SAUNDARANANDA 8.23: No Eyes for the Prize

a-vicaarayataH shubh'-aa-shubhaM
viShayeShv eva niviShTa-cetasaH
upapannam a-labdha-cakShuSho
na ratiH shreyasi ced bhavet tava

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8.23
"For you
who draws no distinction between good and bad,

Whose mind is settled on objects of the senses,

And who has no eye of attainment,

Naturally, there could be no delight in higher good.

COMMENT:
The striver's excellent words are never a description of the Buddha sitting like the king of mountains -- at least as far as the striver is aware. But therein, as I read it, lies Ashvaghosha's irony.


EH Johnston:
' Seeing that you do not distinguish between pure and impure, that your feelings are set on the objects of sense and that insight is not yours, it is natural that you should find no pleasure in the highest good.

Linda Covill:
"You do not discriminate between good and bad, and your mind is encamped among the objects of the senses. You have not properly attained insight, so no pleasure in Excellence could be yours.


VOCABULARY:
a-vicaarayataH = gen. sg. m. pres. part. causative vi- √car: to move hither and thither (in the mind) , ponder , reflect , consider
shubh'-aa-shubham (acc. sg.): good and bad; pure and impure
shubha: mfn. splendid ; good (applied to persons and things) ; good (in moral sense) ; pure (as an action)
a-shubha: mfn. not beautiful or agreeable , disagreeable ; inauspicious; bad

viShayeShu (loc. pl.): m. an object of sense ; anything perceptible by the senses , any object of affection or concern or attention , any special worldly object or aim or matter or business , (pl.) sensual enjoyments , sensuality
eva: (emphatic)
niviShTa-cetasaH (gen. sg.): with mind penetrated into/come to rest upon
niviShTa: mfn. settled down , come to rest; encamped (army); entered , penetrated into (also with antar) , lying or resting or sticking or staying in (loc. or comp.)
ni- √ vish : to enter or penetrate into (acc. or loc.) ; to alight , descend ; to come to rest , settle down
cetas: n. consciousness , intelligence , thinking soul , heart , mind

upapannam (acc. sg. n.): fit , suited for the occasion , adequate , conformable
a-labdha-cakShuShaH (gen. sg.): not having a realized eye
a-labdha: mfn. unobtained
cakShus: n. the act of seeing ; n. faculty of seeing , sight ; n. the eye (often ifc. cf. a-cakShus, 'no eye' , /a-ghora-cakShus, 'not having an evil eye', /a-dabdha-cakShus, one whose eyes do not fail, &c )

na ced: if not ; (with pot.) " would that not! "
ratiH (nom. sg.): f. rest , repose ; pleasure , enjoyment , delight in , fondness for (loc.)
shreyasi (loc. sg.): n. higher good
bhavet = 3rd pers .sg. optative bhuu: to be
tava (gen. sg.): of you, yours