Another description from Kādambarī, by the Ancient Indian author, Bāṇabhaṭṭa.
The passage pertains to a particular sage, an important & powerful ascetic, called Jābāli, who resides in a hermitage within a forest.
I thought it would be appropriate to give a more positive example – an example pertaining to something beautiful, lofty and solemn – to give an idea of Bāṇabhaṭṭa’s rich use of simile & imagery, than the rather dark & terrible description of the Shabara.
As for his ideas, there is a slight element of irreverence in the work of Bāṇabhaṭṭa, who is clearly a devotee of Shiva, with strong leanings towards Buddhism & Jainism.
But that is the subject for another time, if possible.
The words are being spoken by a parrot, which, as I’ve already mentioned in the previous post, is recounting the incidents of the story.
“‘And as I looked on him I thought:
“Ah! how great is the power of penance!
His form, calm as it is, yet pure (avadāta) as molten gold (kanaka), overpowers (pratihanti), like lightning (saudāmini), the brightness of the eye (cakṣus) with its brilliance (tejas).
(This is a particularly powerful, eloquent, and significant use of similes & concepts.)
“Though ever tranquil (udāsīna), it inspires fear at first approach by its inherent majesty (mahā-prabhāva).
The splendour of even those ascetics (tapasvī) who have practised but little asceticism is wont to be easily provoked, like fire swiftly falling on dry reeds (śuṣka nala), kāça grass, or flowers.
How much more, then, that of holy men like these,
§ whose feet (caraṇa) are honoured (vandita) by the whole world (sakala-bhuvana),
§ whose stains are worn away by penance,
(The original says: whose dirt (mala) (i.e. stains in the form of sins, or bad qualities) are washed away (kṣālita) by the water (salila) of penance (tapas))
§ who look with divine insight (divya cakṣu) on the whole earth (akhila jagat) as if it were a myrobalan (āmalaka-phala: gooseberry fruit) in the hand, and
(As is understood by all translators across the world, the translated version can never capture the beauty of the original.
There’s a lot of poetic alliteration in the original, which can’t come through.
Thus, here the words in the first part are: kara-kamala-tala-āmalaka-
kara-kamala-tala – (a myrobalan placed on) the palm of the lotus-(like)-hand)
§ who purge away all sin.
“For even the mention (nāma-grahaṇa) of a great sage (mahā-muni) has its reward (puṇya – is sacrosanct, confers merit); much more, then, the sight of him!
...
“Happy is the hermitage where dwells this king of Brahmans!
(This doesn’t seem to be very accurate.
The idea is: Blessed is the hermitage of which this man is the Director or Chief or Head (adhipati))
“Nay, rather, happy is the whole world (bhuvana-tala – the Earth) in being trodden by him who is the very Brahmā (“Kamala-yoni”) of earth!
...
“Truly these sages enjoy the reward of their good deeds in that they attend him day and night with no other duty, hearing holy stories and ever fixing on him their steady gaze (niścala-dṛṣṭi), as if he were another Brahmā (“Nalina-āsana”).
...
“Happy (sukha-anubhavanti) is Sarasvatī, who,
encircled by his shining teeth (rucira dvija), and
ever enjoying the nearness of his lotus-mouth (mukha-kamala-samparka),
dwells in his serene mind (mati-prasanna),
with its unfathomable depths (agādha gambhīra)
and its full stream of tenderness (karuṇā-jala-nisyanda),
like a haṃsa on the Mānasa lake.
(The Hindi translation is considerably different.
It should be noted that the Sanskrit word dvija – which evidently means “twice-born” means at least 3 things:
i. Brāhmaṇa
ii. bird
iii. teeth
Sarasvatī is said to reside in his lotus-mouth, surrounded by his shining teeth –
this basically means that his words are, or his speech is, full of wisdom & truth – or that his speech is infused with Sarasvatī.
Sarasvatī often being Vāk or Speech Itself, Speech itself is surrounded by dvijas, i.e. teeth.
All spoken wisdom is articulated through the mouth (& tongue & teeth).
Here, Sarasvatī may be compared to a Royal Swan (Rāja-Haṁsa) which resides in the unfathomably deep Lake Mānasa, surrounded by radiant birds (dvijas – presumably swans, who are proverbially said to migrate to the Mānasa Lake), and constantly enjoying association with lotuses in the lake.
Thus, broadly speaking, the punning seems to be something like this: Sarasvatī (the Speech of Knowledge, or Wisdom) resides like a Royal Swan (Rāja-Haṁsa) in the unfathomably deep Lake of the Ṛṣi’s Mind/Heart (Mānasa), is surrounded by the shining teeth (dvijas) of his mouth, enjoys contact with his lotus-mouth (whenever he speaks, as he teaches, instructs, recites mantras, etc.) – the deep lake of his Mind being the source of a stream of compassion (karuṇā).)
...
“The four Vedas (catur-veda), that have long dwelt in the four lotus-mouths (catur-mukha mukha-kamala) of Brahmā, find here their best and most fitting home.
...
“All the sciences (sarva-vidyā), which became turbid in the rainy season of the Iron Age (kali-kāla jaladhara-samaya-kaluṣita), become pure when they reach him, as rivers coming to autumn (śarat-kāla).
(In the rainy season, rivers become muddy... but once the autumn season begins, they become clear again.)
...
“Of a surety, holy Dharma, having taken up his abode here after quelling the riot of the Iron Age, no longer cares to recall the Golden Age.
(It would be nice NOT to use the Greek terms for the 4 ages in India.
The “Iron Age” is Kali-Yuga – the Age of Strife, Conflict, Fight.
The “Golden Age” is Kṛta Yuga.
The idea is that in the presence of the sage Jābāli nobody feels that they live in the Kali-Yuga, because Dharma is well-established & triumphant, as it was, in the Kṛta Yuga.)
...
“Heaven (ambara-tala), seeing earth (dharaṇī-tala) trodden by him, no longer takes pride in being dwelt in by the Seven Ṛishis.
(A bold statement, which is common in Bāṇabhaṭṭa: the ascetic sage Jābāli here is even greater than the Sapta Rṣis.)
...
“How bold is old age, which fears not to fall on his thick matted locks (śiroruh), moonbeam-pale (rajanikara-kiraṇa = rays of the Moon) as they are, and hard to gaze on as the rays of the sun (ravi-kara) of doom.
For it falls on him as Ganges, white with flecks of foam (pheṇa-puñja-dhavala), on Çiva, or as an offering of milk on Agni.
(Just like the waters of the Yamunā are supposed to be dark, sapphire-blue or dark-blue, and used to represent the hue of darkness – the waters of the Gaṅgā are supposed to be whitish in colour.
While “doom” is not inappropriate, pralaya may better be translated as Universal Dissolution.
Ridding has somewhat shortened the description.
Kale does a better job.
It is not just “an offering of milk on Agni” – it is, as Kale writes: “an oblation of milk (kṣīra-āhuti) falling upon the mass of flames (śikhā-kalāpa) of the (sacrificial) fire (vibhāvasu)”.
Shiva is Agni, and
the white Ganges falling upon the matted hair of Shiva (in the original, Paśupati)
= milk falling upon the massy flames of Agni
= old age falling upon the hair of Jābāli, at once as white as the rays of the Moon (indicating coolness), and as incandescent as the rays of the Sun – which mythically expands into 12 Suns – at the the time of the Dissolution of the world (indicating intense heat).)
...
“Even the sun’s rays keep far from the penance-grove (tapovana), as if terrified by the greatness of the saint whose hermitage is darkened by the thick smoke of many an oblation (bahula-ājya-dhūma-paṭala).
(ravi-kiraṇa-jāla: the web or network or mass of the sun’s rays.
There are very specific, technical words used by Bāṇabhaṭṭa, which are “lost in translation”.
ājya is a definite Vedic term, used for the ghee which is poured into the fire of a Vedic altar.
Again, Kale’s translation is better than Ridding’s.
The idea is that the great Sage is profoundly engaged in Vedic ceremonies, in which clarified butter is copiously poured into the fire: and this generates billows of smoke which “darken” the hermitage – and which, thus, keep off the rays of the sun from penetrating the hermitage.
I’m inclined to think that paṭala is used by the author in a less general sense, and would mean something like a veil or a cover or something that encloses & shuts off: thus, the smoke generated from the profuse amounts of clarified butter poured into the ceremonial fire, generates as it were a covering of smoke, which blocks out the rays of the sun from entering the hermitage.
This is poetically expressed as the mass of sunrays being afraid of entering the grove, being in awe of the majesty of Jābāli.)
...
“These fires, too, for love of him, receive oblations (havis) purified by hymns (mantra-pūta), for their flames are pressed together by the wind, like hands reverently raised.
(The quivering mass flames of the sacrificial fire, receiving oblations from Jābāli, are bunched into one mass by the wind, which thus assume the shape of folded hands – like the “Namaste” shape of the hands.
This gives the impression that the flames themselves are receiving oblations from him out of sheer reverence.)
...
... “The wind itself approaches him timidly, just stirring the linen (dukūla) and bark (valkala) dresses, fragrant with the sweet creeper blossoms of the hermitage, and gentle in motion.
(There are different interpretations of this passage.)
...
“Yet the glorious might of the elements is wont to be beyond our resistance!
But this man towers above the mightiest!
The earth shines as if with two suns, being trodden by this noble man (mahātman).
In his support the world stands firm (the Earth (kṣiti) has become steady or stable – i.e. doesn’t waver or tremble (niṣkampa)).
...
“He is
« “the stream of sympathy (karuṇā pravāha – the river of compassion),
« “the bridge over the ocean of transient existence (saṁsāra-sindhu – the ocean of this world), and
(the bridge (setu) that helps cross over (santaraṇa=saṃtaraṇa) the ocean of worldly existence)
« “the home (ādhāra) of the waters of patience (kṣamā-ambhas);
(He is the Foundation/Source of the Waters of Forgiveness, maybe more appropriate)
« “the axe (paraśu) for the glades (gahana) of the creepers of desire (tṛṣṇa-latā),
« “the ocean (sāgara) of the nectar (amṛta-rasa) of content (saṁtoṣa),
(Kale: “the ocean from which springs the nectar of contentment”)
« “the guide (upadeṣṭṛ) in the path of perfection (siddhi-mārga),
(it might be also a more technical term: the guide in the path to the achievement of the mystic siddhis)
« “the mountain (asta giri) behind which sets the planet of ill (asat graha),
(asat can also be interpreted as untruth or falsehood.
The Sun, which is a graha or planet, is supposed to set every evening behind the Western Mountain called Asta (i.e. sunset).
The idea is that there is no misfortune or untruth, with Jābāli around.
The words asta & asat are also anagrammatical & phonetically similar.)
« “the root (mūla) of the tree of endurance (upaśama-taru: the tree of the tranquility of the mind),
« “the nave (nābhi) of the wheel of wisdom (prajñā-cakra),
« “the staff (prāsāda) of the banner (dhvaja) of righteousness (Dharma),
(prāsāda usually means a palace or temple or lofty building or the topmost storey of a great building – and it is on top of the building that the banner or flag is installed... thus, the sage is compared to the support or base of Dharma – or that upon which the proud banner of Dharma has been established)
« “the holy place (tīrtha) for the descent (avatāraṇa) of all knowledge (sarva-vidyā),
« “the submarine fire (vaḍava-anala) of the ocean of craving (lobha-arṇava),
(There is a submarine fire in Indian mythology, known as the Vāḍava-mukha (“the Mare’s Mouth”) or Vāḍava-agni, which continually drinks up the waters of the ocean – thus, Jābāli is compared to the submarine fire which continually consumes the waters of the ocean of greed)
« “the touch-stone (nikaṣopala) of the jewels of the çāstras (śāstra-ratna),
« “the consuming flame (dāva-anala) of the buds (pallava) of passion (rāga),
(the forest conflagration burning up the tender-sprouts of passion, or attachment)
« “the charm (mahā-mantra – mystical chant or formula) against the snake (bhujaṅga) of wrath (krodha),
« “the sun (divaskara) to dispel the darkness (andhakāra) of delusion (moha),
« “the binder of the bolts (argala-bandha) of hell’s gates (naraka-dvāra),
(that is, one who imparts wisdom & knowledge, which prevents a man from being cast into hell)
« “the native home (kula-bhavana) of noble deeds (ācaraṇa),
« “the temple (āyatana) of propitious rites (maṅgala),
« “the forbidden ground (abhūmi) for the degradation of passion (mada-vikāraṇa),
« “the sign-post (darśaka – one who points out, or sows) to the paths of good (sat-patha),
« “the birthplace (utpatti) of holiness (sadhutā),
(“he is the very source of goodness”)
« “the felly (nemi) of the wheel (cakra) of effort (utsāha),
(“he is the supporting rim of the wheel of energy/ enthusiasm/exertion” – a very interesting observation, because he himself is calm & dispassionate; he is the one who holds it together & keeps it in place.)
« “the abode (āśraya) of strength (sattva),
(another interesting observation; it can also mean he is the sanctuary of the sattva guṇa, or that “he is the abode of greatness.
sattva has several meanings in Sanskrit, so it can also be interpreted as he is the refuge of wisdom.)
« “the foe (vipakṣa) of the Iron Age (kali-kāla),
« “the treasury (kośa) of penance (tapas),
« “the friend (sakhā) of truth (satya),
« “the native soil (kṣetra) of sincerity (ārjava),
(the Indian scholiast also interprets ārjava as komalatā –tenderness or softness.)
« “the source (prabhava) of the heaping up of merit (puṇya-sañcaya),
« “the closed gate for envy (matsara),
« “the foe (arāti) of calamity (vipatti).
...
“Truly he is one in whom
§ disrespect (paribhūta) can find no place (asthāna); for he is
§ averse from (an-anukūla) pride (abhimāna),
§ unclaimed by (asammata) meanness (dainya),
§ unenslaved by (anāyata) wrath (roṣa), and
§ unattracted by (an-abhimukha) pleasure (sukha).
...
“Purely by the grace (prabhāva – power, majesty) of this holy man (bhagavat) the hermitage (tapovana – penance grove) is free from envy (vaira) and calm from enmity (matsara).
Great is the power (prabhāva) of a noble soul (mahātmā).
Here, ceasing their constant feud (śāśvati virodha – eternal enemity), the very animals are quiet (upaśānta), and learn the joy of a hermitage life (tapovana-vasati – residing in a penance-grove).
...
“For here a snake, wearied by the sun, fearlessly enters, as if into fresh grass (abhinava śādvala), into the peacock’s tail (śikhin-kalāpa), like an interwoven grove of open lotuses (vikaca utpala-vana-racanā), with its hundred beauteous eyes (cāru-candraka-śata), changing in hue as the eyes of a deer (hariṇa-locana dyuti-śabala).
(I’ll attempt a tentative explanation.
utpala is understood as nīla-padma – the blue lotus.
It should be understood that the peacocks are supposed to hunt snakes – so here the usual laws of nature are suspended, or reversed.
The serpents are no longer afraid of them.
The tail of the peacock typically trails behind the bird in regal fashion.
The idea is that serpents – tormented by the heat – in order to get some shade, enter the tails of peacocks, which are like a bed of blooming blue lotuses (because of their blue-green colour) – as if they were fresh grass.
The eyes in the outspread peacock tail – which (I presume) gleam & move as the peacock moves – give the impression of the radiant eyes of deers.)
...
“Here a young antelope (kuraṅga-śāvaka – the deer-calf), leaving his mother, makes friends with the lion-cubs (keśari-śiṣu) whose manes are not yet grown, and drinks at the bounteous breast of the lioness.
(...drinks the stream of milk (kṣīra-dhārā) flowing from the udder (stana) of the lioness (siṁhi))
...
“Here a lion closes his eyes, and is pleased to have his moon-white (śaśikara-dhavala) mane (saṭābhāra) pulled by the young elephants (dvirada-kalabha) that mistake it for lotus-fibres.
...
“Here the monkey-tribe (kapi-kula) loses its capriciousness (cāpala) and brings fruit (phala) to the young munis (muni-kumāra) after their bath (snāta).
...
“There the elephants (karin), too, though excited (madāndha – “blind through intoxication” or highly ruttish), are tender-hearted (sañjātavaya? = sañjāta-dayā), and do not drive away by their flapping (karṇatāla) the bees (madhukara-kula – swarm of bees) that dwell round their frontal bones (gaṇḍasthalī), and stay motionless (niścala) to drink their ichor (mada-jala-pāna).
(That is, the elephants stand motionless out of tender-heartedness, so that the bees can drink the ichor dripping from their (i.e. the elephants’) bodies.
In Indian poetics, bees are ever intoxicated by the smell of elephant “ichor” or “must”.)
Cf. the verses from the Bible:
“And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.
And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.”
– Isaiah 11.4-8
However, the Israelites interpret this merely in a political sense.
A Rabbi recently claimed that the “lamb” is Israel, and the “wolf” is all the Gentile Nations who are “Anti-Semitic”.)
“But what need of more?
There even the senseless trees, with roots and fruits, clad in bark, and adorned with outer garments of black antelope skin perpetually made for them by the upward creeping lines of sacrificial smoke, seem like fellow ascetics of this holy man.
How much more, then, living beings (prāṇin), endowed with sense (sacetana)!”
Apart from the above, there is a prolonged, and superlative, description of Jābāli, which Ridding omits.
She gives only one paragraph, in which the text has been abridged:
“There, beneath the shade of a red açoka-tree,
ª beauteous with new oblations of flowers,
ª purified with ointment of fresh gomaya,
ª garlanded with kuça grass and strips of bark tied on by the hermitage maidens,
I saw the holy Jābāli surrounded by most ascetic sages, like
« time (kala) by æons (kalpa),
« the last day (kalpa-anta-divasa) by suns (ravi),
« the sacrifice (kratu) by bearers of the three fires (vaitāna-vahni),
« the golden mountain (kanaka-giri) by the noble hills (kula-acala), or
« the earth (bhuvana) by the oceans (sāgara).”
The Golden Mountain is Meru.
Kalpa is a very specific aeon or time-cycle in Hinduism: kalpānta-divasa means the last day of the Kalpa.
The actual description is very vivid, very concrete, very specific, very visually accurate, and I’d like to reproduce it from the Kale translation (with the very slightest alterations):
“And I saw the sage Jābāli seated on the ground in the shade of a red Ashoka tree (rakta-aśoka-taru) which adorned the region of the central part of that hermitage...
§ ... it had its foliage (tender sprouts, or newly budding shoots) as red as the alaktaka paint (alaktaka-lohita-pallava);
§ its branches were full of the skins of black antelopes (kṛṣṇa-ajina) & water-gourds (jala-karaka), which had been hung upon (ālambita) them by ascetics (muni-jana);
§ on parts of its roots (mūla-bhāga), the daughters of the ascetics (tāpasa-kanyaka) had implanted marks of their five fingers dipped in yellow powder (pīta piṣṭātaka);
§ the water (salil) in the water-basin (round its roots) (ālavāla) was being drunk by young deer (hariṇa-śiśu);
§ young boys of ascetics (muni-kumāra) had hung upon it, in close line, their garments of Kuśa fibres (kuśa-cīra);
§ the ground beneath the tree was hallowed with a coating of green cowdung (harita gomaya lepa);
§ it looked beautiful (ramaṇīya) on account of the flower-offerings (kusuma-upahāra) made it to just at that moment;
§ it was not very large, but, being circular (in shape), it spread around a very large area.”
There is a considerable amount of text after this, of which I’d like to give some excerpts, like:
“He was densely covered with a network of veins which had become prominent (i.e. visible), looking as if he were an old Kalpa (–wish-yielding celestial) tree covered with a maze of fully-grown creepers.”
I found this simile particularly wonderful & striking.
Imaging the protuberant, bulging veins as mature creepers hung all over a tree is very eloquent.
A typical hyperbole found a lot in Bāṇabhaṭṭa:
“He looked like the King Jahnu emitting the limpid stream of the (river) Ganges
(amala Gaṅgā), since the front part (of his body) was rendered white by the exceedingly white rays of his teeth, which (rays) issued forth (from his mouth) as his lips (adhara-puṭa) were ever widely open owing to his constant repetition of the syllables of the Vedic mantras, and which (rays) looked
§ as though they were sprouts of (the tree of) Truth (satya-praroha), or
§ as though they were the pure actions of his senses (svacchendra-vṛtti), or
§ as though they were the streams (pravāha) of the sentiment of compassion (innate in him) (karuṇā-rasa).”
Teeth, eyes, and nails, in Bāṇabhaṭṭa seem to be highly luminous objects!
He treats them – with poetic hyperbole of course – as if they literally emit light all over the place.
The imagery used here is more abstract or conceptual.
The hyperbole has been employed very effectively.