English
Slowly it comes, as if afraid, Like the breath from the sage's mouth. 135. Not harsh, with few syllables, Utterly soft and flowing forth; Free from difficult pronunciation, The consonants are delicately tender. 136. Seeing the splendor of form, Hearing the sweet voice; The virtuous ones walk around the Buddha, At the right time, averse to play. 137. Even without adornment, He is visible to the virtuous; His radiance rises especially, Beautiful and bright. 138. With hairs standing on end, And voices welling up with joy; These sages rejoice, Like intoxicated peacocks. 139. Delicacy and tenderness, In the meaning of the word; As in words like "mother," The praise of fame and so on. 140. The close connection of words, A beautiful abode of virtues; This binding reverence, Is called cohesion, as it were. 141. Like the crescent moon's splendor, Cut off by the beauty of the nails; May the beauty of the lotus feet of the sage, Protect you, surrounded by light. 142. Whatever excellence, Or virtue is perceived; This is noble, The binding method is meaningful. 143. Those beings whose bodies, Are smeared with the dust of your lotus feet, O Gotama; Alas! They go, To a state of utter purity. 144. Thus, the excellence, Of the Buddha's power is seen here; The wise should contemplate, A similar supreme state by this method. 145. That is also to be understood as noble, Which is a praised attribute; Like a pleasure pond, Playfulness, laughter, golden armlets, and so on. 146. Not exceeding worldly meanings, But pleasing to all people; Beauty is said to be, The surpassing, by way of avoidance. As in "the sage," and so on. 147. The clarity of meaning, The understandability of the subject, From the word, from the meaning. That evening, both of these, should be understood, as explained in the section on elimination, like a mirage and so on, and the arising of delight in the mind. Again, according to meaning: 148. O wise one, your toenails are naturally pure, and needlessly placed on your feet; because, when bowed to, they endlessly abandon the darkness of delusion in us. 149. "The essence of binding," so think even those who are wise in totality; when the opportunity for seeing arises, this quality is called "concentration." 150. A different quality, in a different place, in accordance with the limits of the world, is rightly placed; therefore, it is called "concentration." Enumeration of Concentration 151. The quality of the living is rightly placed in the non-living, somewhere; the quality of the formed, in the formless, and of the flavorful, in the tasteless. 152. The quality of the fluid, in the non-fluid, and the quality of the agent, in the non-agent; the form of the hard, even in the non-corporeal, would be in that order. Explanation of Concentration The quality of the living in the non-living 153. O Lord, the lotus, full like the moon, even during the day, together with its companions, awakened, rejoices greatly; I think it is your water lily. The quality of the formed in the formless 154. Immersed in the flavors of compassion, like in flavors of nectar, happy, with faults destroyed, are those who bow to the lotus of your feet, O Lord! The quality of the flavorful in the tasteless 155. O wise one, even in sweet qualities, those who do not find joy in you, what kind of mental state do they have, O Lord of bitter qualities? The quality of the fluid in the non-fluid 156. O All-Accomplished One! The small, fine dust, with great qualities, runs in all directions, with the beauty of jasmine, with its characteristics. The quality of the agent in the non-agent 157. Blunt, various kinds of weapons, thrown with the strength of the enemy of Mara, ashamed, in a different guise, bow to your feet, O Victor! The quality of the hard in the non-corporeal 158. The sun of the Sage-King, seen on the mountain of enlightenment at dawn, shines with the rays of the Good Dhamma, splitting the ultimate darkness. 159. This, without vomiting or swallowing, is a quality that is not diminished; it is very beautiful, I think, and fully attains grace. 160. The row of the Sage's toenails, under the pretext of emitting rays, seems to drink the light of the moonstones, making them without splendor. 161. The activity of qualities, even though not consciously done, is pleasing. This offering is made with one's own hand, The best deed of merit. 162. As the excellent Buddha pours forth, Affectionately, flavor to the people, Speaking the sweet Dhamma, Who would not please the people? 163. He who is skilled in grammar, Skilled in vocabulary, Constantly engaged in metrics and figures of speech, Even with deficient poetic skill, he is counted among poets, And surely attains fame of great measure. Thus in the Subodhālaṅkāra composed by the great Elder Saṅgharakkhita, Ends the Third Chapter, The Comprehension of Qualities. 4. Comprehension of Figures of Speech - Fourth Chapter 164. A composition endowed with figures of speech, And excellent qualities, Is exceedingly lovely, beautiful, Therefore, they are now described. 165. Figures of speech are of two kinds, Based on natural expression and figurative expression; The former reveals the various states of things. For example, 166. Graceful, charming, lovely, With a steady gaze in all directions, The Bodhisatta, a sprout, shone, Illuminating the earth with his radiance. 167. The expression of the nature of a thing, In a different way is the other kind; Because of its endless variations, Only a seed is shown. Figurative Expression Figures of Speech Enumeration 168. There are hyperbole, simile, metaphor, Repetition, illustration, Objection, implication, contrast, Special causation. 169. Cause, sequence, endearment, Compression, supposition, Resolution, circumlocution, Description of false praise. 170. Specification, affected pride, Pun, equivalence, Example, grandeur, Deception, praise of the unpraiseworthy. 171. String of pearls, reciprocity, Co-occurrence, contradiction, Exchange, illusion, emotion, Mixture, measure, taste. 172. These kinds have been enumerated, Emotion is said to be the life; Among figurative expressions, it nourishes, While pun is the ultimate beauty. Definition 173. That which reveals a distinction, Is called hyperbole; It is twofold, Transcending the world and mundane. 174. These are the kinds of mundane hyperbole, Such as those based on class, etc.; Today, the transcendent Whose pasture is craving. 175. Those who drink the beauty of the body, With cupped hands of eyes; You are not able to destroy my craving, Can craving destroy the Craving-Destroyer? 176. The similarity of the standard and the object of comparison, That similarity is the best; It is expressed by word, meaning, sentence, and subject. 177. Compound, suffix, or iva, Words are threefold depending on them; Word-meaning is by compound, The Sage is moon-faced. 178. By suffixes like āya, The face becomes like a lotus; The Sage's pair of eyes, Resemble blue lotus petals. 179. Like iva, vā, tulya, samāna, nibha, sannibhā; Yathā, saṅkāsa, tulita, ppakāsa, patirūpakā. 180. Sarī, sarikkha, saṃvādī, virodhi, sadisā, viya; Paṭipakkha, paccanīkā, sapakkho, pamito, pamā. 181. Paṭibimba, paṭicchanna, sarūpa, sama, samitā; Savaṇṇā, bhā, paṭinidhi, sadhammā, di salakkhaṇā. 182. Conquers, calls out, laughs, roars back, hates; Is jealous, understands, blames, hears, hinders. 183. Steals its beauty, plunders its loveliness; Argues with it, climbs equally with it. 184. Wades into its skirt, follows it, pursues it; Restrains its virtue, prohibits it, imitates it, me. 185. The similarity of the standard and the object of comparison, Is distinguished by these; Some kinds of simile, Are now being explained. 186. "Like a blooming lotus," The Blessed One's face is beautiful; This is called simile of quality, Showing similarity of qualities. 187. Lacking quality, "the face is like a lotus," "Of the Sage," this is reversed simile, "The lotus is like your face." 188. "Your face is like a lotus," "The lotus is like your face;" This is reciprocal simile, From reciprocal comparison. 189. "If there were any lotus, With the splendor of eyes and eyebrows; To bear the beauty of your face, It would be yours," this is wonderful simile. 190. "Fragrant, connected with beauty, Cool, and opposed to rays; Your face is a lotus." She is like a whetstone, it is said. 191. Because of the likeness of sound, it is like a lineage; Like a young woman with a garland in a garden, she shines in the forest of Alakā. 192. The moon is waning, there is much dust, the lotus, with these your face; Even though they are similar, it surpasses them, this is considered a simile of disparagement. 193. The moon is unable, O Conqueror! To rival your face; It is dull and stained, this is a simile of refutation. 194. "Surpassing the multitude of lotuses, your face; Has become equal to itself," this is a unique simile. 195. "The essence of the light of all lotuses, gathered somewhere; Your face shines," this is a simile of something never seen before. 196. It is understood through the meaning, sometimes through the power of the word; In compounds, suffixes, etc., even without the use of words. 197. These eyes are like bees, this is not a lotus, but a face; Because of the clear similarity, it is considered a simile of likeness. 198. "Only I have the beauty of a face, O moon! It is boasting; Because it is also present in the lotus," this is a simile of imagination. 199. "Is it a swarm of bees inside the lotus, or a face with restless eyes; My mind wavers," this is a simile of doubt. 200. Having shown some object, due to the mention of a similar quality; Because of the presence of similarity, it is like a counter-example. 201. Among people being born, no one is like the Conqueror;