SAUNDARANANDA 13.10: Starting Afresh from Here

ataH prabhRti bhuuyas tvaM
shraddh"-endriya-puraHsaraH
a-mRtasy' aaptaye saumya
vRttaM rakShitum arhasi

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13.10
"Starting afresh from here, my friend,

With the power of confidence leading you forward,

In order to get to the nectar of the deathless

You should watch the manner of your action.

COMMENT:
Here the Buddha's teaching in his own words resumes with a verse that puts preventive practice here and now (the theme of this Canto), in the context of a path where confidence in higher good (Canto 12) is a forerunner, and where the nectar of deathlessness (Canto 17) is the goal.

I understand this verse not as an injunction to be more careful, but as an injunction to be more watchful in the use of oneself, to be more mindful of what goes wrong, to be more aware of what we wish to stop off at source.

This understanding I owe primarily to Alexander teachers such as Ray Evans, Ron Colyer, Nelly Ben-Or and Marjory Barlow. The fact that my energy was ever channelled into translation work in the service of buddha-ancestors, I owe primarily to Gudo Nishijima. But the understanding I now bring to this work, for better or for worse, derives primarily from FM Alexander.

The way Gudo Nishijima taught me to sit was the same way that my father taught me to swim : more or less total end-gaining, with minimal concern for what might be going wrong in process in the way of undue excitement of fear reflexes. Rather than stopping off the root cause of fear by instilling confidence in a true principle, the principle espoused with considerable self-confidence by my two opinionated fathers, biological and "Buddhist," is to overcome fear through aggressive doing in pursuit of the end. In the rugby-playing days of my youth, my biological father would call it "getting stuck in." Gudo Nishijima calls it "the philosophy of action." It was the philosphy under which I did the Nishijima-Cross Shobogenzo translation, telling myself every day: "Just fucking do it." It is the philosophy of the Buddhist punk... 1,2,3 Go!

What is being recorded here by Ashvaghosha, and what is recorded in the four books of FM Alexander, is the principle which is diametrically opposed to the principle and practice of end-gaining. Ashvagosha wrote of pravRtti and nivRtti. In these two words pra (forward) and ni (backward/non) are prefixed to the same stem vRtti (rolling, mode of action). Vrtti is from the root vRt (to turn, proceed, do), which is also the root of the vRtta (mode of action) of this verse. The opposition that Ashvaghosha expresses as pravRtti vs nivRtti, Alexander expressed by the terms end-gaining vs means-whereby, and doing vs non-doing.

I would recommend anybody who wishes to get to the bottom of Ashvaghosha's teaching to follow the example of Jordan Fountain and read this blog in conjunction with the writings of FM Alexander.

"Starting afresh from here" (ataH prabhRti bhuuyas) means from this moment, and it might mean from every moment. At the same time, it might mean not on the basis of that principle of blind end-gaining but on the basis of this preventive principle of true mindfulness.

EH Johnston:
' From now onwards, my friend, do you, fortified by the faculty of faith, take heed still further to govern your conduct so as to reach the state where death is not.

Linda Covill:
"In order to reach deathlessness, my friend, you, with the faculty of faith as your forerunner, should from now onwards increase the guard on your conduct.

VOCABULARY:
atas: ind. (ablative of the pronom. base a) , from this
prabhRti: ind. (after an abl. adv.) beginning from
bhuuyas: ind. more , most , very much , exceedingly; still more ; once more , again , anew
tvam (nominal): you

shraddhaa: confidence
indriya: n. power , force , the quality which belongs especially to the mighty indra ; n. bodily power , power of the senses
puraHsaraH (nominal): mf(I)n. going before or in advance; m. a forerunner , precursor , harbinger

amRtasya = genitive of amRta: the nectar of immortality
aaptaye = dative of aapta: mfn. reached , overtaken , met ; received , got , gained , obtained
saumya: my friend

vRttam (accusative): n. procedure , practice , action , mode of life , conduct , behaviour (esp. virtuous conduct , good behaviour)
rakShitum = infinitive of rakSh: to guard , watch , take care of , protect ,
arhasi: you should