⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑−−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−− Aupacchandasaka
mama
tu priya-dharma dharma-kālas-tvayi lakṣmīm-avasjya lakṣa-bhūte
|
⏑⏑−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−¦¦⏑⏑−−⏑⏑¦−⏑−⏑−−
sthira-vikrama
vikrameṇa dharmas-tava hitvā tu guruṁ bhaved-adharmaḥ || 5.32
5.32
For me, O lover of
dharma! it is time for religious dharma –
After I have
surrendered to you, the apple of my eye,
the apple of my royal
power.
But for you, O firmly
striding force!
After you have forcibly
forsaken your own father,
religious dharma might
turn into irreligion.
COMMENT:
The three expressions
in today's verse by which the king refers to the prince, feature
plays on the three ambiguous terms dharma, lakṣmī, and vikrama,
and thus alert our stupid minds to the multiplicity of meanings which
one word can carry.
To deal first with a
textual problem, EHJ amended the original lakṣa-bhūte to
lakṣma-bhūte, pointing out the the paper manuscript of SN4.8 has
lakṣma-bhūtam (which EHJ amended, erroneously he considered in
retrospect, to lakṣya-bhūtam). He also considered EBC's lakṣya
to be a valid option, but chose lakṣma as closest in sound to
lakṣmī. EHJ noted that the meaning of lakṣa/lakṣma/lakṣya-bhūte
is doutful here, but he suggested 'the apple of my eye.' I think such
use of the word apple to express an object that is cherished or
prized is a neat solution – though EHJ himself passed it over and
went with “after I have devolved sovereignty on you, the cynosure
of all eyes.”
In any event, I think
Aśvaghoṣa's main practical purpose in making these three plays on
words was to cause us to wake up our lethargic minds and focus in
particular on what the words dharma and a-dharma might mean, and thereby approach
some understanding of what was ironically being hinted at in
the 4th pāda of today's verse.
My own mind was
particularly lethargic this Tuesday morning (is it Tuesday today?) having cycled through
Sunday night in order to get to Flers train station for the 5.32
train which would enable me to catch the Monday morning ferry – a feat
requiring a challenging but very enjoyable 9-mile sprint along the
side of the canal that leads from Caen railway station to the ferry
port of Ouistreham. I duly arrived at 7.45 on the dot, just as
required, 45-minutes before the ferry's 8.30 departure. It is nice
when a plan comes together. I might feel more pleased with myself,
however, if the price of gold had not continued to head so rapidly
south.
In any event, as I
began to sit this morning, I was more than usually bleary-eyed and
groggy after a particularly deep sleep. I had no positive idea but just
sat there feeling groggy and waiting for something to change –
hopefully for the better – in accordance with the 2nd
law of thermodynamics. What did emerge after about an hour was a
strong desire to write something about the meaning of dharma and a-dharma on the back of
reflections on the ferry about today's verse, and on the back of
recent reflections on the energetically favourable edge of the forest about the meaning of the compound akṣaya-dharma-jata-rāgaḥ, with which Aśvaghoṣa described the prince in BC5.26.
For the past several
years, since somebody left a comment on a previous blog alerting my
stupid brain to the importance of the 2nd law of
thermodynamics, which I had heard Ray Evans refer to in an Alexander
context (“energy flowing from a higher to a lower source” was how
Ray had described it), I have equated investigation of the 2nd
law with investigation of what the Buddha called a-nityam,
impermanence. But it wasn't until watching some science documentaries
presented by Brian Cox a few months ago that my stupid mind began to
alight on the importance of the 1st law of thermodynamics,
the law of conservation of energy.
Several times while I
was in France it struck me that the hidden meaning of akṣaya-dharma
in the compound akṣaya-dharma-jata-rāgaḥ is energy itself. For
what other reality worthy of the name dharma can be called a-kṣaya,
imperishable, indestructible, not subject to decay?
On the surface
akṣaya-dharma-jata-rāgaḥ describes the prince as exhibiting the
height of idealism – as spawning a vehement desire (jata-rāgaḥ)
for a dharma that might be imperishable (akṣaya-dharmam). But if we
understand the phrase like that it has no basis in the deliciously
irreligious truth of sitting upright on mother earth. It is just a
crappy aspiration belonging to that sphere of endless bullshitting
which is generally known as “religion.”
No, what Aśvaghoṣa
was really pointing to with the phrase akṣaya-dharma-jata-rāgaḥ,
I am sure, is what happens when we just sit there and don't do
anything especially wrong. What happens, so long as we don't do the
wrong thing, is that indestructible energy asserts itself. When
indestructible energy (akṣaya-dharmaḥ) asserts itself, we feel it
in us as the arising of strong desire (jata-rāgam).
That is what happened
in my sitting this morning. The experience was particularly
conspicuous since at the beginning I was so bereft of any positive
attitude, but rather just walked like a zombie to the zafu, sent my
knees forward and away as I bent my knees to sit, as has become my
habit, and just sat there dumbly. But an hour later I was firmly
striding up the stairs with a strong desire that I am now getting
round to consummating, which is to explain the real meaning in
today's verse of dharmaḥ bhaved a-dharmaḥ, dharma turning into
a-dharma, religion turning into irreligion.
On the surface the king
is cautioning the prince that if son were to forsake his own father,
he would thereby be guilty of a-dharma, unrighteousness, wickedness, injustice, irreligion – the prince would be guilty, the king is warning him, of doing the very opposite of his dharma-duty.
If, however, we get the irony that the king might be unknowingly predicting events that will follow from the Buddha's enlightenment, then the king is accurately predicting that the prince will stop
pursuing the spiritual, religious and ascetic dharma of Brahmanism, at which moment the Buddha will begin to practise and to preach instead a totally different dharma –
dharma, but not religious dharma as hitherto understood.
What a-dharma, points to, I therefore submit, is nothing so negative as the dictionary suggests with words like unrighteousness, wickedness, and injustice. On the contrary, non-dharma, or “irreligious dharma,” might point to the realest thing there is –
the one real thing, according to the 1st law of dynamics
that can never be destroyed.
VOCABULARY
mama
(gen. sg.): of/for me
tu:
but
priya-dharma
(voc. sg.): O lover of dharma!
priya:
fond of attached or devoted to (loc.) (id. in comp. , either ibc.
e.g. priya-devana , " fond of playing " , or ifc. e.g.
akṣa-priya , " fond of dice "
dharma-kālaḥ
(nom. sg. m.): dharma-time, time to practise dharma
tvayi
(loc. sg.): to you
lakṣmīm
(acc. sg.): f. a mark , sign , token; a good sign , good fortune ,
prosperity , success , happiness (also pl.) ; wealth , riches ;
beauty , loveliness , grace , charm , splendour , lustre ; N. of the
goddess of fortune and beauty ; the Good Genius or Fortune of a king
personified (and often regarded as a rival of his queen) , royal
power , dominion , majesty
avasṛjya
= abs. ava- √ sṛj: to fling , throw (as arrows or the
thunderbolt) ; to throw or put into (loc.), to let off , let loose ,
let go , send , dismiss , abandon , surrender
lakṣa/lakṣma/lakṣya-bhūte
(loc. sg.): O one who is a prized object, O apple of my eye
lakṣa:
mn. a mark , sign , token , (esp.) a mark to aim at , target , butt ,
aim , object , prey , prize
lakṣma
[EHJ] = deva-lakṣma n. divine characteristic
lakṣya
[EBC]: n. an object aimed at , prize; an aim , butt , mark , goal
bhūta:
mfn. (ifc.) being or being like anything , consisting of , mixed or
joined with; fit , proper; m. a son , child
sthira-vikrama
(voc. sg.): O firm-striding hero
sthira:
mfn. firm , hard , solid , compact , strong ; firm , not wavering
or tottering , steady ; constant , steadfast , resolute , persevering
vikrama:
m. step, going ; valour , courage , heroism , power , strength ;
force
vikrameṇa
(inst. sg.): m. step, going ; valour , courage , heroism , power ,
strength ; force , forcible means (°māt ind. by force ; nāsti
vikrameṇa , it cannot be done by force)
dharmaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. dharma
tava
(gen. sg.): your
hitvā
= abs. hā: to leave , abandon , desert , quit , forsake ,
relinquish
tu:
but
gurum
(acc. sg.): m. any venerable or respectable person (father , mother ,
or any relative older than one's self)
bhavet
= 3rd
pers. sg. optative bhū: to be, become
adharmaḥ
(nom. sg.): m. unrighteousness , injustice , irreligion , wickedness
; demerit
汝心雖樂法 未若我是時
汝應領國事 令我先出家
棄父絶宗嗣 此則爲非法
汝心雖樂法 未若我是時
汝應領國事 令我先出家
棄父絶宗嗣 此則爲非法
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