−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−− Upajāti
(Sālā)
tebhyaḥ
sthitebhyaḥ sa tathā-vidhebhyaḥ rūpeṇa bhāvena ca
dāruṇebhyaḥ |
⏑−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−¦¦−−⏑−¦−⏑⏑¦−⏑−−
na
vivyathe nodvivije mahārṣiḥ krīḍat-subālebhya ivoddhatebhyaḥ
|| 13.36
13.36
From them, as they stood there like
that,
So horrid in their appearance and in
their hearts,
The great seer did not flinch and did
not shrink –
Any more than from naughty infants at
play.
COMMENT:
The two main verbs in today's verse
express movements – like trembling and shuddering, or flinching and
shrinking away – that betray fear in the face of a noxious
stimulus.
So when Aśvaghoṣa wrote that the
great seer did not flinch or shrink away from Māra's army, any more
than from naughty infants at play, Aśvaghoṣa might have expected us to
understand that there is really nothing to fear from naughty infants
at play.
Aśvaghoṣa probably never expected
his epic poetry to be translated by a low-level practitioner whose
faulty vestibular-auditory system is such that he does indeed flinch and
shudder at the noise of rattling plastic wheels and high-pitched
shrieks, as if those stimuli presented a mortal danger.
If the golden sitting of buddhas and
bodhisattvas, then, is characterized by not flinching and not
shrinking, that absence of flinching and shrinking is an observable
physical phenomenon, but it has a neuro-physiological aspect and also
a psychological aspect. And, more to the point, it has a karmic aspect.
Trying physically, from the outside, to imitate how buddhas sit is not wise, because the golden sitting of buddhas is a
manifestation of their buddha-wisdom.
Conversely, trying to get inside the
mind of buddhas by reading and studying and translating, without
actually sitting, can never be a means of realizing the golden
sitting of buddhas, because the golden sitting of buddhas is nothing
other than sitting.
And even if we steer clear of these two
major pitfalls – represented on the one side by the kind of formalism that taints so much Japanese Zen, and on the other side by the efforts of academic Buddhist
scholars who eschew sitting practice itself – the pursuit of golden
sitting is still not so easy.
A shrieking child trundles past on his
plastic tractor.... and the gap seems wider than ever between how
one would like things to be and how things right at this moment
actually are.
At such times, a good teaching to be
mindful of is the teaching of karma in three times.
The idea that “I haven't done anything to deserve this misfortune,” is always a wrong idea to be given up.
VOCABULARY
tebhyaḥ
(abl. pl. m.): those
sthitebhyaḥ
(abl. pl. m.): standing ; being there , existing , present , close at
hand , ready
sa
(nom. sg. m.): he
tathā-vidhebhyaḥ
(abl. pl. m.): of such a sort or kind , being in such a condition or
state , of such qualities
rūpeṇa
(inst. sg.): n. form
bhāvena
(inst. sg.): m. being, state, condition ; manner of being , nature ,
temperament , character ; the seat of the feelings or affections ,
heart , soul , mind
ca:
and
dāruṇebhyaḥ
(abl. pl. m.): mfn. hard , harsh ; rough, cruel ; dreadful ,
frightful
na:
not
vivyathe
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. vyath: to tremble , waver , go
astray , come to naught , fail RV. &c &c (with abl. = to
be deprived of , lose) ; to be agitated or disturbed in mind , be
restless or sorrowful or unhappy ; to be afraid of (gen.) ;
[causative] to cause to swerve from (abl.)
na:
not
udvivije
= 3rd pers. sg. perf. ud- √ vij: to gush or spring
upwards ; to be agitated , grieved or afflicted; to shudder ; to fear
; to shrink from , recede , leave off
√ vij:
to move with a quick darting motion , speed , heave (said of waves) ;
to start back , recoil , flee from (abl.)
mahārṣiḥ
(nom. sg. m.): the great seer
krīḍat-subālebhyaḥ
(abl. pl. m.): the infantile at play
krīḍat:
mfn. playing
su-bāla:
mfn. very childish ; m. a good boy Bcar. xiii , 36 ; m. a god
iva:
like
uddhatebhyaḥ
(abl. pl. m.): mfn. raised (as dust) , turned up ; lifted up , raised
, elevated , high ; puffed up , haughty , vain , arrogant ; rude ,
ill-behaved ; stirred up , excited , agitated
ud-√hā:
to go upwards , move upwards , rise up
菩薩默然觀 如看童兒戲
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