Jethalal S. Zaveri
Prof. Muni Mahendra Kumar
jaha ṇāma ko vi puriso ṇehabbhatto du reṇubahulammi.
ṭhāṇammi ṭhāidūṇa ya karedi satthehi vāyāmaṃ.. 1
chiṃdadi bhiṃdadi ya tahā tālῑtalakayalivaṃsapiṃdῑo.
saccittācittāṇaṃ karedi davvāṇamuvaghādaṃ..2
uvaghādaṃ kuvvaṃtassa tassa ṇāṇāvihehiṃ karaṇehiṃ.
ṇicchayado ciṃtejja hu kiṃ paccayago du rayabaṃdho..3
jo so du ṇehabhāvo tamhi ṇare teṇa tassa rayabaṃdho.
ṇicchayado viṇṇeyaṃ na kāyaceṭṭhāhi sesāhiṃ..4
evaṃ micchādiṭṭhῑ vaṭṭaṃto bahuvihāsu ciṭṭhāsu.
rāyādῑ uvaoge kuvvaṃto lippudi rayeṇa..5
jaha puṇa so ceva ṇaro ṇehe savvamhi avaṇide saṃte.
reṇubahulammi ṭhāṇe karedi satthehi vāyāmaṃ..6
chiṃdadi bhiṃdadi ya tahā tālῑtalakayalivaṃsapiṃdῑo.
saccittācittāṇaṃ karedi davvāṇamuvaghādaṃ..7
uvaghāyaṃ kuvvaṃtassa tassa ṇāṇāvihehi karaṇehiṃ.
ṇicchayado ciṃtejja du kiṃ paccayago ṇa rayabaṃdho..8
jo so du ṇehabhāvo tamhi ṇare teṇa tassa rayabaṃdho.
ṇicchayado viṇṇeyaṃ ṇa kāyaceṭṭhāhi sesāhiṃ..9
evaṃ sammādiṭṭhῑ vaṭṭaṃto bahuvihesu jogesu.
akaraṃto uvaoge rāgādῑ ṇa lippadi rayena..10
(Jaha ṇāma ko vi puriso ṇehabbhatto du) Just as a person, applying oil [over his body] (reṇubahulammi ṭhāṇammi ṭhāidūṇa satthehiṃ vāyāmaṃ karedi) is engaged in physical/martial exercises with appliances [fit for doing such exercises], in a place full of dust.
(Jaha tālῑ-tala-kayali-vaṃsapiṇḍῑo chiṃdadi ya bhiṃdadi) and slashing down cuts up bundles of banana, palm tree, bamboo and the like (saccittāccittāṇaṃ davvāṇaṃuvaghādaṃ karedi) and destroys various kinds of animate and inanimate objects by violently playing with them.
(Ṇāṇāvihehiṃ karaṇehiṃ uvaghādaṃ kuvvaṃtassa tassa) Thus, using a variety of appliances, he does a number of violent actions; (rayabandho du hu kiṃ paccayago ṇicchayado ciṃtejja) think carefully [about such person-] what is the ultimate cause of his body getting smeared up with dust.
(Jo so du ṇehabhāvo tamhi ṇare) It is the tackiness of the oil applied on his body (teṇa tassa rayabandho) that is, ultimately responsible for the bondage of dust (sesāhiṃ kāyaceṭṭhāhiṃ ṇa) and not the movements/activities of his body; (ṇicchayado viṇṇeyaṃ) this ultimate fact must be realized.
(Evaṃ bahuvihāsu ciṭṭhāsu vaṭṭaṃto micchādiṭṭhῑ uvaoge rāyādῑ kuvvaṃto rayeṇa lippadi) Similarly, engaged in various types of activities, an unenlightened [deluded] soul collects and gets smeared up with the dust of karmic matter, [ultimately] because of his consciousness being infected with [the tackiness of] attachment etc.
(Jaha puṇa so ceva ṇaro savvamhi ṇehe avaṇide saṃte) Just as, the afore-mentioned person, after wiping off his body completly from oil, (reṇu-bahulammi ṭhāṇe satthehiṃ vāyāmaṃ karedi) is engaged in physical/martial exercises with appliances [fit for doing such exercises] in a place full of dust, (tahā ya tālῑ-tala-kayali-vaṃsapiṃḍῑo chiṃdadi ya bhiṃdadi) and slashes down and cuts up bundles of palm, banana, bamboo and the like, (saccittāccittāṇaṃ davvāṇamuvaghādaṃ karedi) and various kinds of animate and inanimate objects by violently playing with them. (Ṇāṇāvihehi karaṇehiṃ uvaghādaṃ kuvvaṃtassa tassa) Thus using a variety of appliances, he does a number of violent actions; (du kiṃ paccayago rayabandho ṇa ṇicchayado ciṃtejja) think carefully [about such person-] what is the ultimate reason that his body did not get smeared up with dust.
(Jo so du ṇehabhāvo tamhi ṇare) It was the tackiness of oil applied on his body (teṇa tassa rayabaṃdho) that was [ultimately] responsible for the bondage of dust (sesāhiṃ kāyaceṭṭhāhiṃ ṇa) and not the movements/activites of his body; (ṇicchayado viṇṇeyaṃ) this ultimate fact must be properly understood.
(Evaṃ sammādiṭṭhi bahuvihesu jogesu vaṭṭaṃto uvaoge rāgādῑ akaraṃto rayeṇa ṇa lippadi) In the same way, [inspite of] engaged in various types of [worldly] activites, an enlightened sage does not get smeared with the dust of karmic matter, because of his consciousness being not infected with [the tackiness of] attachment etc.
Annotations:
With these verses the author initiates the discussion on the ultimate cause of bondage of karma. We have already seen that karmic matter [which when coalesced with the soul, becomes karma], is conceived as extremely fine dust filling up the space. Two fundamental conditions of bondage are threefold activities and fourfold passions. The function of the former is to attract the karmic dust towards the soul while that of the latter is to produce and provide the force essential for lasting bondage. In these verses, the functions of both the above factors are thoroughly clarified by a simple analogy.
As is well known, it was customary to cover the floor of a place of martial/physical exercises with soft sand to prevent injury to the practitioners. It was also customary to do such exercises with an almost naked body [except for a loin-cloth] well smeared with oil. Now if the exercises take place with an oily body, it is certain that the sand will cling to the body and it will be difficult to clean the body. On the other hand, a dry body free from the oil will remain practically unaffected though the actions in both cases might be identical. The inevitable conclusion is, therefore, that when the body is free from the tackiness of oil, the (martial) activities, by themselves are not competent to affect a lasting bondage. In other words activities play a minor part while the tackiness [of oil] is the main cause for the sticking of the sand up the body. Greater the tackiness, stronger is the bond between the body and the sand. Without oil, even if the dust comes into contact with the body, it cannot cling to it.
Applying the analogy to the doctrine of bondage of karma, an enlightened sage is free from the tackiness of passions—affection, aversion, attachment etc., while an unenlightened (deluded) person is not. In the worldly life, both have to be engaged in threefold activities which attract the karmic dust. But the bondage will occur only when the psychic dispositions are infected with passions. In the absence of passions there will be no bondage. Thus, the ultimate cause of bondage is the attachment and the like and not the worldly activities.
