English
"bodhi" refers to Nibbāna. Here, however, the Bodhi tree is intended. This, then, is the meaning of those words. "Bodhi" is that by which one understands, understood, or will understand the Four Noble Truths and all knowable phenomena; it is the Bodhi tree. (From the root "budh" with suffix "ṇi"). "Bodhi" is that by which one understands the four truths; it is the path. "Bodhi" is that by which one understands all knowable phenomena; it is omniscience. "Bodhi" is that which is to be understood by the Noble Ones; it is Nibbāna. "Vara-bodhi" is the excellent, supreme Bodhi tree; its root, its vicinity, is "vara-bodhi-mūla"; at that. "Sasenamāra" means Māra, the king, who acts with his army. Therein, "senā" (army) is that by which one is bound or tied. (From the root "si" meaning to bind). He who acts with that (army) is "sasena" (with army), Māra the king. "Māra" is he who, by engaging beings in what is unbeneficial, kills them by destroying their virtues. (From the root "mar" with suffix "ṇa"). Or "Māra" is he who kills or destroys the wholesome states of beings. That Māra, who is with his army, is "sasenamāra," Māra the king. "That" (Māra) is the object of the word "having conquered." Endowed with merit. The connection is "o yo Sugata." The meaning of the word Sugata has already been stated below. "Having conquered" means: on the full moon of Vesakha, on the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, while the sun had not yet set, by the power of the merit of his perfections, he conquered. "He awakened" means: he penetrated, or he attained. "Bodhi" means: the unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, the path of arahantship and omniscience. For path-knowledge is the basis of omniscience, and omniscience is the basis of path-knowledge; this is called Bodhi. That Bodhi. "Aruṇodaya" is the word division "aruṇa-udaya." Its meaning is: at the time of the rising of dawn. Therein, that which makes light all around and goes upwards is "aruṇa." (Grammar: 'un' root with 'ā' prefix for motion, 'ṇa' suffix. 'ā' becomes short, 'ra' is inserted, 'na' becomes 'ṇa'.) Its meaning is: the ray that rises before the sun's rising is called "aruṇa." For it is said in the Anguttara Nikaya, Dasaka Nipata: "Monks, this is the forerunner, this is the fore-sign of the sun's rising, that is, the dawn. Even so, monks, this is the forerunner, this is the fore-sign of wholesome states, that is, right view." Referring to this, it is said in the Abhidhanappadipika: "The ray that rises before the sun's rising is 'aruṇa'." But in the commentary to the Abhidhanappadipika, it is said: "'Aruṇa' is that which goes due to its reddish color." "It rises, it goes up," therefore it is "udaya," the sun. (Grammar: 'ud' root with 'a' suffix.) The arisen ray of the rising sun is "aruṇa," therefore it is "aruṇodaya." At that time of the rising of dawn. The connection is: he awakened to Bodhi. Indeed, the Blessed One, on the full moon of Vesakha, while the sun had not yet set, having dispelled the forces of Mara, being honored by the sprouts of the Bodhi tree, falling upon his robe like red coral shoots; in the first watch of the night, having recollected past lives; in the middle watch, having purified the divine eye; in the last watch, having reflected on dependent origination forwards and backwards; having generated the fourth jhana of mindfulness of breathing, making that the basis, having developed insight, called the great diamond-like knowledge, by the sequence of paths... Having exhausted all defilements by the attained knowledge of the fourth path, when the dawn will rise, then it is said that he penetrated and attained all the qualities of a Buddha, such as omniscience. "Mārajina" means the conqueror of the five Māras. He conquers, conquered, and will conquer the five Māras: Devaputta, Kilesa, Abhisankhāra, Khandha, and Maccu. Therefore, he is Mārajina, the Sugata. He conquers and conquered the three Māras: Devaputta, Kilesa, and Abhisankhāra. And he will certainly conquer the two Māras: Khandha and Maccu - this is the meaning. If so, why is "vijitāvī" (conqueror) used? Because they are certainly being conquered without fail. "Abhaṅga" means unable to break or destroy the Māra with his army. Or unable for anyone to break or destroy. Here is the meaning of the word: He whom Māra or anyone cannot break is "Abhaṅga." Or he who is not broken or destroyed by them is "Abhaṅga," the Sugata. (This is from the root "bhañj" with a "na" prefix, and the final consonant of the root is replaced by "ga.") Or "bhaṅga" means one who breaks or destroys, i.e., Māra. Or anyone. He for whom there is no "bhaṅga" (destroyer), no Māra, no one, is "Abhaṅga," the Sugata. That Abhaṅga. That Sugata. The connection is: I bow to that Sugata, the Mārajina, the Abhaṅga. In this verse, the victory of the Buddha over Māra and so forth, as found in the Ekanipāta Jātaka Commentary and the Apadāna Commentary, should be briefly understood for the benefit of listeners' extensive knowledge. For the Bodhisatta, having experienced great prosperity, having discarded the imperial sovereignty that was in his hand, like a lump of spittle, without attachment, having gone forth in the Great Renunciation at the age of twenty-nine, on the full moon day of Āsaḷha, when the Uttarāsaḷha constellation was ascendant, having received and put on the eight requisites, which were like the banner of Arahantship, given by Ghaṭīkāra Brahmā on the bank of the Anomā River, and having undertaken the ascetic's ordination, having practiced severe austerities for six years, at the foot of the Banyan tree in Uruvelā, having received from Sujātā, the daughter of the householder Senāni, a golden bowl worth one hundred thousand, Having eaten a meal of honey-rice, with little water, of the size of a single ripe palmyra fruit, forty-nine mouthfuls. In the evening, going towards the Bodhi tree, along a path adorned by deities. On the way, taking eight handfuls of grass, given by a grass-cutter named Sotthiya. Having ascended the Bodhi-maṇḍa, knowing this place to be undeserted by all Buddhas, an unmoving place, a place for breaking defilements. He took those grasses by their tips and shook them. Immediately, a fourteen-cubit seat appeared. And those grasses spread out and arranged themselves in such a form. Such that even a very skilled painter or a master craftsman would not be able to draw it. The Bodhisatta, with the Bodhi trunk at his back, facing east, with resolute mind, said: Let skin and sinews, and bones wither away; Let all flesh and blood in the body dry up. But without attaining Perfect Enlightenment, I will not break this seat. He sat down, without breaking that seat, which was unbreakable even by a hundred thunderbolts. At that time, Māra, the deity, [thought] "Prince Siddhattha wishes to escape my dominion; I will not let him escape now." Going to the host of Māra, and announcing this matter. He had a proclamation called "Māra's Cry" made, and set out with Māra's army. That army of Māra extended twelve yojanas in front of Māra. And twelve yojanas to the south and to the north. Behind, it stood reaching the edge of the cosmos, and nine yojanas high. Its roaring sound, when it roared, was heard from a thousand yojanas away, like the sound of the earth splitting. Then Māra, the deity, mounted the elephant named Girimekhalā, which was one hundred and fifty yojanas tall. He created a thousand arms and grasped various weapons. Among the rest of Māra's retinue, no two people took the same weapon. They came, of various colors, with various faces, overwhelming the Great Being. Ten thousand world-systems And the deities stood praising the Great Being. Sakka, the king of gods, stood blowing the Vijayuttara conch. That conch, they say, was one hundred and twenty cubits long. Once filled with air, when blown, it made sound for four months, then became silent. The Great Kāla Nāga King stood speaking praises with more than a hundred verses. Mahābrahmā stood holding the white parasol. But when Māra's army approached the Bodhi-maṇḍala, not one of them could stand. They fled from their very positions. The Nāga King named Kāla, diving into the earth, went to the Mantiraka Nāga abode, five hundred yojanas away, and lay down, covering his face with both hands. Sakka, turning the Vijayuttara conch to his back, stood at the rim of the Cakkavāḷa mouth. Mahābrahmā, taking the white parasol by its tip, went to the Brahmā world itself. Not a single deity was able to stand. The Great Man sat alone. Māra also said to his retinue: "My dears, there is no other man like Siddhattha, the son of Suddhodana. We cannot give battle face to face. We will give it from the rear." The Great Man, too, looking at the three sides, saw them empty, as all the deities had fled. Again, seeing Māra's army overwhelming from the north side, he thought: "This great multitude makes a mighty effort against me, alone. In this place, I have no mother, no father, no brother, nor any other relative. But these ten perfections have been like my children and retinue for a long time. Therefore, I should make the perfections my shield, and striking with the weapon of the perfections, this army should be destroyed by me." Thus reflecting on the ten perfections, he sat. Then Māra, the son of a god, thinking, "By this I shall make Siddhattha flee," raised a windstorm. At that very moment, winds of various kinds arose from the east, half a yojana, one yojana, two yojanas, three yojanas in size... Even though they were capable of shattering mountain peaks, uprooting trees and shrubs, and pulverizing surrounding villages and towns, by the power of the Great Being's merit and great might, when they reached the Bodhisatta, they could not even stir the corner of his robe. Then, thinking, "I will drown and kill him with water," he caused a great rain to arise. By its power, clouds of hundreds and thousands of layers rose up and rained. By the force of the rain streams,