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Homage to the Blessed One, the Worthy One, the Perfectly Enlightened One. Subodhālaṅkāraṭīkā Beginning of the Text He who, with feet like excellent lotuses, is worshipped By the three worlds, complete and undisturbed; Who made known his own incomparable state, I venerate the lord of sages, worthy of veneration. He who attained victory over foes at the Bodhi tree, By whose grace the rank of the righteous king was gained; To him, possessed of vast, pure, and excellent virtues, The essence of the true Dhamma, the jewel, homage be. He who became the vessel of excellent virtues, Of that Dhamma-jewel, greatly worthy; Revered with heads bowed in respect, I honor that supreme assembly with my head. Those who, by churning the endless ocean of jewels, Were obtained by the excellent knowledge rising from Mount Mandara; The wise ones who delight and gladden others, May those teachers, excelling in virtues, be victorious for me. 1. Chapter One: Understanding Faults Description of Homage to the Three Jewels 1. The beautiful speech born from the lotus-like face of the lord of sages; May the speech, a refuge for beings, gladden my mind. 1. Now, this author, at the beginning of the text, seeing the hundreds of misfortunes befalling the ascetics who are endowed with faults such as lacking the qualities of previous practice, adherence, natural perfection, and skill, and who are devoid of other means of cessation, and whose efforts are subject to intermediate hindrances, and whose hearts are softened by compassion, in order to show the recollection of the deity of the Dhamma he has attained, for the sake of accomplishing the desired aim of composing the characteristics of composition, which is the means to that end, says, "muninde," etc. But it is said, "desiring to compose the characteristics of composition," why is a characteristic being made here, do compositions appear even without a known characteristic? True, nevertheless, they might be like worm-eaten letters, or they might be followers of the usage of those skilled in it, or they might be known from previous study of the scriptures. The connection is that speech gladdens my mind. Speech means a certain deity named Sarasvatī, she, all-white, the lotus-like fulfiller of desired purposes. It is common knowledge that one sits to receive. But speech is the Good Dhamma, spoken by the Perfectly Enlightened Buddha, a single raft that binds the attainment of desired goals, free from the interruption of obstacles. Therefore, this deity is revered. Here, people's minds are pleased by Sarasvatī, due to their attachment to her. But the mind is gladdened by the Dhamma deity, because she is free from all faults, utterly pure, and her continuous stream is a single raft of meaning. And through that, there is tranquility. Through that, there is happiness. Through that, there is concentration. Through the arising of concentration, and the arising of understanding as it truly is, various meanings of diverse words become apparent without effort. And from that, the accomplishment of desired goals is achieved. Thus, with indirect expression, one hopes for her favor. What are the special qualities? "Lord of Sages," and so on. He who knows in both worlds is a sage (muni). He who wields supreme power everywhere is a lord (inda). He is both a sage and a lord, or the lord of sages, the Lord of Sages, the Perfectly Enlightened Buddha. Therefore, this is a conventional designation for him. Even though there are other synonymous terms, this word "Lord of Sages" is pleasing because it uniquely expresses the meaning desired by the poet, and it enhances the beauty. For he who, by knowing both worlds, wields supreme power even over those who are supreme individuals among sages, he pleases others supremely as a cause, and is therefore fitting here. Thus, it enhances the appropriateness of other words as well. For being born in the lotus-like interior of such a face, she is beautiful, and therefore a refuge. And from that, she pleases the mind. His face, like the face of the Lord of Sages, is a lotus. Or, by the qualities such as possessing auspicious marks, it is a lotus, a lotus flower. Her womb, from which arises or originates, is a beautiful, faultless deity. Speech, however, is faultless, untouched even by a trace of fault. And thus, she will say, "Endowed with qualities and ornaments," and so on. Therefore, this deity is a refuge for beings, being a refuge by the greatness of bringing special qualities such as eloquence. Speech, however, by preventing all calamities, and by accomplishing all beneficial and happy achievements. being of boundless refuge. Because of its neuter gender, there is no change of gender here. "My" in the singular shows humility, a practice of the good. This is an unbroken verbal figure, because of the use of words with unbroken meaning in all instances. This verbal figure, through its indirect expression, nurtures beauty everywhere. Thus he will say, "Through indirect expressions it nurtures, the verbal figure truly nourishes beauty." This is a concise explanation of the meaning in this context. However, the meaning can be described in various ways in detail. In that case, there would also be respect for the text, therefore this method has been adopted. 1. The Venerable Saṅgharakkhita Mahāsāmi, author of this supremely wonderful text, which is the object of perfectly pure wisdom, having crossed the ocean of all the texts of the three Piṭakas, experiencing the happiness and joy of countless kinds, because the teaching of practice and realization has its root in the teaching of the scriptures, thinking, "Perhaps it might please good people" by any means of understanding the meaning of that teaching of the scriptures, beginning this treatise, he makes obeisance to the chosen deity at the beginning of the text to maintain the practice of the virtuous, and especially because it is the cause of the uninterrupted and complete conclusion of the desired text, he remembers the chosen deity, and showing the names, the named, the manner of doing, and the purposes, preceded by the rejection of those who reject the beginning of the text, he speaks these three verses, "The lotus-like face of the Sage...effort." Here, in the first verse, obeisance to the Triple Gem, which is the chosen deity, is shown, in the second verse, those who reject the beginning are refuted, in the third verse, the name and so on are shown. Thus, by way of wishing for the satisfaction of the mind with the teaching of the scriptures, which is based on the supramundane Dhamma, he expresses his faith in the flawless Dhamma Gem. But that faith in the Dhamma is also established in the Buddha and the Saṅgha, because of their inseparability from it, therefore, he makes obeisance to the Triple Gem in an indirect way. It shows by way of expression. For that is the wholesome intention that accomplishes the act of respect in meaning. Here, the fruit has already been stated below. Again, those who say, "This embellishment is like grinding flour, even amidst existing adornments like Rāma's perfection," are contradictory speakers. Having established the existence of Rāma's perfections, they are refuted by this, "They do not twist the pure Māgadhī." For the fruit of refutation is indeed the faultless nature of the text. Moreover, by the word "embellishment" in the phrase "embellishment of sound and embellishment of meaning," it indicates the body of the text, and the designation called designation. And by stating the pure Māgadhī nature of the signified things like embellishment of sound, and by the use of the word "suitable" as a qualifier of the word "embellishment," it is understood that the Buddha's word is useful, and that it occurs in the Māgadhī usage. And since the manner of doing and the undertaking of the embellishment text depend on embellishment of meaning and so on, by this word "embellishment" alone, it shows the purpose called embellishment's adornment. However, the relation of the purposes of the teaching, characterized by what is to be accomplished and the means, is itself stated, since it depends on the showing of the purposes of the teaching that are the basis of the relation. For it was said: "The teaching and the purpose, both are the basis of the relation; Having been stated by their expression, that which depends on them is also stated." Its meaning: The teaching and the purpose, both being the basis of the relation, having been stated, by the expression of those two, that relation, which depends on them, and proceeds based on them, is also stated. Here, the statement of the designation is for the ease of usage, but the statement of the signified and so on is to make known that only those texts that are endowed with these are to be adopted with good intelligence and so on, and that those contrary to them, like the speech of madmen, are not to be adopted. For it was said: "A means in accordance with the relation, expressing the purpose of man; Or a sentence obtained by investigation, That which is not attained beyond.