3. Tṛṣṇāvarga
The Chapter about Craving Chapter 24 is about craving in the Dhammapada. Nine of the verses in this chapter occur there also.
(18 Verses)
[3.1]
[stm.]
Vitarkapramathitasya jantunas,
tīvrarāgasya, śubhānudarśinaḥ,
bhūyas tṛṣṇā pravardhate, gāḍhaṁ
hy eṣa karoti bandhanam.
For a person who is crushed by his thoughts, having fierce passion, contemplating what is pleasant, craving is increased, this surely makes the bonds strongerund.
[3.2]
[stm.]
Vitarkavyupaśame tu yo rato,
hy aśubhāṁ bhāvayate, sadā smṛtaḥ,
tṛṣṇā hy eṣa prahāsyate, sa tu
khalu pūtikaroti bandhanam.
But for the one who has delight in the calming of thoughts, who cultivates the unattractive, always mindful, this one will surely abandon craving, he surely makes the bonds rot away.
[3.3]
[stm. + sim.]
Kāmāndhajālaprakṣiptās, tṛṣṇayācchāditāḥ prajāḥ,
pramattā bandhane baddhā, matsyavat Here -vat acts as the suffix indicating a simile. Pāḷi lacks this form. kupināmukhe,
jarāmaraṇam āyānti, vatsaḥ kṣīrapaka iva mātaram.
People, blinded by desire and entangled in a net, covered by craving, heedless, bound with bonds, like fish in the mouth of a trap, approach old age and death, like a suckling calf goes to its mother.
[3.4]
[stm. + sim.]
Manujasya pramattacāriṇas tṛṣṇā vardhati māluteva hi,
sa hi saṁsarate punaḥ punaḥ, phalam icchann iva vānaro vane.
For a human who lives life heedlessly craving increases like a deadly creeper increases, one transmigrates again and again, like a monkey desiring fruits in a forest.
[3.5]
[stm.]
Saritāni vai snehitāni vai saumanasyāni bhavanti jantunaḥ,
ye sātasitāḥ sukhaiṣiṇas, te vai jātijaropagā narāḥ.
There are flowing streams of affection and happiness for a person, those people who depend on pleasure, seeking happiness, they surely undergo birth and old age.
[3.6]
[stm. + sim.]
Tṛṣṇābhir upaskṛtāḥ prajāḥ
paridhāvanti śaśā va vāgurām,
saṁyojanaiḥ saṅgasaktā, duḥkhaṁ,
yānti punaḥ punaś cirarātram.
People assailed by craving run around like hares in a net, attached and clinging through the fetters, they go to suffering again and again for many a night.
[3.7]
[stm.]
Tṛṣṇayā grathitāḥ satvā, raktacittā bhavābhave,
te yogayukta Māreṇa, hy ayogakṣemiṇo janāḥ,
jarāmaraṇam āyānti, yogā hi duratikramāḥ.
Beings are bound by craving, their minds clinging to repeated existence, they are yoked by Māra, people are not yoked to safety, they approach old age and death, for the yokes are hard to overcome.
[3.8]
[stm.]
Yas tu tṛṣṇāṁ prahāyeha, vītatṛṣṇo bhavābhave,
tṛṣṇayā vibhavad, bhikṣur, anicchuḥ, parinirvṛtaḥ.
But the one who has abandoned craving here, being without craving for repeated existence, with craving destroyed, that monastic, without desire, is fully emancipated.
[3.9]
[stm. + sim.]
Ya etāṁ sahate grāmyāṁ tṛṣṇāṁ, loke sudustyajām,
śokās tasya pravardhante, Bernhard read nivardhante here in line with the majority of the manuscripts, but there seems to be no verb nivardh- in Sanskrit, or nivaḍḍh- in Pāḷi, so this must be a scribal error. To fit the simile we need a verb that implies increase, not decrease (as ni- would give). I therefore read pravardh- here, with the variant reading found in two manuscripts recorded by Bernard. Note that pravardh is also used at verse 598 in the Udānavarga. Cf. the parallel. Tibetan has: de yi mya ṅan ’phel ’gyur te; his griefs will increase. hy avavṛṣṭā bīraṇā yathā.
The one who this vulgar craving, which is very difficult to give up, We would really have expected this to have been a nominative as in the Pāḷi. The construction with the accusative (grāmyāṁ tṛṣṇāṁ) makes the interpretation more difficult, but not impossible. It is noticeable that the Pāḷi is often much clearer than the Udānavarga in its syntax and expression. This could either be that the Pāḷi is closer to the original language, or the redactors of the Udānavarga were not as skilled at writing verse as those who redacted the Pāḷi. overpowers in the world, for him griefs increase, like grass that has been rained on.
[3.10]
[stm. + sim.]
Yas tv etāṁ tyajate grāmyāṁ tṛṣṇāṁ loke sudustyajām,
śokās tasya nivartante, udabindur iva puṣkarāt.
But the one who gives up these vulgar cravings, very difficult to give up in the world, for him griefs cease, like drops of water from a lotus. The lotus is well-known to be hydrophobic, and that quality ensures it is used in similes across Indian literature.
[3.11]
[rh.q. + sim.]
Tad vai vadāmi: “Bhadraṁ vo, yāvantaḥ stha samāgatāḥ,”
tṛṣṇāṁ samūlāṁ khanata, uśīrārthīva bīraṇām,
tṛṣṇāyāḥ khātamūlāyā, nāsti śokaḥ, kuto bhayam?
This I indeed say: “Good luck to you, as many of you as have assembled,” The syntax is clarified by the Pāli parallel, which reads yāvantettha samāgatā, as many as are assembled here. The Sanskrit yāvantaḥ stha samāgatāḥ is a more literal, slightly awkward rendering of this original idiom, explicitly including the verb: you are (stha). dig up craving with its root, like one seeking the fragrant root Uśīra is an especially sought-after type of fragrant root. digs up grass, when the root of craving has been dug up, This is a genitive absolute construction, giving the meaning: when… there is no grief, how is there fear? For this line compare 2.2 and 2.3 above.
[3.12]
[stm.]
Tṛṣṇādvitīyaḥ puruṣo, dīrgham adhvānam āśayā,
punaḥ punaḥ saṁsarate, garbham eti punaḥ punaḥ,
itthaṁbhāvānyathībhāvaḥ, saṁsare tv āgatiṁ gatim.
A person who has craving as his companion travels a long time because of hope, again and again one transmigrates, again and again one comes to the womb, going from this state of existence to another, coming and going in transmigration.
[3.13]
[stm.]
Tāṁ tu tṛṣṇāṁ prahāyeha, vītatṛṣṇo bhavābhave,
nāsau punaḥ saṁsarate, tṛṣṇā hy asya na vidyate.
But the one who has abandoned these cravings here, being without craving for repeated existence, that one does not transmigrate again, for him craving is not found.
[3.14]
[stm.]
Yayā Devā manuṣyāś ca sitās tiṣṭhanti hārthikāḥ,
tarataitāṁ viṣaktikāṁ, kṣaṇo vo mā hy upatyagāt,
kṣaṇātītā hi śocante narakeṣu samarpitāḥ.
That by which Devas and humans remain dependent and needy, cross over this attachment, do not let the moment pass you by, for those whose moment has passed grieve when cast into the purgatories.
[3.15]
[stm. + sim.]
Tṛṣṇā hi hetuḥ saritā viṣaktikā,
gaṇḍasya nityaṁ visṛteha jālinī,
latāṁ pipāsām apanīya sarvaśo,
nivartate duḥkham idaṁ punaḥ punaḥ.
For craving is the cause of the entangling Although it is placed at the end of the pādayuga, separated from the subject, we have to take jālinī (entangling) with sāritā viṣaktikā (streams of attachment) for it to make sense. This is a good example of how word-placement is not necessarily a good guide to meaning. streams of attachments, like the constant swelling of a boil here, having removed this creeper, this thirst, in every way, suffering ceases again and again. For this line compare the last line of the next verse.
[3.16]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathāpi mūlair anupadrutaiḥ sadā,
chinno ’pi vṛkṣaḥ, punar eva jāyate,
evaṁ hi tṛṣṇānuśayair anuddhṛtair,
nirvartate duḥkham idaṁ punaḥ punaḥ.
Just as through the roots being always unharmed, The Udānavarga uses an instrumental absolute construction (mūlaiḥ..., tṛṣṇānuśayaiḥ...) to express the cause or means, denoting the condition under which the main action occurs. a tree, even though cut down, springs up again, so through the tendencies to craving not being rooted out, this suffering arises again and again. A difference of just one akṣara (-nir- in place of -ni-) reverses the meaning of the previous line.
[3.17]
[stm. + sim.]
Yathāpi śalyo dṛḍham ātmanā Ātmanā, though instrumental, must carry locative sense here for the parallelism to work: just as a dart in oneself hurts, so does craving in oneself lead to destruction. kṛtas
tam eva hanyād balasā tv adhiṣṭhitaḥ,
tathā tv ihādhyātmasamutthitā latās
tṛṣṇā vadhāyopanayanti prāṇinām.
Just as a firmly fastened dart, made by oneself, lodged there, would strongly hurt that one, so too the creepers of craving, arisen within oneself here, lead breathing beings to destruction.
[3.18]
[adm.]
Etad ādīnavaṁ jñātvā – tṛṣṇā duḥkhasya saṁbhavam –
vītatṛṣṇo hy anādānaḥ, smṛto bhikṣuḥ parivrajet.
Knowing this danger – that craving is the source of suffering – being without craving, not grasping, the monastic should wander mindfully. Smṛto is an adjective describing the monk, but it is not being exclusively, which would mean: a mindful monk, which limits which type of monk who should wander, but rather describes the manner in which he wanders, and is therefore adverbial in force.
Tṛṣṇāvargaḥ, 3
The Chapter about Craving, the Third