Fetching
One moment.
Fetching
One moment.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
12. The Cock. 3. ' Venerable Nagasena, those five qualities of the cock which you say he ought to take, what are they ? ' ' Just, O king, as a cock goes early and betimes to roost ; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, early and betimes sweep out the open space around the Dagaba, and having got ready2 the drinking-water for the day's use, and dressed himself3, and taken his bath, he should bow prose, but it is clearly two verses with a slight corruption in the first line. The point of the verses lies in the untranslateable pun of the words upadhana, ' pillow/ and padhana, ' strenuous fight/ The word etarahi seems to me suspect, and some such reading as ka/irigaropadhana va would restore the metre, and at the same time bring the play on the words more into prominence. 1 This verse is found in the Thera Gatha, No. 985. Hina/i- kumburS takes the na in the first line as a negative to abhi- vassati, and translates, ' So long as it does not rain knee-deep on him, when sitting in meditation, what cares the Bhikshu, who is bent on attaining Nirvana, for ease ! ' — and this is, I think, preferable to Mr. Trenckner's division of the words. 2 That is, 'filtered;' peraha naga taba, says the Sinhalese, p. 541. 8 Sarira#z pa/i^aggitva, ' rested a little to remove the weariness of his body/ says the Sinhalese here, but adds below, § 4, siwuru hcenda. VII, 1,5- OF MILINDA THE KING. 28 I down in reverence before the Dagaba, and then pay visits to the senior Bhikshus, and, on his return, enter in due time into the chamber of solitude. This, O king, is the first of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. 4. ' And again, O king, as a cock rises early and betimes ; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, rise early and betimes to sweep out the open space around the Dagaba, and get ready the drinking-water for the day's use, and dress him- self, and pay his daily reverence to the Dagaba, and enter into the chamber of solitude. This, O king, is the second of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. 5. ' And again, O king, as the cock is unremitting in scratching the earth to pick up what he can find to eat; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, practise continual self-examination and circumspection in taking any nourishment he may find to eat, reminding himself: [367] " I eat this, seeking not after pleasure, nor after excitement, nor after beauty of body, nor after elegance of form, but merely for the preservation of my body, to keep myself alive, as a means of appeasing the pain of hunger, and of assisting me in the practice of the higher life. Thus shall I put an end to all former sorrow, and give no cause for future sorrow to arise ; therein shall I be free from blame, and dwell at ease." This, O king, is the third of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. For it has been said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods :
2Thus shall I put an end to all former sorrow, and give no cause for future sorrow to arise ; therein shall I be free from blame, and dwell at ease." This, O king, is the third of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. For it has been said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods : " Like child's flesh in the desert wild, Or smearing grease upon the wheel, 282 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES VII, 1, 6. Solely to keep himself alive, Does he, when feeling faint, take food \" 6. ' And again, O king, as the cock, though it has eyes, is blind by night; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, though he is not blind, be as one blind. Whether in the woods, or on his daily walk for alms in search of food, blind should he be and deaf and dumb to all delights of form, or sound, or taste, or smell, or touch, should not make them the objects of his thought, should pay no special, detailed, attention to them 2> This, O king, is the fourth of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Maha Ka^ayana, the Elder : " Let him with eyes be as one blind, And he who hears be as the deaf, 1 Not traced as yet. The verse is a riddle based on two parables. Of these the first is already published in the Sawyutta Nikaya XII, 63, 5-8. It tells of a father and mother who in the desert (and of course only with the object of keeping themselves alive) ate their only child. The other is not yet published, but Mr. Trenckner points out that it occurs in the 34th Sawyutta. Oiling wheels is done solely to keep the cart going. Compare the dying Buddha's comparison of himself to a worn-out cart, which can only with difficulty be made to move along. Like that, the body of the Tathagata can only with difficulty be kept a little longer going ('Buddhist Suttas/ p. 37). As to the last word, I take it, with Hina/i-kumbure, p. 542, to be mu^/^^ito, and not amu/l^^ito as is printed in the text. That is also the reading adopted by Fausboll at Gataka II, 294, where the verses are quoted. 2 Na nimittaw gahetabba^ nanubya^anaw gahet- abbazra. On these common expressions compare Anguttara I, 2, 6, &c. ; Puggala Pa»«atti II, 17, IV, 24, &c. ; Digha II, 64, &c. ; and Buddhaghosa as quoted in ' Vinaya Texts/ II, 9. Hina/i-kum- bure only repeats the first, but explains the second by ncewata ncewata wimasimew. VII, I, 7- OF MILINDA THE KING. 283 He who can speak be as the dumb, The man of strength as were he weak. As each new object rises to his ken, On the sweet couch of blest Nirvana's peace Let him lie down and rest \"
3VII, I, 7- OF MILINDA THE KING. 283 He who can speak be as the dumb, The man of strength as were he weak. As each new object rises to his ken, On the sweet couch of blest Nirvana's peace Let him lie down and rest \" 7. ' And again, O king, as the cock, even though persecuted 2 with clods and sticks and clubs3 and cud- gels, will not desert his home ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, — whether he be engaged in robemaking or in building-work, or in any of his daily duties, or in teaching, or in receiving instruction 4 — never give up his presence of mind. For that, O king — his presence of mind — is the home in which he dwells. This, O king, is the fifth of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. [368] And this, O king, has been said by the Blessed One, the god over all gods 5 : " And which, O Bhikshus, is the Bhikshus resort, the realm which is his own by right ? — it is this, the four modes of being mindful and thoughtful 6." 1 From Thera Gatha 501. The Sinhalese supports Mr. Trenck- ner in reading givhav' in line three, but on the other hand has (twice) mana-sayika#z for mata-sayikaw. For the last line, of which a literal translation is impossible, it says, ' Let him make his couch on, fix his attention on, that Nirvana which is mana-sayika-^itta.' I think mata is the right reading, and that very possibly a riddle or pun is intended on the two meanings of that word. 2 Paripatiyanto. See above, p. 279 of the Pali, and Gataka II, 208. The Sinhalese, p. 543, has he/anu labanneya. 8 Laku/a. See above, pp. 255, 301 of the Pali, and compare the Hindi. 4 Hina/i-kumbure expands all these details. 6 In the Sa/rayutta Nikaya XLVI, 7. See Mr. Trenckner's note. 6 The four Satipa////anas. Compare above, p, 343 of the Pali. 284 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES VII, 1, 8. ' And this too, O king, has been said by Sariputta, the Elder, the Commander of the Faith : " The elephant distinguishes good food From bad, he knows what gives him sustenance, And even when asleep he guards his trunk 1 — So let each Buddha's son, earnest in zeal, Never do violence to the Conqueror's word, Nor injury to his self-possession, best of gifts2." ' 3. The Squirrel. 8. ' Venerable Nagasena, that one quality of the squirrel which you say he ought to take, which is that?' ' Just as the squirrel, O king, when an enemy falls upon him, beats his tail on the ground till it swells, and then with his own tail as a cudgel drives off the foe ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, when his enemy, sin, falls upon him, beat the cudgel of his self-possession till it swells, and then by the cudgel of self-possession drive all evil inclinations off. This, O king, is the one quality of the squirrel which he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Abulia Panthaka, the Elder :
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
Romanised transliteration as printed by the translator, not the original script. This is what we hold.
12. The Cock. 3. ' Venerable Nagasena, those five qualities of the cock which you say he ought to take, what are they ? ' ' Just, O king, as a cock goes early and betimes to roost ; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, early and betimes sweep out the open space around the Dagaba, and having got ready2 the drinking-water for the day's use, and dressed himself3, and taken his bath, he should bow prose, but it is clearly two verses with a slight corruption in the first line. The point of the verses lies in the untranslateable pun of the words upadhana, ' pillow/ and padhana, ' strenuous fight/ The word etarahi seems to me suspect, and some such reading as ka/irigaropadhana va would restore the metre, and at the same time bring the play on the words more into prominence. 1 This verse is found in the Thera Gatha, No. 985. Hina/i- kumburS takes the na in the first line as a negative to abhi- vassati, and translates, ' So long as it does not rain knee-deep on him, when sitting in meditation, what cares the Bhikshu, who is bent on attaining Nirvana, for ease ! ' — and this is, I think, preferable to Mr. Trenckner's division of the words. 2 That is, 'filtered;' peraha naga taba, says the Sinhalese, p. 541. 8 Sarira#z pa/i^aggitva, ' rested a little to remove the weariness of his body/ says the Sinhalese here, but adds below, § 4, siwuru hcenda. VII, 1,5- OF MILINDA THE KING. 28 I down in reverence before the Dagaba, and then pay visits to the senior Bhikshus, and, on his return, enter in due time into the chamber of solitude. This, O king, is the first of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. 4. ' And again, O king, as a cock rises early and betimes ; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, rise early and betimes to sweep out the open space around the Dagaba, and get ready the drinking-water for the day's use, and dress him- self, and pay his daily reverence to the Dagaba, and enter into the chamber of solitude. This, O king, is the second of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. 5. ' And again, O king, as the cock is unremitting in scratching the earth to pick up what he can find to eat; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, practise continual self-examination and circumspection in taking any nourishment he may find to eat, reminding himself: [367] " I eat this, seeking not after pleasure, nor after excitement, nor after beauty of body, nor after elegance of form, but merely for the preservation of my body, to keep myself alive, as a means of appeasing the pain of hunger, and of assisting me in the practice of the higher life. Thus shall I put an end to all former sorrow, and give no cause for future sorrow to arise ; therein shall I be free from blame, and dwell at ease." This, O king, is the third of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. For it has been said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods :
2Thus shall I put an end to all former sorrow, and give no cause for future sorrow to arise ; therein shall I be free from blame, and dwell at ease." This, O king, is the third of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. For it has been said, O king, by the Blessed One, the god over all gods : " Like child's flesh in the desert wild, Or smearing grease upon the wheel, 282 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES VII, 1, 6. Solely to keep himself alive, Does he, when feeling faint, take food \" 6. ' And again, O king, as the cock, though it has eyes, is blind by night; so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, though he is not blind, be as one blind. Whether in the woods, or on his daily walk for alms in search of food, blind should he be and deaf and dumb to all delights of form, or sound, or taste, or smell, or touch, should not make them the objects of his thought, should pay no special, detailed, attention to them 2> This, O king, is the fourth of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Maha Ka^ayana, the Elder : " Let him with eyes be as one blind, And he who hears be as the deaf, 1 Not traced as yet. The verse is a riddle based on two parables. Of these the first is already published in the Sawyutta Nikaya XII, 63, 5-8. It tells of a father and mother who in the desert (and of course only with the object of keeping themselves alive) ate their only child. The other is not yet published, but Mr. Trenckner points out that it occurs in the 34th Sawyutta. Oiling wheels is done solely to keep the cart going. Compare the dying Buddha's comparison of himself to a worn-out cart, which can only with difficulty be made to move along. Like that, the body of the Tathagata can only with difficulty be kept a little longer going ('Buddhist Suttas/ p. 37). As to the last word, I take it, with Hina/i-kumbure, p. 542, to be mu^/^^ito, and not amu/l^^ito as is printed in the text. That is also the reading adopted by Fausboll at Gataka II, 294, where the verses are quoted. 2 Na nimittaw gahetabba^ nanubya^anaw gahet- abbazra. On these common expressions compare Anguttara I, 2, 6, &c. ; Puggala Pa»«atti II, 17, IV, 24, &c. ; Digha II, 64, &c. ; and Buddhaghosa as quoted in ' Vinaya Texts/ II, 9. Hina/i-kum- bure only repeats the first, but explains the second by ncewata ncewata wimasimew. VII, I, 7- OF MILINDA THE KING. 283 He who can speak be as the dumb, The man of strength as were he weak. As each new object rises to his ken, On the sweet couch of blest Nirvana's peace Let him lie down and rest \"
3VII, I, 7- OF MILINDA THE KING. 283 He who can speak be as the dumb, The man of strength as were he weak. As each new object rises to his ken, On the sweet couch of blest Nirvana's peace Let him lie down and rest \" 7. ' And again, O king, as the cock, even though persecuted 2 with clods and sticks and clubs3 and cud- gels, will not desert his home ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, — whether he be engaged in robemaking or in building-work, or in any of his daily duties, or in teaching, or in receiving instruction 4 — never give up his presence of mind. For that, O king — his presence of mind — is the home in which he dwells. This, O king, is the fifth of the qualities of the cock he ought to have. [368] And this, O king, has been said by the Blessed One, the god over all gods 5 : " And which, O Bhikshus, is the Bhikshus resort, the realm which is his own by right ? — it is this, the four modes of being mindful and thoughtful 6." 1 From Thera Gatha 501. The Sinhalese supports Mr. Trenck- ner in reading givhav' in line three, but on the other hand has (twice) mana-sayika#z for mata-sayikaw. For the last line, of which a literal translation is impossible, it says, ' Let him make his couch on, fix his attention on, that Nirvana which is mana-sayika-^itta.' I think mata is the right reading, and that very possibly a riddle or pun is intended on the two meanings of that word. 2 Paripatiyanto. See above, p. 279 of the Pali, and Gataka II, 208. The Sinhalese, p. 543, has he/anu labanneya. 8 Laku/a. See above, pp. 255, 301 of the Pali, and compare the Hindi. 4 Hina/i-kumbure expands all these details. 6 In the Sa/rayutta Nikaya XLVI, 7. See Mr. Trenckner's note. 6 The four Satipa////anas. Compare above, p, 343 of the Pali. 284 THE QUESTIONS AND PUZZLES VII, 1, 8. ' And this too, O king, has been said by Sariputta, the Elder, the Commander of the Faith : " The elephant distinguishes good food From bad, he knows what gives him sustenance, And even when asleep he guards his trunk 1 — So let each Buddha's son, earnest in zeal, Never do violence to the Conqueror's word, Nor injury to his self-possession, best of gifts2." ' 3. The Squirrel. 8. ' Venerable Nagasena, that one quality of the squirrel which you say he ought to take, which is that?' ' Just as the squirrel, O king, when an enemy falls upon him, beats his tail on the ground till it swells, and then with his own tail as a cudgel drives off the foe ; just so, O king, should the strenuous Bhikshu, earnest in effort, when his enemy, sin, falls upon him, beat the cudgel of his self-possession till it swells, and then by the cudgel of self-possession drive all evil inclinations off. This, O king, is the one quality of the squirrel which he ought to have. For it was said, O king, by Abulia Panthaka, the Elder :
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
No commentary for this page.