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MMK 24: āryasatyaparīkṣā
The opponent
cātūrṇām āryasatyānām abhāvas te prasajyate||1
If all this is empty, there is no coming to be or passing away.
It follows that, for you, the four noble truths are absent.
(Or, there is no existence of the four noble truths)
catūrṇāṁ āryasatyānām abhāvān nopapadyate||2
Knowledge, abandomnet, apprehension, practice/meditation, and ______ Do not make sense, because of the absence of the four noble truths.
phalābhāve phalasthāno na santi pratipannakāḥ||3
abhāvāc cāryasatyānāṁ saddharmo 'pi na vidyate||4
Because of the absence of the nole truths, the true Dharma is not found
evaṁ trīṇy api ratnāni bruvānṇaḥ pratibādhase||5
Speaking thus, the three jewels you also reject
sarvasaṁvyavahārāṁś ca laukikān pratibādhase||6
And all mundane conventions, you reject
Nagarjuna replies
śūnyatāṁ śūnyatārthaṁ ca tata evaṁ vihanyase||7
You break apart emptiness and the purpose of emptiness.
(Problem: vihanyase is passive!)
lokasaṁvṛtisatyaṁ ca satyaṁ ca paramārthataḥ||8
The common truth of the world, and truth, ultimately.
- They who do not know the division of two truths
Do not know the deep reality (thusness) of the Buddha's instruction.
- The ultimate is not taught without resorting to the conventional;
Without having gotten to the ultimate, nirvana is not approached.
- Emptiness misperceived demolishes the slow-witted,
As a snake mishandled or a misspoken spell.
(Problem: Am I sure McC? is right about vidya being a spell here?)
- And thus the mind of the Monk was turned against teaching
The Dharma, having considered the inaccessibility (impenetrability?) of the Dharma to the slow.
- The erroneous consequence which is the adhilaya (???) of emptiness is made by
Beings (??); it is not ours; it does not make sense in what is empty.
(Problem: What the hell?)
- For him for whom emptiness fits, everything fits;
For him for whom emptiness does not fit, everything does not fit
- You are piling your own errors on us,
Just as one mounting a horse, forgetting the horse
(Problem: McC? has saddle. How??)
- If you regard that there is a true Being of beings because of intrinsic Being,
Then, being thus, you see beings without cause or condition.
17
??
- We call emptines that which is dependent origination.
It has used (mere concept? instruction?); it is the middle path.
(Problem: Wow.)
- Whence no phenomenon is found not arisen dependent,
Thence, no phenomenon is found not empty.
- If this all is not empty, there is no coming about, nor any passing away,
For you, the absence of the four noble truths follows.
- How will suffering be not arisen dependent?
For suffering is called non-eternal--it is not found in intrinsic Being. (?--svabhavye)
- Will something existing (found) because of intrinsic Being arise again?
Therefore there is no coming to be, because of the rejection of emptiness.
- With intrinsic Being, no end of existent suffering is found.
Cessation, which is from opposition to intrinsic Being, you reject.
- If there is (svabhavye??), the practice of the path does not make sense.
(the path will be made to be??); intrinsic being is not found.
- When suffering, coming to be, and ceasing are not found,
Which path causes (people?) to advance because of the cessation of suffering?
- If (it is said?) there is ascertainment (?) by/with intrinsic Being, how again will someone have
Ascertainment; not at all is intrinsic Being established?
- Thus also, for you, abandonment, perception, and practice (?)
Having ascertainment, and the four fruits are not fitting.
- The fruit is that which is not attained by means of intrinsict Being; how again
Would it be possible for intrinsic being to be embraced?
(This verse is very iffy)
- In the absence of the fruit, there is no fruit-stage; there are none who have arrived at the goal.
If the eight people-persons do not exist, the sangha does not exist.
- Because of the absence of the noble truths, the true dharma is not found.
If there is no dharma and no sangha, how will there be a buddha?
- It follows that your Buddha is not depending on Bodhi.
It follows that your Bodhi is not dependent on Buddha.
- For you, one striving for enlightenment, who is not a buddha by intrinsic Being (v. McC?; ?)
Will not get to Bodhi in the practice of the bodhisattvas.
- He will do neither anything (good) nor anything (bad)
Does what is not empty have something to be done? For, intrinsic being is not done.
- For you, fruit is found without (good) and (bad)
For you, fruit is found that is not caused by (good) and (bad)
- Or, if for you the fruit is caused by (good) and (bad)
HOw? for you is the fruit which is not empty arisen from (good) and (bad)?
(Question: Highly sketchy)
- And all worldly conventions, you reject;
That which is dependent origination and emptiness, you reject.
- Nothing at all would be doable; action would be unsupported;
The actor would not be acting; emptiness would be rejected.
- In intrinsic Being, the world would be unborn, unending,
Unchangeable, forsaken by variegated conditions.
- There is attainment of what has not been attained, and action which is the end of suffering (??????)
And the destruction of all affliction, if (not sure what the direction of this "if" is--I thought I knew how "yadi" and "ced" work, but I've definitely lost that confidence) the non-empty is not found.
- He who sees dependent origination sees this: Suffering, coming to be, cessation, and the path.
(That's almost identical to McC?'s translation, but I'm not sure where else to go with this...)
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Fall Forum 2004
