Tuesday, November 18, 2014

BUDDHACARITA 12.106: The Dissatisfied Bodhi-Mind


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dhyāna-pravartanād dharmāḥ prāpyante yair avāpyate |
¦⏑⏑⏑−¦¦⏑−⏑⏑¦⏑−⏑−   navipulā
durlabhaṁ śāntam ajaraṁ paraṁ tad amtaṁ padam || 12.106 

12.106
Through meditation's progress
are obtained dharmas, timeless teachings,

By which is realized the deathless –

That hard-won, quieted, unaging,

Ultimate immortal step.”


COMMENT:
Today's verse, like BC12.103 and BC12.104, contains a verb from pra-√āp (prāpyante; 1st pāda) and from ava-√āp (avāpyate; 2nd pāda). So of the four verses in the bodhisattva's speech which ends with today's verse, three verses feature this juxtaposition of two verbs which ostensibly (at least according to the MW dictionary) mean much the same thing – to reach, to obtain, to realize.

For consistency, I have translated pra-√āp as obtain and ava-√āp as realize, hence:
"Worn out by hunger, thirst and fatigue, with a mind that, from fatigue, is not well in itself, / How can one obtain the result which is to be realized by mental means – when one is not contented? //12.103// Contentment is properly obtained from constant appeasement of the senses; / By keeping the senses fully appeased, wellness of the mind is realized. //12.104// In one whose mind is well and tranquil, samādhi, balanced stillness, sets in. / In one whose mind is possessed of samādhi, dhyāna, meditative practice, progresses.//12.105// Through meditation's progress are obtained dharmas, timeless teachings, by which is realized the deathless – / That hard-won, quieted, unaging, ultimate immortal step.” //12.106//
But the meaning might be little effected if, conversely, I had translated ava-√āp as realize and pra-√āp as obtain:
"Worn out by hunger, thirst and fatigue, with a mind that, from fatigue, is not well in itself, / How can one realize the result which is to be obtained by mental means – when one is not contented? //12.103// Contentment is properly realized from constant appeasement of the senses; / By keeping the senses fully appeased, wellness of the mind is obtained. //12.104//In one whose mind is well and tranquil, samādhi, balanced stillness, sets in. / In one whose mind is possessed of samādhi, dhyāna, meditative practice, progresses.//12.105// Through meditation's progress are realized dharmas, timeless teachings, by which is obtained the deathless – / That hard-won, quieted, unaging, ultimate immortal step.” //12.106//

When I translated today's verse six years ago, I did in fact take pra-√āp as realize, and ava-√āp as gain:

12.106
Teachings, through zen practice,
Are
realised; and by those means is gained
The hard-won state of peace and agelessness --
That supreme, deathless state."

What is the significance of this repeated juxtapositon, in three out of the four verses of one speech, of verbs from pra-√āp and ava-√āp?

One of Aśvaghoṣa's purposes might have been to draw the series of four verses together, causing us to ask ourselves exactly what the bodhisattva's thought processes were at this stage.

The overall context is that the bodhisattva has seen that trying to overpower the power of the senses through sheer ascetic determination, is not the way to obtain and to realize what he wants to obtain and to realize. So in a sense he is deciding to give in to the power of the senses, as if appeasing a powerful enemy. But this appeasement is a means, and most certainly not the end to be obtained. 

Again, this appeasement -- though the words used to express it (satatendriyatarpaṇa and saṁtarpitendriyatayā) carry the connotation of satisfing or satiating the senses -- is part of a means-whereby leading to the obtaining or realization of a goal which is far beyond the wildest imagination of a sensualist.

In today's verse, then, the bodhisattva is able to describe in such exact detail what he wants to obtain and wants to realize, not because he has obtained and realized it yet, but rather because he is very clear that what he wants to obtain and wants to realize is a cut above what the common man wants to obtain and wants to realize.

Again, the bodhisattva does not yet know and cannot yet know what he has not yet experienced, but he does know what he wants. And the essence of what he wants is “not that.” Hence SN3.3:
ayam apy amārga iti mārga-kovidhaḥ
He who intuited the path intuited: "This also is not it."

The bodhisattva has understood, after six hard years, that unsatisfied senses are not a means to obtain or to realize what he wants to obtain and to realize. But that most certainly does not mean that the bodhisattva is satisfied with satisfying the senses, in the way that the common man seeks satisfaction by satisfying the senses. What the bodhisattva wants to obtain – via senses that are appeased, or made content, or kept happy, or satisfied – is not temporary sensory satisfaction but rather those dharmas, or timeless teachings, which might be a means whereby to realize what is ageless and deathless.

In that case,
  • durlabham means hard-won in the sense of uncommon, rare -- the bodhisattva knew that what he was pursuing was a cut above what the common man pursues; 
  • śāntam means quieted because the bodhisattva knew that karma, ignorance, thirsting and the like must be completely abandoned (see e.g. BC12.73, 76, 82); 
  • ajaram and amṛtam mean not subject to aging and dying;
  • and param means what lies beyond the far shore of saṁsāra, the ultimate -- nothing less (see e.g. BC12.88).


VOCABULARY
dhyāna-pravartanāt (abl. sg.): because of progression through the dhyānas; by progress in meditating
pravartana: n. advance , forward movement , rolling or flowing forth ; n. going on , coming off , happening , occurrence ; n. causing to appear , bringing about , advancing , promoting , introducing , employing , using
dharmāḥ (nom. pl.): m. dharma, teaching ; that which is established or firm

prāpyante = 3rd pers. pl. passive pra- √āp: to attain to ; reach , arrive at , meet with , find ; to obtain , receive
yaiḥ (inst. pl.): by which
avāpyate = 3rd pers. sg. passive ava- √āp: to reach , attain , obtain , gain , get

durlabham (nom. sg. n.): mfn. hard to gain, rare ; extraordinary , eminent
śāntam (nom. sg. n.): mfn. appeased , pacified , tranquil , calm , free from passions , undisturbed
ajaram (nom. sg. n.): mfn. not subject to old age , undecaying , ever young

param (nom. sg. n.): mfn. beyond; highest, ultimate, best
tad (nom. sg. n.): mfn. that
amṛtam (nom. sg. n.): mfn. deathless, immortal, undying
padam (nom. sg.): n. step, state

如是等妙法 悉由飮食生 


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