Heart Sutra Mantra explained. (working draft.)
"Go, go, go to the next kingdom, go to the next kingdom and never look back! May it be blessed, the awakeness!"
1. "Gate, gate, pāragate, pārasaṃgate, bodhisvāhā!"
Famous Heart Sutra ends with a moving mantra(the title of this section) celebrating the accomplishment of the practitioner's Buddhistic improvement. It is traditionally translated into English like
"Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond! O Enlightenment! Be it so!", Max Müller, 1894.
“Gone, gone, gone to the other shore, and completely landed on the other side. Congratulations on the enlightenment!”, M. Osaki, 2013.
However, considering some recent improvement on this field, the translation is to be renewed for future reference.
2. Sanskrit word "gate"
2.1. Dictionary meaning
It is the √gam family meaning "to go, move, go away, set out, come", Fem. form "gati" meaning "going, moving, gait, or path, course" (accoding to A-Sanskrit-English-Dictionary).
√gam's grammertical details we use here is:
√gam's grammertical details we use here is:
Note 1. The word of concern "gate" can be multiply interpreted. Considering it had been celebrating the accomplishment of Buddhistic elevation, I made it clear that the trainee had gone to the next level.
Note 2. Considering historical context, the Buddha era India being separated into numerous kingdoms and each of it was the stage of the Buddha's practice(teaching), I tried a translation "gatiṃ" into "kingdom". As seen below, the word "gatiṃ" is used as the stage of training in other literatures.
2.2. The "gate" usage in "Vimalakīrtinirdeśa Sūtra"
2.2.1 Chapter 7 §1
Vimalakīrtiniedeṣa is one of the most read Mahāyāna Buddism literature through the history. Its Chapter 7 §1 is spent metaphorically describing the training methods for Bodhisattva(Buddhism trainees). Based on "Vimalakirtinirdesa : A Sanskrit Edition Based upon the Manuscript Newly Found at the Potala Palace. March 2006, TAISHO UNIVERSITY PRESS, TOKYO.", Vimalakīlti teaches Manjusri
At that time, Manjusri asked Vimalakirti, "Oh Vimalakirti, when do Bodhisattvas become go-throughers on the way of Buddha-dharma?"
Vimalakirti: "Oh Manjusri, they become go-throughers on the way of Buddha-dharma when they go through non-gone-throughs."
Manjusri: "What is it like?"
Vimalakirti: "When they go through the ...(the list of non-Buddha lands and skills to acquire)...
In this way, Manjusri, Bodhisattvas go through the gone-throughs and become go-throughers on the way of Buddha-dharma."
As mentioned above, in this section of the Sutra, the √gam family words(underlined) are used as a metaphor of Bodhisattvas' training of the Buddhistic growth.
Perhaps it is interesting that what the mantra celebrating ("prajñāpāramitāyā", Chinese "般若波羅蜜多", the achievement of the completion of knowledge, and paraphrasing "sarva-lokika-lokôttara-śāstra-kuśalaś", "skillful in all worldly and supramundane treatises" in English.) is appeared in the 21th row of the 37 courses list.
2.2.2 The other usage
√gam family is used mainly in the honorable titles of Buddhism achievers. They are praised as skill-aquirers. See Table 1. In this section, text gained from "Vimalakirtinirdesa (input by Klaus Wille)" from GRETIL project.
Table 1. Bodhisattvas' honorable titles with √gam family
2.3. The "gate" usage in "Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtram" a.k.a. Lotus Sutra
3. Sanskrit prefix "pāra-"
3.1 Dictionary meaning
According to the dictionary, "pāra-" means "bringing across, the further bank or shore or boundary, any bank or shore, the opposite side, the end or limit of anything, the utmost reach or fullest extent, RV; pāraṃ √gam &c, with gen. or loc., to reach the end, go through, fulfill, carry out (as a promise), study or learn thoroughly (as a science), MBh". RV is Rigveda, MBh is Mahābhārata.
Here we pick the meaning of "the other" or "the other side of". Traditionally, "pāragate" was translated into "go across the river"("到彼岸"). However, as seen above, it is not necessarily a river and considering §2.2 of this article, it seems a kind of border which Bodhisattvas can walk through.
3.2 Sutta-nipāta "Pārayanavagga" (Pali)
3.2.1 Introduction to this section
The Chapter title is traditionally translated into "Crossing the river"(Chinese "到彼岸" in 7th century), but I don't think it accurate. I will write another article on this topic.
3.2.2 So what does "Pārayanavagga" mean?
It must be "A teaching from the other school".
3.2.3 Conclusion on this section.
The classical translation "pāra-" into "to the other side of river" is overspecification.
4. Sanskrit prefix "saṃ-"
According to the dictionary, "saṃ √gam, ... to go away, depart (this life), decease, die, Laty.; ... to cause to go away or depart (this life), kill, MBh." so "saṃgate" is "completely go somewhere not here". cf. It is named as "saṃ-bodhi", the Buddha's achieving a buddha. I'm checking the word's usage on Lāṭy, the Lāṭyāyana-Śrauta-sūtra.
5. Sanskrit "bodhisvāhā!"
5.1. "bodhi-"
"Bodhi" is considered as the ultimate goal of training. Those who striving to gain it is named "Bodhisattva", and the ultimate achievement the Buddha made is "saṃbodhi".
5.2. "svāhā"
It is "May it be blessed" word frequently chanted in Indian religious ceremonies.
6. Conclusion: full translation
Completing a translation, it should be
Go, go, go to the other side of the border, go completely to the other side of the border! May it be blessed, the awakeness!
or
Go, go, go to the next kingdom, go to the next kingdom and never look back! May it be blessed, the awakeness!
コメント
コメントを投稿