ס״נ 11.8

Verocanaasurinda sutta: Verocana, Lord of Titans

Verocanaasurindasutta

Paṭhamavagga

Sakka, lord of gods, and Verocana, lord of demons, approach the Buddha’s hut and speak in praise of effort.

תרגומים

אין עדיין תרגום לשפה הזאת.

Near Sāvatthī in Jeta’s Grove.

Now at that time the Buddha had gone into retreat for the day’s meditation.

Then Sakka, lord of gods, and Verocana, lord of titans, approached the Buddha and stationed themselves one by each door-post. Then Verocana spoke this verse in the Buddha’s presence:

“A man should make an effort
until his goal is accomplished.
A goal is splendid when accomplished—
this is the word of Verocana!”

The Upaniṣad says the “highest man” (uttamapuruṣa) is the one who rises up from his body and manifests in his own form as the perfect light (8.12.3). The theme of effort is implicit when the Upaniṣad urges that the Self “should be discovered, should be cognized” (so ’nveṣṭavyaḥ sa vijijñāsitavyaḥ). It is hidden from normal perception and requires a long spiritual training.

The Sutta substitutes attha (“goal, purpose, good”) for the Upaniṣad’s ātman (“Self”) in line with the dictum, “the goal is spoken of, but the self is not involved” (AN 3.72:6.3, AN 6.49:4.3). For nipphadā (“accomplishment”), Pali normally uses the prefixed form abhinipphanna (“produced, manifested”) in this sense (MN 101:29.3, SN 47.10:6.11). And that is the form the root appears in the Upaniṣad, in the sense of the Self that “achieves” or “emerges into” its own true form (8.12.2).

Pali texts read this as either nipphannasobhano attho (nominative singular) or nipphannasobhino atthā (dative singular). I propose both phrases occur as suits each speaker. The titan Verocana makes a simple statement (nominative), which the god Sakka improves by pointing to the cause (dative, following SN 11.4:7.3). This echoes the narrative form of the Upaniṣad, where Virocana is easily satisfied with surface teachings, taking only the body to be the Self. The “splendid” or “shining” (sobhana) goal recalls the “highest light” (paraṁ jyotir) of the manifest Self.

Verocana asserts his authorship in imitation of the Upaniṣad, which repeatedly states, “this is the word of Prajāpati” (iti ha prajāpatir uvāca, 8.12.6).

“A man should make an effort
until his goal is accomplished.
For the goal that’s splendid when accomplished,
naught better than patience is found.”

“All beings are in need,
as they deserve in each case.
But even so, harnessed work is the highest
thing of value for all living creatures.
A goal is splendid when accomplished—
this is the word of Verocana!”

In the Upaniṣad, “all” qualifies that which is to be attained, namely all worlds and all desires (8.12.6). Text has sattā (“beings”) and pāṇi (“creature”) for the Upaniṣad’s bhūta (8.11.1; also sarvabhūtāni at 8.15.1).

In other words, all creatures have individual and differing needs (see AN 4.32:2.4, DN 31:34.24). Verocana is arguing that the different needs of creatures can be satisfied if only they’d work hard enough, yoked in perpetuity like a beast of burden.

For saṁyoga, compare the Upaniṣad, “The life breath is yoked to this body, as a draft animal to a cart” (sa yathā prayogya ācaraṇe yukta evam evāyam asmiñ charīre prāṇo yuktaḥ, 8.12.3, translation Olivelle). This shows the original meaning of root yuj as “yoke” for beasts of burden, and hence the “work” those beasts do when “harnessed”.

When, in the Upaniṣad, Indra rejects lower teachings of the Self, he says he sees in it nothing “of value” (bhogya), corresponding to sambhoga here.

“All beings are in need,
as they deserve in each case.
But rather than harnessed work being the highest
thing of value for all living creatures,
for the goal that’s splendid when accomplished,
naught better than patience is found.”

על התרגום

Bhikkhu Sujato · CC0

מי ייתן וכל היצורים יהיו מאושרים