−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
Upajāti (Sālā)
bodhāya
jāto 'smi jagadd-hitārtham-antyā bhav-otpattir-iyaṁ mameti |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
catur-diśaṁ
siṁha-gatir-vilokya vāṇīṁ ca bhavyārtha-karīm uvāca ||
1.15
1.15
“For
awakening I am born, for the welfare of the world;
This
for me is the ultimate coming into existence.”
Surveying
the four quarters, as he moved like a lion,
He
voiced a sound that conveyed this gist of what was to be.
COMMENT:
Even if
legend says that the prince of the Śākyas emerged from the womb
speaking words, I don't accept the legend literally, and I don't
think Aśvaghoṣa did either.
With
siṁha-gatiḥ
I think Aśvaghoṣa is describing
what a normal, healthy baby does, usually from around 6 months after
conception, which is to rock backwards and forwards on hands and
knees and then to crawl forwards, in the well-coordinated and
effortless manner of a big cat.
In
those first six months babies do not speak words; they certainly do
not string together sentences composed in Upajāti metre. So the
words vāṇīm
uvāca as I read them describe the
infant Śākyamuni not speaking words but rather making the kind of
sound that many normal healthy babies make – a big sound that
belies the size of their bodies, and which seems to announce in no
uncertain terms sentiments like “I am the boss” and “Here I
am!”
The
sound might have been something along the lines of “Goo! Goo!" or "Gaaah!”
The
Alexander teacher Marjory Barlow used to say “You are all perfect,
apart from what you are doing.”
The
“doing” she referred to, she went on to clarify, means wrong
inner patterns in the brain and nervous system.
A
normal, naturally-born baby like the infant Śākyamuni –
notwithstanding his tendency to shit himself from time to time – is perfect in
the sense that he is free from these wrong inner patterns. And a
fully enlightened human being like the awakened Śākyamuni is also
perfect in the sense that he is free from these wrong inner patterns, aka “the faults which start with thirsting”
(tṛṣṇādayo
doṣa;
SN16.17).
Understood
along these lines, these opening verses of Buddhacarita are not
intended to put the Buddha on a par with mythical Brahmanical heroes
who were fancifully imagined to have had miraculous births. Aṣvaghoṣa's real intention in these opening verses is rather the intention that Dogen had in beginning
his instructions for sitting with the affirmation that
道本圓通
争借修証
DO MOTO
ENZU,
IKADEKA
SHUSHO O KARAN?
“Awakening
originally is all around.
How
could it depend on training and verification?”
VOCABULARY
bodhāya
= dat. sg. bodha: m. waking , becoming or being awake , consciousness
; m. the opening of blossom , bloom
jātaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): mfn. born
asmi
= 1st
pers. sg. as: to be
jagadd-hitārtham
(ind): for the welfare of the world
jagat:
n. the world , esp. this world , earth
hitārtham:
ind. for the sake of another's welfare
antyā
(nom. sg. f.): mfn. last in place , in time , or in order
bhav-otpattiḥ
(nom. sg. f.): coming into existence
bhava:
m. coming into existence , birth , production ; being , state of
being , existence , life
utpatti:
f. arising , birth , production , origin ; producing as an effect or
result , giving rise to , generating as a consequence; occurrence
iyam
(nom. sg. f.): this
mama
(gen. sg.): my, of/for me
iti:
“...,” thus
catur-diśam:
ind. towards the 4 quarters , on all sides , all around
siṁha-gatiḥ
(nom. sg. m.): going in the manner of a lion
siṁha:
m. lion
gati:
f. going , moving , gait , deportment , motion in general ; manner or
power of going; path , way , course
vilokya
= abs. vi- √ lok : to look at or upon , regard , examine , test ,
study
vāṇīm
(acc. sg.): f. sound , voice , music ; speech
ca:
and
bhavyārtha-karīm
(acc. sg. f.): effecting the substance of what was to come, conveying
a sense of what was to be
bhavya:
mfn. being , existing , present ; to be about to be or become ,
future ; likely to be , on the point of becoming ; what ought to be
, suitable , fit , proper , right , good , excellent ; handsome ,
beautiful , pleasant ; gracious , favourable; auspicious ,
fortunate
artha:
mn. aim, purpose, cause, motive; use; substance; sense; meaning
kari:
mfn. (ifc.) causing , accomplishing
uvāca
= 3rd
pers. sg. perf. vac: to speak , say , tell , utter , announce ,
declare , mention , proclaim
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