARY:
atha: ind. now, then, so
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
pathi = loc. sg. pathin: m. a way , path , road , course
dadarsha = 3rd pers. sg. perfect dRsh: to see
mukta-maanam (acc. sg. m.): free from pride
mukta: mfn. set free ; abandoned , relinquished
maana: m. ( v man) opinion , notion , conception , idea ; purpose , wish , design ; self-conceit , arrogance , pride

pitR-nagare (loc. sg.): in city of his fathers
pitR: m. a father ; m. pl. the fathers , forefathers , ancestors
nagara: n. a town, city
api: even
tathaa-gat'-aabhimaanam (acc. sg. m.): over-conceit likewise gone
tathaa: thus, likewise
gata: gone
abhi-maana: m. intention to injure , insidiousness ; high opinion of one's self , self-conceit , pride , haughtiness ; conception (especially an erroneous one regarding one's self)
abhi: (prefix) ind. over, upon

dasha-balam (acc sg. m.): " possessing 10 powers "
abhitaH: ind. (with acc.) on all sides , everywhere , about , round
vilambamaanam = acc. sg. m. pres. part vi- v lamb : to continue hanging , linger , delay , tarry

dhvajam (acc. sg.): m. a banner , flag , standard
anuyaanaH = nom. sg. m. pres. part. anu- v yaa : to go after, follow
iva: like
aindram (acc. sg. m.): mfn. (fr. indra) , belonging to or sacred to indra
arcyamaanam = acc. sg. m. pres. passive part. arc: to shine ; to praise , sing ; to honour or treat with respect



saundara-nande mahaa-kaavye (loc.): in the epic poem Handsome Nanda
bhaaryaa-yaacitakaH (nom. sg. m.): [leave] borrowed from his wife; what he begged his wife for
bhaaryaa: f. wife
yaacitaka: mfn. (from yaac) borrowed; n. anything borrowed
yaac: to ask , beg , solicit , entreat , require , implore ; to promise (?)
yaacita: mfn. asked , begged (borrowed) ; solicited or asked for (anything ,acc.) , entreated , importuned ; n. alms obtained by begging
naama: ind. by name
caturthaH sargaH (nom. sg. m.): 4th canto

SAUNDARANANDA 4.45: Wishful Thinking Stimulates Progress

tataH kramair diirghatamaiH pracakrame
kathaM nu yaato na gurur bhaved iti
svajeya taaM c' aiva visheShaka-priyaaM
kathaM priyaam aardra-visheShakaam iti

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

4.45
Then he walked on with longer strides, thinking

"How can the guru possibly not be gone?"

And "Might I after all embrace my love,

Who is so eminently loveable,
while her face-paint is still wet?"


COMMENT:
The vignette presented in this verse presages Canto 10, in which Nanda begins to get into the stride of practice only when stimulated by the illusory prospect of a liaison with the legendary pink-footed nymphs.

Maybe this is a point that aggressive atheists of Richard Dawkins' ilk are prone to fail to appreciate -- that we weak human beings sometimes need our illusions in order to keep going in more or less a right direction, like donkeys who like carrots, and who therefore are willing to walk forward in pursuit of a carrot, even if the carrot is ultimately not an edible carrot but only an illusory carrot.

Even among peddlers of illusion, however, there are degrees of rationality. When I hear of the processes involved in the "beatification" of John Henry Newman, including the committee set up to verify his supposed miracle-working, I want to say more power to Dawkins' elbow. What I really want to say to that German fundamentalist religious type who from tomorrow will be posing in my country as a head of state is: "Get off home to Rome. And take your utter nonsense about miracles with you. If you want to witness a miracle, witness the fact that you eat your dinner and a few hours later take a shit."


EH Johnston:
Then he stepped out with long strides, thinking, ' Perhaps the Guru has already gone ', and ' Perhaps I can manage to embrace my mistress, whose excellencies are so lovable, while the paint is still wet.'

Linda Covill:
Then setting out with long strides, he thought "The guru can't possibly not be gone by now!" and "Perhaps I'll be able to hug my darling girl, whose love is so special, while her viveshaka is still wet."

VOCABULARY:
tataH: ind. then
kramaiH (inst. pl.): m. step
diirghatamaiH (inst. pl.): mfn. longest
pracakrame = 3rd pers. sg. perfect pra- v kram: to step or stride forwards , set out , walk on , advance , proceed

katham: ind. how? sometimes katham merely introduces an interrogation ; katham is often found in connection with the particles iva , naama , nu , svid , which appear to generalize the interrogation (how possibly? how indeed? &c )
nu: ind. indeed
yaataH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. gone
na: not
guruH (nom. sg.): m. the Guru, the weightyimportant/venerable one
bhavet = 3rd pers. sg. optative bhuu: to be
iti: "....," thus

svajeya = 1st pers. sg. optative svaNj: to embrace , clasp , encircle , twist or wind round
taam (acc. sg. f.): her
ca: and
eva: (emphatic)
visheShaka-priyaam (acc. sg. f.): especially beloved
visheShaka: mfn. (ifc.) = vi-sheSha distinction , difference ; mn. a mark on the forehead (made with sandal &c )
vi-sheSha: a kind , species , individual (in comp. often = special , peculiar , particular , different) ; distinction , peculiar merit , excellence , superiority (in comp. often = excellent , superior , choice , distinguished)
priya: mfn. beloved , dear to (gen. loc. dat. or comp.)

katham: how? (introducing question)
priyaam (acc. sg.): f. mistress, wife, beloved woman
aardra-visheShakaam (acc. sg. f.): her painted face-mark being wet
aardra: mfn. wet , moist , damp
visheShaka: (see above)
iti: "....," thus

SAUNDARANANDA 4.44: Struggling Against a Stream

sa kaama-raageNa nigRhyamaaNo
dharm-aanuraageNa ca kRshyamaaNaH
jagaama duHkhena nivartyamaanaH
plavaH pratisrota iv-aapagaayaaH

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

4.44
Held back by his love of love,

Drawn forward by his love for dharma,

He struggled on, being turned about

Like a boat on a river going against the stream.


COMMENT:
"The right thing does itself," FM Alexander used to say. Apparently the older he got, the more he said it -- just stop doing the wrong thing and the right thing does itself.

The right thing, when it is experienced, is experienced effortlessly as a spontaneous flow. That is what is meant by something tending to do itself: spontaneous flow, like a fire tending to burn, or like water tending to flow downstream, or like leaves falling off a tree, or like body and mind dropping off a person who is sitting.

In that case, if the right thing tends to do itself, why does so much struggle seem to be needed to get from here to there? Why is it so difficult to allow the right thing to do itself? Shouldn't it be easy to enter the stream and go with the flow?

The 2nd law of thermodynamics is instructive: it describes the tendency that all energy has to flow spontaneously, unless prevented from doing so by barriers (called "activation energy barriers"). The universe seems to be in a state of dynamic tension between the tendency of energy to flow spontaneously and the power of these barriers temporarily to prevent such flow.

So in the material world all around us there exist "activation energy barriers" which are temporarily preventing the spontaneous flow of energy from happening. Pipes are full of hot and cold water under pressure, but effective plumbing is temporarily preventing the water from pouring out. The batteries in my radio are waiting to release their energy, but for the moment the power is switched off. The big tree growing the other side of this window has a huge potential to release energy if its carbon atoms were to start forming bonds with oxygen in the air through combustion, but activation energy barriers are, for the moment, preventing such combustion from taking place. If I were to go out into the garden and try to set the tree on fire, I doubt I would be able to do it, at least not without a lot of planning and effort, and the aid of a chainsaw. If I simply held a lighted match to the tree, nothing would happen, because the power of one match would be insufficient to overcome the activation energy barriers that prevent the tree from burning.

Within us, it is as if there is something similarly resistant to change -- a wrong thing which always wants to do itself, acting like an activation energy barrier to the right thing doing itself.

So we are all basically in the same boat as Nanda, struggling against the force of habit as if in a river going against a powerful stream.

EH Johnston:
Held back by the passion of his love and drawn forward by his inclination for the Law, he went on reluctantly, half-turned round like a boat on a river going against the stream.

Linda Covill:
Kept back by his passion for love, and drawn forward by his attachment to dharma, he proceeded with difficulty, being turned about like a boat going upstream on a river.

VOCABULARY:
sa (nom. sg. m.): he
kaama-raageNa (inst. sg.): by his love of love
kaama: love
raaga: m. the act of colouring or dyeing ; redness ; any feeling or passion , (esp.) love , affection or sympathy for , vehement desire of , interest or joy or delight in (loc. or comp.)
nigRhyamaaNaH = nom. sg. m. pres. passive part. ni- √ grah: to hold down , lower , depress ; to keep or hold back

dharm-aanuraageNa (inst. sg.): by his love of dharma
dharma: dharma, the law, etc.
anuraaga: m. attachment , affection , love , passion
ca: and
kRshyamaaNaH= nom. sg. m. pres. passive part. kRSh: to draw, drag , pull , drag away

jagaama = 3rd pers. sg. perfect gam: to go
duHkhena (inst. sg.): with difficulty
nivartyamaanaH = nom. sg. m. pres. passive part. ni- √ vRt: to turn back , stop

plavaH (nom. sg.): m. a float , raft , boat , small ship
prati-srotaH (nom. sg. m.): mfn. against the stream
iva: like
aapagaayaaH = gen. sg. aapagaa: f. a river , a stream