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Aśvaghoṣa: Saundarananda

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ā ī ū ṛ ṝ ḷ
ḹ ’ ṃ ḥ ṅ ñ
ṭ ḍ ṇ ṣ ś ź
š č ǰ γ    
Note on the transliteration:
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Aśvaghoṣa: Saundarananda
    Click to Expand/Collapse Option Complete text
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO I: Kapilavāstuvarṇana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO II: Rājavarṇana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO III: Tathāgatavarṇana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO IV: Bhāryāyācitaka
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO V: Nandapravrājana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO VI: Bhāryāvilāpa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO VII: Nandivilāpa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO VIII: Strīvighāta
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO IX: Madāpavāda
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO X: Svarganidarśana
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XI: Svargāpavāda
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XII: Paryavamarśa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XIII: Śīlendriyajaya
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XIV: Ādiprasthāno
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XV: Vitarkaprahāṇa
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XVI: Āryasatyavyākhyāna
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XVII: Amṛtādhigama
Click to Expand/Collapse OptionCANTO XVIII: Ājñāvyākaraṇa
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athaivam ādesitatattvamārgo nandas tadā prāptavimokṣamārgaḥ |
sarveṇa bhāvena gurau praṇamya kleśaprahāṇāya vanaṃ jagāma || 
17.1 Having thus had pointed out to him the path of what is, Nanda took that path of liberation.
He bowed with his whole being before the Guru and, with a view to abandoning the afflictions, he made for the forest. 
tatrāvakāśaṃ mṛdunīlaśaṣpaṃ dadarśa sāntaṃ taruṣaṇḍavantam |
niḥśabdayā nimnagayopagūḍhaṃ vaiḍūryanīlodakayā vahantyā || 
17.2 There he saw a clearing, a quiet glade, of soft deep-green grass,
Kept secret by a silent stream bearing water blue as beryl. 
sa pādayos tatra vidhāya śaucaṃ śucau śive śrīmati vṛkṣamūle |
mokṣāya baddhvā vyavasāyakaṣāṃ paryaṅkam aṅkāvahitam babandha || 
17.3 Having washed his feet there, Nanda, by a clean, auspicious, and splendid tree-root,
Girded on the intention to come undone, and sat with legs fully crossed.  
ṛjuṃ samagraṃ praṇidhāya kāyaṃ kāve smṛtiṃ cābhimukhīṃ vidhāya |
sarvendriyāṇy ātmani saṃnidhāya sa tatra yogaṃ pryataḥ prapede || 
17.4 By first directing the whole body up, and thus keeping his awareness turned towards the body,
And thus integrating in his person all the senses, there he threw himself all-out into practice.  
tataḥ sa tattvaṃ nikhilaṃ cikīṣur mokṣānukūlāṃś ca vidhīṃś cikīrṣan |
jñānena lokyena śamena caiva cacāra cetaḥparikarmabhūmau || 
17.5 Wishing to practise, on that basis, the truth that has no gaps, and wishing to perform practices that would be favourable to release,
He moved, using mundane know-how, and stillness, into the stage of readying of consciousness. 
saṃdhāya dhairyaṃ praṇidhāya vīryaṃ vyapohya saktiṃ parigṛhya śaktim |
praśāntacetā niyamasthacetāḥ svasthas tato ’bhūd viṣayeṣv anāsthaḥ || 
17.6 By holding firm, keeping direction of energy to the fore, by cutting out clinging and garnering his energy,
With consciousness that was calmed and contained, he came back to himself and was not concerned about ends.  
ātaptabuddheḥ prahitātmano ’pi svabhyastabhāvād atha kāmasaṃjñā |
paryākulaṃ tasya manaś cakāra prāvṛṭsu vidyuj alam āgateva || 
17.7 Though his judgement had been tempered and his soul inspired, now a vestige of desire, arising out of habit,
Made his mind turbid – like lightning striking water in a monsoon. 
sa paryavasthānam avetya sadyaś cikṣepa tāṃ dharmavighātgakartrīm |
priyām api krodhapāritacetā nārīm ivodvṛttaguṇāṃ manasvī || 
17.8 Being instantly aware of incompatibilities, he saw off that authoress of the dharma’s downfall,
As a man whose mind is seized by anger shoos away a loved but excitable woman, when he is trying to concentrate. 
ārabdhavīryasya manaḥśamāya bhūyas tu tasyākuśalo vitarkaḥ |
vyādhipraṇāśāya niviṣṭabuddher upadravo ghora ivājagāma || 
17.9 Nanda re-directed his energy in order to still his mind, but as he did so an unhelpful thought reasserted itself,
As when, in a man intent on curing an illness, an acute symptom suddenly reappears.  
sa tadvighātāya nimittam anyad yogānukūlaṃ kuśalaṃ prapede |
ārtāyanaṃ skṣīṇabalo balsthaṃ nirasyamāno balināriṇeva || 
17.10 To fend against that he turned skillfully to a different factor, one favourable to his practice,
Like an enfeebled [prince] who seeks out a powerful protector when being overthrown by a mighty rival. 
puraṃ vidhāyānuvidhāya daṇḍaṃ mitrāṇi saṃgṛhya ripūn vighṛhya |
rājā yathāpnoti hi gām apūrvāṃ nītir mukukṣor api saiva yoge || 
17.11 For just as, by laying out fortifications and laying down the rod of the law, by banding with friends and disbanding foes,
A king gains hitherto ungained land, that is the very policy towards practice of one who desires release.  
vimokṣakāmasya hi yogino ’pi manaḥ puraṃ jṇānavidhiś ca daṇḍaḥ |
guṇāś ca mitrāṇy arayaś ca doṣā bhūmir vimuktir yatate yadartham || 
17.12 Because, for a practitioner whose desire is release, the mind is his fortress, know-how is his rod,
The virtues are his friends, the faults are his foes; and liberation is the territory he endeavours to reach.  
sa duḥkhajālān mahato mukukṣur vimokṣamārgādhigame vivikṣuḥ |
panthānam āryaṃ paramaṃ didṛkṣuḥ śamaṃ yayau kiṃ cid upāttacakṣuḥ || 
17.13 Desiring release from the great net of suffering; desiring to enter into possession of the pathways of release,
Desiring to experience the supreme noble path; he got a bit of the Eye, and came to quiet. 
yaḥ syān niketas tamaso ’niketaḥ śrutvāpi tattvaṃ sa bhavet pramattaḥ |
yasmāt tu mokṣāya sa pātrabhūtas tasmān manaḥ svātmani saṃjahāra || 
17.14 Heedless would be the unhoused man who, despite hearing the truth, housed the darkness of ignorance;
But since [Nanda] was a man of the bowl, a receptacle for liberation, he had collected his mind into himself. 
saṃbhārataḥ pratyayataḥ svabhāvād āsvādato doṣaviśeṣataś ca |
athātmavān niḥsaraṇātmataś ca dharmeṣu cakre vidhivat parīkṣām || 
17.15 On the grounds of their being held together, their causality, and their inherent nature, on the grounds of their flavour and their concrete imperfection,
And on the grounds of their tendency to spread out, he who was now contained in himself, carried out a methodical investigation into things. 
sa rūpiṇaṃ kṛtsnam arūpiṇaṃ ca sāraṃ didṛkṣur vicikāya kāyam |
athāśuciṃ duḥkham anityam asvaṃ nirātmakaṃ caiva cikāya kāyam || 
17.16 Desiring to examine its total material and immaterial substance, he investigated the body,
And he perceived the body to be impure, full of suffering, impermanent, without an owner, and again, devoid of self. 
anityatas tatra hi śūnyataś ca nirātmato duḥkhata eva cāpi |
mārgapravekeṇa sa laukikena kleśadrumaṃ saṃcalayāṃ cakāra || 
17.17 For, on those grounds, on the grounds of impermanence and of emptiness, on the grounds of absence of self, and of suffering,
He, by the most excellent among mundane paths, caused the tree of afflictions to shake.  
yasmād abhūtvā bhavatīha sarvaṃ bhūtvā ca bhūyo na bhavaty avaśyam |
sahekutaṃ ca kṣayihetumac ca tasmād anityaṃ jagad ity avindat || 
17.18 Since everything, after not existing, now exists, and after existing it never exists again;
And since the world is causal, and has disappearance as a cause, therefore he understood that the world is impermanent. 
yataḥ prasūtasya ca karmayogaḥ prasajyate bandhavighātahetuḥ |
duḥkhapratīkāravidhau sukhākhye tato bhavaṃ duḥkham iti vyapaśyat || 
17.19 Insofar as a creature’s industry, motivated by bond-making or bond-breaking impulse,
Is dependent on a prescription, named “pleasure,” for counteracting pain, he saw, on that account, that existence is suffering.  
yataś ca saṃskarāgataṃ viviktaṃ na kārakaḥ kaś cana vedako vā |
sāmagryathaḥ saṃbhavati pravṛttiḥ śūnyaṃ tato lokam imaṃ dadarśa || 
17.20 And insofar as separateness comes from doings, there being no doer or knower,
And the activity done arises out of a totality, he realised, on that account, that this world is empty. 
yasmān nirīhaṃ jagad asvatantraṃ naiśvaryam ekaḥ kurute kriyāsu |
tat tat pratītya prabhavanti bhāvā nirātmakaṃ tena viveda lokam || 
17.21 Since the throng of humanity is passive, not autonomous, and no one exercises direct control over the workings of the body,
But states of being arise dependent on this and that, he found, in that sense, that the world is devoid of self.  
tataḥ sa vātaṃ vyajanād ivoṣṇe kāṣṭhāśritaṃ nirmathanād ivāgnim |
antaḥkṣitisthaṃ khananād ivāmbho lokattaraṃ vartima durāpam āpa || 
17.22 Then, like air in the hot season, got from fanning; like fire latent in wood, got from rubbing;
And like water under the ground, got from digging, that supramundane path which is hard to reach, he reached:  
sajjñānacāpaḥ smṛtivarma baddhvā viśuddhaśīlavratavāhanasthaḥ |
kleśāribhiś cittaraṇājirasthaiḥ sārdhaṃ yuyustsur vijayāya tasthau || 
17.23 As a bow of true knowledge, clad in the armour of awareness, standing up in a chariot of pure practice of integrity,
He took his stance for victory, ready to engage in battle his enemies, the afflictions, who were ranged on the battlefield of his mind.  
tataḥ sa bodhyaṅgaśitāttaśastraḥ samyakpradhānottamavāhanasthaḥ |
mārgāṅgamātaṅgavatā balena śanaiḥ śanaiḥ kleśacumūṃ jagāhe || 
17.24 Then, unsheathing a sword that the limbs of awakening had honed, standing in the supreme chariot of true motivation,
With an army containing the elephants of the branches of the path, he gradually penetrated the ranks of the afflictions.  
sa smṛtyupasthānamayaiḥ pṛṣatkaiḥ śatrūn viparyāsamayān kṣaṇena |
duḥkhasya hetūṃś caturaś caturbhiḥ svaiḥ svaiḥ pracārāyatanair dadāra || 
17.25 With arrows made from the presence of mindfulness, instantly he shot those enemies whose substance is upside-down-ness:
He split apart four enemies, four causes of suffering, with four arrows, each having its own range. 
āryair balaiḥ pañcabhir eva pañca cetaḥkhilāny apratimair babhañja |
mithyāñganāgāṃś ca tathāṅganāgair vinirdudhāvāṣṭabhir eva so ’ṣṭau || 
17.26 With the five incomparable noble powers, he broke five uncultivated areas of mental ground;
And with the eight true elephants which are the branches of the path, he drove away eight elephants of fakery. 
athātmadṛṣṭiṃ sakalāṃ vidhūya caturṣu satyeṣv akathaṃ kathaḥ san |
viśuddhaśīlavratadṛṣṭadharmā dharmasya pūrvāṃ phalabhūmim āpa || 
17.27 And so, having shaken off every vestige of the personality view, being free of doubt in regard to the four truths,
And knowing the score in regard to pure practice of integrity, he attained the first fruit of dharma. 
sa darśanād āryacatuṣṭayasya kleśaikadeśasya ca viprayogāt |
pratyātmikāc cāpi viśeṣalābhāt pratyakṣato jñānisukhasya caiva || 
17.28 By glimpsing the noble foursome, and by being released from one portion of the afflictions;
By realising for himself what was specific to him as well as by witnessing the ease of the sages;  
dārḍhyāt prasādasya dhṛteḥ sthiratvāt satyeṣv asaṃmūḍhatayā caturṣu |
śīlasya cācchidratayottamasya niḥsaṃśayo dharmavidhau babhūva || 
17.29 Through the stability of his stillness and the constancy of his steadiness; through not being altogether bewildered about the four truths;
And through not being full of holes in the supreme practice of integrity, he became free of doubt in the truth of dharma.  
kudṛṣṭijālena sa viprayukto lokaṃ tathābhūtam avekṣamāṇaḥ |
jñānāśrayāṃ prītim upājagāma bhūyaḥ prasādaṃ ca gurāv iyāya || 
17.30 Released from the net of shabby views, seeing the world as it really is,
He attained a joy pregnant with knowing and his quiet certainty in the Guru deepened all the more. 
yo hi pravṛttiṃ niyatām avaiti naivānyahetor iha nāpy ahetoḥ |
pratītya tat tat samavaiti tat tat sa naiṣṭhikaṃ paśyati yaś ca dharmam |
tasyopadeṣṭāram athāryavaryaṃ sa prekṣate buddham avāptacakṣuṅ || 
17.31 For he who understands that the doing in this world is determined neither by any outside cause nor by no cause,
And who appreciates everything depending on everything: he sees the ultimate noble dharma. 
śāntaṃ śivaṃ nirjarasaṃ virāgaṃ niḥśreyasaṃ paśyati yaś ca dharmaṃ |
tasyopadeṣṭāram athāryaṃ sa prekṣate buddham avāptacakṣuḥ || 
17.32 And he who sees as the greatest good the dharma that is peaceful, salutary, ageless, and free of the red taint of passion,
And who sees its teacher as the noblest of the noble: he, as one who has got the Eye, is meeting Buddha. 
yathopadeśena śivena mukto rogād arogo bhiṣajaṃ kṛtajñaḥ |
anusmaran paśyati cittadṛṣṭyā maitryā ca śāstrajñatayā ca tuṣṭaḥ || 
17.33 When a healthy man has been freed from illness by salutary instruction, and he is aware of his debt of gratitude,
Just as he sees his healer in his mind’s eye, gratefully acknowledging his benevolence and knowledge of his subject, 
āryeṇa mārgeṇa tathaiva muktas tathāgataṃ tattvavid āryatattvaḥ |
anusmaran paśyati kāyasākṣī maitryā ca sarvajñatayā ca tuṣṭaḥ || 
17.34 Exactly so is a finder of reality who, set free by the noble path, is the reality of being noble:
His body being a seeing Eye, he sees the Realised One, gratefully acknowledging his benevolence and all-knowingness. 
sa nāśakair dṛṣṭigatair vimuktaḥ paryantam ālokya punarbhavasya |
bhaktvā ghṛṇāṃ kleśavijṛmbhiteṣu mṛtyor na tatrāsa na durgatibhyaḥ || 
17.35 Sprung free from pernicious theories, seeing an end to becoming,
And feeling horror for the consequences of affliction, [Nanda] trembled not at death or hellish realms. 
tvaksnāyumedorduhirāsthimāṃsakeśādināmedhyagaṇena pūrṇam |
tataḥ sa kāyaṃ samavekṣamāṇaḥ sāraṃ vicintyāṇv api nopalebhe || 
17.36 As full of skin, sinew, fat, blood, bone, and flesh; as full of hair and a mass of other such unholy stuff,
[Nanda] then observed the body to be; he looked into its essential reality, and found not even an atom. 
sa kāmarāgapratighau sthirātmā tenaiva yogena tanū cakāra |
kṛtvā mahoraskatanus tanū tau prāpa dvitīyaṃ phalam āryadharme || 
17.37 By the yoke of that very practice, he, firm in himself, minimised the duality of love and hate;
Being himself big across the chest, he made those two small, and so obtained the second fruit in the noble dharma. 
sa lobhacāpaṃ parikalpabāṇaṃ rāgaṃ mahāvairiṇam alpaśeṣam |
kāyasvabhāvādhigatair bibheda yogāyudhāstrair aśubhāpṛṣatkaiḥ || 
17.38 A small vestige of the great enemy, red passion, whose straining bow is impatient desire and whose arrow is a fixed conception,
He destroyed using weapons procured from the body as it naturally is – using the darts of unpleasantness, weapons from the armoury of practice. 
dveṣāyudhaṃ krodhavikīrṇabāṇaṃ vyāpādam antaḥprasavaṃ sapatnam |
maitrīpṛṣatkair dhṛtitūṇasaṃsthaiḥ kṣamādhanurjyāvisṛtair jaghāna || 
17.39 That gestating love-rival, malice, whose weapon is hatred and whose errant arrow is anger,
He slayed with the arrows of kindness, which are contained in a quiver of constancy and released from the bow-string of patience. 
mūlāny atha trīṇy āsudhasya vīras tribhir vimokṣāyatanaiś cakarta |
camūmukhasthān dhṛtakārmukāṃs trīn arīn ivāris tribhir āyasāgraiḥ || 
17.40 And so the hero cut the three roots of shameful conduct using three seats of release,
As if three rival princes, bearing bows in the van of their armies, had been cut down by one prince using three metal points. 
sa kāmadhātoḥ samtikramāya pārṣṇigrahāṃs tān abhibhūya śatrūn |
yogād anāgāmiphalaṃ prapadya dvārīva nirvāñapurasya tasthau || 
17.41 In order to go entirely beyond the sphere of desire, he overpowered those enemies that grab the heel,
So that he attained, because of practice, the fruit of not returning, and stood as if at the gateway to the citadel of nirvāṇa.  
kāmair vikitaṃ malinaiś ca dharmair vitarkavac cāpi vicāravac ca |
vivekajaṃ prītisukhopapannaṃ dhyānaṃ tataḥ sa prathamaṃ prapede || 
17.42 Distanced from desires and tainted things, containing ideas and containing thoughts,
Born of solitude and possessed of joy and ease, is the first stage of meditation, which he then entered. 
kāmāgnidhāhena sa vipramukto hlādaṃ paraṃ dhyānasukhād avāpa |
sukhaṃ vigāhyāpsv iva gharmakhinnaḥ prāpyeva cārthaṃ cipulaṃ daridraḥ || 
17.43 Released from the burning of the bonfire of desires, he derived great gladness from ease in the act of meditating –
Ease like a heat-exhausted man diving into water. Or like a pauper coming into great wealth. 
tatrāpi taddharmagatān vitarkān guṇāguṇe ca prasṛtān vicārān |
buddhvā manaḥkṣobhakarān aśāntāṃs tadviprayogāya matiṃ cakāra || 
17.44 Even in that, he realised, ideas about aforesaid things, and thoughts about what is or is not good,
Are something not quieted, causing disturbance in the mind, and so he decided to cut them out. 
kṣobhaṃ prakurvanti yathormayo hi dhīraprasannāmbuvahasya sindhoḥ |
ekāgrabhūtasya tahtormibhūtāś cittāmbhasaḥ kṣobhakarā vitarkāḥ || 
17.45 For, just as waves produce disturbance in a river bearing a steady flow of tranquil water,
So ideas, like waves of thought, disturb the water of the one-pointed mind.  
khinnasya suptasya ca nirvṛtasya bādhaṃ yathā saṃjanayanti śabdāḥ |
adhyātmam aikāgryam upāgatasya bhavanti bādhāya tathā vitarkāḥ || 
17.46 And just as noises are a source of bother to one who is weary, and fallen fast asleep,
So do ideas become bothersome to one who is indulging in his original state of unitary awareness 
athāvitarkaṃ kramaśo ’vicāram ekāgrabhāvān manasaḥ prasannam |
samādhijaṃ prītsukhaṃ dvitīyaṃ dhyānaṃ tad ādhyātmaśivaṃ sa dadhyau || 
17.47 And so gradually bereft of idea and thought, his mind tranquil from one-pointedness,
He realised the joy and ease born of balanced stillness – that inner wellbeing which is the second stage of meditation.  
tad dhyānam āgamya ca cittamaunaṃ lebhe parāṃ prītim alabdhapūrvām |
prītau tu tatrāpi sa doṣadarśī yathā vitarkeṣv abhavat tathaiva || 
17.48 And on reaching that stage, in which the mind is silent, he experienced an intense joy that he had never experienced before.
But here too he found a fault, in joy, just as he had in ideas.  
prītiḥ parā vastuni yatra yasya viparyayāt tasya hi tara duḥkham |
prītāv ataḥ prekṣya sa tatra doṣān prītikṣaye yogam upāruroha || 
17.49 For when a man finds intense joy in anything, paradoxically, suffering for him is right there.
Hence, seeing the faults there in joy, he kept going up, into practice that goes beyond joy.  
prītedr virāgāt sukham āryajuṣṭaṃ kāyena vindann atha saṃprajānan |
upekṣakaḥ sa smṛtimān vyahārṣīd dhyānaṃ tṛtīyaṃ pratilabhya dhīraḥ || 
17.50 And so experiencing the ease enjoyed by the noble ones, from non-attachment to joy, knowing it totally, with his body,
He remained indifferent, fully aware, and, having realised the third stage of meditation, steady. 
yasmāt paraṃ tatra sukhaṃ sukhebhyas tataḥ paraṃ nāsti sukhapravṛttiḥ |
tasmād babhāṣe śubhakṛtsnabhūmiṃ parāparajñaḥ parameti maitryā || 
17.51 Since the ease here is beyond any ease, and there is no progression of ease beyond it,
Therefore, as a knower of higher and lower, he realised it as a condition of resplendent wholeness which he deemed – in a friendly way – to be superlative. 
dhyāne ’pi tatrātha dadarśa doṣaṃ mene paraṃ śāntam aniñjam eva |
ābhogato ’pīñjayati sma tasya cittaṃ pravṛttaṃ sukham ity ajasram || 
17.52 Then, even in that stage of meditation, he found a fault: he saw it as better to be quiet, not excited,
Whereas his mind was fluctuating tirelessly because of ease circulating. 
yatreñjitaṃ spanditam asti tatra yatrāsti ca spanditam asti duḥkham |
yasmād atas tat sukham iñjakatvāt praśāntikāmā yatayas tyajanti || 
17.53 In excitement there is interference, and where there is interference there is suffering,
Which is why, insofar as ease is excitatory, devotees who are desirous of quiet give up that ease. 
atha prahāṇāt sukhaduḥkhayoś ca manovikārasya ca pūrvam eva |
dadhyāv upekṣāmṛtimad viśuddhaṃ dhyānaṃ tathāduḥkhasukhaṃ caturtham || 
17.54 Then, having already transcended ease and suffering, and emotional reactivity,
He realised the lucidity in which there is indifference and full awareness: thus, beyond suffering and ease, is the fourth stage of meditation.  
yasmāt tu tasmin na sukhaṃ na duḥkhaṃ jñānaṃ ca tatrāsti tad arthacāri |
tasmād upekṣāsmṛtipāriśuddhir nirucyate dhyānavidhau caturthe || 
17.55 Since in this there is neither ease nor suffering, and the act of knowing abides here, being its own object,
Therefore utter lucidity through indifference and awareness is specified in the protocol for the fourth stage of meditation. 
dhyānaṃ sa niśritya tataś caturtham arhattvalābhāya matiṃ cakāra |
saṃdhāya maitraṃ balavantam āryaṃ rājeva deśān ajitān jigīṣuḥ || 
17.56 Consequently, relying on the fourth stage of meditation, he made up his mind to win the worthy state,
Like a king joining forces with a strong and noble ally and then aspiring to conquer unconquered lands. 
ciccheda kārtsnyena tataḥ sa pañca prajñāsinā bhāvanayeritena |
ūrdhvaṅgamāny uttamabandhanāni saṃyojanāny uttamabandhanāni || 
17.57 Then he cut the five upper fetters: with the sword of intuitive wisdom which is raised aloft by cultivation of the mind,
He completely severed the five aspirational fetters, which are bound up with superiority, and tied to the first person. 
bodhyaṅganāgair api saptabhiḥ sa saptaiva cittānuśayān mamarda |
dvīpān ivopasthitavipraṇāśān kālo grahaiḥ saptabhir eva sapta || 
17.58 Again, with the seven elephants of the limbs of awakening he crushed the seven dormant tendencies of the mind,
Like Time, when their destruction is due, crushing the seven continents by means of the seven planets. 
agnidrumājyāmbuṣu yā hi vṛttiḥ kavandhavāvyagnidivākarāṇām |
doṣeṣu tāṃ vṛttim iyāya nando nirvāpaṇotpāṭanadāhaśoṣaiḥ || 
17.59 The action which on fire, trees, ghee and water is exerted by rainclouds, wind, a flame and the sun,
Nanda exerted that action on the faults, quenching, uprooting, burning, and drying them up. 
iti trivegaṃ trijhaṣaṃ trivīcam ekāmbhasaṃ pañcarayaṃ dvikūlam |
dvigrāham aṣṭāṅgavatā plavena duḥkhārṇavaṃ custaram uttatāra || 
17.60 Thus he overcame three surges, three sharks, three swells, the unity of water, five currents, two shores,
And two crocodiles: in his eight-piece raft, he crossed the flood of suffering which is so hard to cross.  
arhattvam āsādya sa satkriyārho nirutsuko niṣpraṇayo nirāśaḥ |
vibhīr viṣug vītamado virāgaḥ sa eva dhṛtyānya ivābabhāse || 
17.61 Having attained to the seat of arhathood, he was worthy of being served. Without ambition, without partiality, without expectation;
Without fear, sorrow, pride, or passion; while being nothing but himself, he seemed in his constancy to be different.  
bhrātuś ca śāstuś ca tayānuśiṣṭyā nandas tataḥ svena ca vikrameṇa |
praśāntacetāḥ paripūrṇakāryo vāṇīm imām ātmagatāṃ jagāda || 
17.62 And so Nanda, who, through the instruction of his brother and teacher and through his own valiant effort,
Had quieted his mind and fulfilled his task, spoke to himself these words 
namo ’stu tasmai sugatāya yena hitaiṣiṇā me karuṇatmakena |
bahūni duḥkhāny apavartitāni sukhāni bhūyāṃsy upasaṃhṛtāni || 
17.63 “Praise be to him, the Sugata, the One Gone Well, through whose compassionate pursuit of my welfare,
Great agonies were turned away and greater comforts conferred.  
ahaṃ hy anāryeṇa śarīrajena duḥkhātmake vartmani kṛṣyamāṇaḥ |
nivartitas tadvacanāṅkuṣena darpānvito nāga ivāṅkuśena || 
17.64 For while being dragged, by ignoble physicality, down a path pregnant with suffering,
I was turned back by the hook of his words, like an elephant in musk by a driver’s hook. 
tasyājñayā kāruṇikasya śāstur hṛdistham utpāṭya hi rāgaśalyam |
adyaiva tāvat sumahat sukhaṃ me sarvakṣaye kiṃ bata nirvṛtasya || 
17.65 For through the liberating knowledge of the compassionate teacher who extracted a dart of passion that was lodged in my heart,
Now such abundant ease is mine – Oh! how happy I am in the loss of everything!  
nirvāpya kāmāgnim ahaṃ hi dīptaṃ dhṛtyambunā pāvakam ambuneva |
hlādaṃ paraṃ sāṃpratam āgato ’smi śītaṃ hradaṃ gharma ivāvatīrṇaḥ || 
17.66 For, by putting out the burning fire of desires, using the water of constancy, as if using water to put out a blaze,
I have now come to a state of supreme refreshment, like a hot person descending into a cool pool. 
na me priyaṃ kiṃ cana nāpriyaṃ me na me ’nurodho ’sti kuto virodhaḥ |
tayor abhāvāt sukhito ’smi sadyo himātapābhyām iva vipramuktaḥ || 
17.67 Nothing is dear to me, nor offensive to me. There is no liking in me, much less disliking.
In the absence of those two, I am enjoying the moment, like one immune to cold and heat 
mahābhayāt kṣemam ivopalabhya mahāvarodhād iva vipramokṣam |
mahārṇavāt pāram ivāplavaḥ san bhīmāndhakārād iva ca prakāśam || 
17.68 Like gaining safety after great danger; like gaining release after long imprisonment;
Like having no boat and yet gaining the far shore, after a mighty deluge; and like gaining clarity, after fearful darkness;  
rogād ivārogyam asahyarūpād ṛṇād ivānṛṇyam anantasaṃkhyāt |
dviṣatsakāśad iva cāpayānaṃ durchikṣayogāc ca yathā subhikṣam || 
17.69 Like gaining health out of incurable illness, relief from immeasurable debt,
Or escape from an enemy presence; or like gaining, after a famine, plentiful food: 
tadvat parāṃ śāntim upāgato ’haṃ yasyānubhāvena vināyakasya |
karomi bḥūyaḥ punar uktam asmai namo namo ’rhāya tathāgatāya || 
17.70 Thus have I come to utmost quiet, through the [quieting] influence of the teacher.
Again and repeatedly I do homage to him: Homage, homage to the Worthy One, the Realised One!  
yenāhaṃ girim upanīya rukmaśṛṅgaṃ svargaṃ ca plavagavadhūnidarśanena |
kāmātmā tridivacarībhir aṅganābhir niṣkṛṣṭo yuvatimaye kalau nimagnaḥ || 
17.71 By him I was taken to the golden-peaked mountain, and to heaven, where, with the example of the she-monkey,
And by means of the women who wander the triple heaven, I who was a slave to love, sunk in girl-filled strife, was lifted up and out.  
tasmāc ca vyasanaparād anarthapaṅkād utkṛṣya kramaśithilaḥ karīva paṅkāt |
śānte ’smin virajasi vijvare viśoke saddharme vitamasi naiṣṭhike vimuktaḥ || 
17.72 From that extreme predicament, from that worthless mire, up he dragged me, like a feeble-footed elephant from the mud,
To be released into this quieted, dustless, feverless, sorrowless, ultimate true reality, which is free from darkness. 
taṃ vande param anukampakaṃ maharṣiṃ mūrdhnāhaṃ prakṛtiguṇajñam āśayajñam |
saṃbuddhaṃ daśabalinaṃ bhiṣakpradhānaṃ trātāraṃ punar api cāsmi saṃnatas tam || 
17.73 I salute the great supremely compassionate Seer, bowing my head to him, the knower of types, the knower of hearts,
The fully awakened one, the holder of the ten powers, the best of healers, the deliverer: again, I bow to him. 
saundaranande mahākāvye ’mṛtādhigamo nāma saptadaśaḥ sargaḥ || 
The 17th Canto of the epic poem Handsome Nanda, titled “Obtaining the Deathless Nectar.” 
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Enhet: Det humanistiske fakultet   Utviklet av: IT-seksjonen ved HF
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