瑜伽師地論 思所成地 · 體義伽他 · 第十一段「作」

Cluster eleven of the Body-Meaning Verses · five verses (the first verse asks, the remaining four answer). "One should do what a brahmin ought to do … whose work-to-be-done is already accomplished."

In one line: The "Brahmin" cluster takes "brahmin" back from caste and restores it to practice-and-realization — the worldly brahmin reckons the brahma-world final (the goal mistaken); the ultimate-truth brahmin is measured by "work-to-be-done accomplished · having crossed beyond the satkāya shore" (trainee and one-beyond-training alike). To cross the river depends on the twin-yoking of tranquillity (plying with the feet) and insight (plying with the hands); freedom from the desire of the desire realm is like obtaining the very bottom, realizing arhatship is like reaching the far shore.

Three Points of the Eye

1. The worldly brahmin and the ultimate-truth brahmin: the worldly (of caste · reckoning the brahma-world final · longing for the brahma-world · not seeking the existence of desire yet still coveting brahma-world existence); the ultimate-truth (the Tathāgata's definition) = having realized what ought to be done · having crossed beyond the satkāya shore · work-to-be-done accomplished (not "having done, doing again and again") — trainee and one-beyond-training alike are brahmins.

2. Crossing the river by the twin-yoking of tranquillity and insight: the trainee is of two kinds. The not-yet-desire-freed (not yet obtaining the very bottom, not reaching the far shore · lacking tranquillity / insight not purified) → mounts the buoyant float of the noble path · for tranquillity "plies with the feet" · for insight "plies with the hands" in vigor → freedom from the desire of the desire realm is like obtaining the very bottom · realizing arhatship is like reaching the far shore. The already-desire-freed (tranquillity and insight both obtained · advancing to cut off the higher fetters · not with all the bodily parts) → becoming an arhat, dwelling upon the dry land, reaching the far shore.

3. Three true brahmins, three names: one who has forever exhausted the contaminants (the one-beyond-training reaching the far shore · forever cutting off the afflictions to be cut off by cultivation · the four foundations of mindfulness · liberation of mind) · one who has obtained constant application (the not-yet-desire-freed, vigorous) · one who has obtained the meditative absorptions (the already-desire-freed, having obtained the very bottom · cutting off the lower fetters · cutting off the sorrow and burning of greed and ill-will). The sign = "not having done, doing again and again · no surpassing thing that ought to be done."

Appended · Guidance

The twin-yoking of tranquillity and insight · the buoyant float, the very bottom, the far shore → the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06) · the waist-boat of cluster four and the great sea of cluster nine; work-to-be-done accomplished → the three trainings of the Intent-Purport Verses (11-02). For the doctrinal exposition, see the Exposition.

The Verses (Plain Language · Five Verses)

〔天說：〕「應當作婆羅門〔所應作〕，謂斷〔惡〕、無縱逸，求棄捨諸欲，不悕望此〔梵世之〕有。若還有所應作，就不是真婆羅門。當知〔真〕婆羅門，於所作已辦。」〔又：〕「諸身分劬勞〔精進〕、〔卻〕未到極底、未度〔者〕；已得度、住於陸〔地〕、無〔須再〕勤、到彼岸〔者〕——天！你今當知，這〔陸地彼岸〕譬喻真梵志，謂永盡諸漏、得常委、〔得〕靜慮。他永斷一切愁憂及熾燃，恒住於正念，也常心解脫。」

〔The deva speaks:〕 "One should do what a brahmin 〔ought to do〕 — namely, cut off 〔evil〕 and be without unruly negligence; seek to relinquish and forsake all desires, and cherish no longing for this 〔brahma-world〕 existence. If there is yet more that ought to be done, then he is not a true brahmin. Know that the 〔true〕 brahmin is one whose work-to-be-done is already accomplished." 〔And further:〕 "Those who, in all their bodily parts, toil and 〔strive〕 — and yet have not reached the very bottom, have not crossed over; those who have already crossed, who dwell upon the dry 〔land〕, who need toil 〔no more〕, who have reached the far shore — O deva, know now that this 〔dry land and far shore〕 is a figure for the true brahmin, namely one who has forever exhausted the contaminants, who has obtained constant application (chángwěi) and 〔obtained〕 the meditative absorptions. He has forever cut off all sorrow and burning, dwells ever in right mindfulness, and is likewise ever liberated in mind."

Prose Exposition (Plain Language)

In this verse, it first shows that the deva speaks for the World-Honored One "in reliance upon the brahmins of the worldly convention." That is, there are brahmins of good caste who style themselves "I am a true brahmin," who reckon the brahma-world to be the utmost final goal, who long for the brahma-world and rest settled in the form 〔realm〕; ever diligent and vigorous, their minds without lassitude or weariness, ever delighting in seclusion, in quiet solitary dwelling, cutting down and sparing sleep, cultivating meditative stillness, so as to cut off the desire for affairs and the desire that is affliction. Because those brahmins of good caste "reckon the brahma-world to be final and long for the brahma-world," they therefore "do not seek the existence of desire" 〔yet still seek brahma-world existence〕.

It further shows that "the Tathāgata, in reliance upon the brahmins of the ultimate truth," answers that deva: if a brahmin, "having done what is to be done, must yet again and again do more," has yet some further, surpassing thing that ought to be done, know that this is not a true brahmin; if a brahmin "has realized the thing that a brahmin ought to do, has ascended beyond the shore of all satkāya (the existing body), and rests settled upon the dry land," know that this is a true brahmin. By this it shows: both the trainee and the one-beyond-training are 〔ultimate-truth〕 brahmins.

The "trainee" is of two kinds — namely, with respect to the desire realm, "either not yet freed from desire, or already freed from desire." The one not yet freed from desire: he has not obtained the very bottom, has not reached the far shore, and with respect to two phenomena is still not complete — first, he has not obtained the surpassing inner tranquillity (śamatha); second, though he has obtained it, the insight (vipaśyanā) that is the phenomenon of superior wisdom is not yet well purified. Because he lacks the inner tranquillity, he mounts the "buoyant float that is the noble path as it has been obtained," and, so as to realize the inner tranquillity, "plies as if with the feet" in fierce and valorous vigor; and further, so as to make the insight that is the phenomenon of superior wisdom well purified, "plies as if with the hands" in fierce and valorous vigor. When he thus applies vigor, his freeing from the desire of the desire realm is "like obtaining the very bottom," and his realizing arhatship is "like reaching the far shore." The one already freed from desire: he has realized the surpassing inner tranquillity and has obtained the well-purified insight; only so as to advance in cutting off the higher fetters does he arouse vigor — not with all the bodily parts. If he has already crossed over, has become an arhat, has accomplished his work-to-be-done, and is apart from toilsome exertion, he is named "one dwelling upon the dry land, who has already reached the far shore."

This then shows: the 〔ultimate-truth〕 brahmins, in reliance upon the ultimate truth, are in brief of three kinds — two are trainees, one is one-beyond-training. The brahmins who have already ultimately reached the far shore are named "those who have forever exhausted the contaminants"; those not yet freed from desire, applying vigor in all the bodily parts, are named "those who have obtained constant application"; those already freed from desire, who have obtained the very bottom, are named "those who have obtained the meditative absorptions." The one who has obtained the meditative absorptions, because he has forever cut off all the lower fetters, has already cut off all the sorrow and burning belonging to the classes of greed-and-desire and ill-will. The one who has forever exhausted the contaminants, because he has forever cut off the afflictions to be cut off by cultivation, has already well cultivated the four foundations of mindfulness, and dwells ever in right mindfulness and in liberation of mind. He is not one who "having done, does again and again," nor has he any surpassing thing that ought to be done — therefore he is called "the true brahmin of the ultimate truth."

〔It closes by way of question and answer:〕 "Monk! Monk! Have you crossed over the flood?" He answers: "Just so, O deva!" "Without a hold, without a stay, have you crossed over the flood?" He answers: "Just so, O deva!" "Monk! In what manner, then, are you now without a hold, without a stay, and have crossed over the flood?" 〔The answer follows in cluster twelve.〕

Cluster eleven, five verses. The hard points are all put in words the treatise itself already carries.

First, One Question: Whom Does "Brahmin" Really Name?

This cluster does something very fine: it takes the word "brahmin" — which originally names India's highest caste — back out of the hand of bloodline and restores it to practice-and-realization. The treatise first sets out the "brahmin of the worldly convention" — those brahmins of caste who style themselves "true brahmins." They too are vigorous, they too cut down sleep and cultivate meditative stillness, they too cut off the desire for affairs and the desire that is affliction; but the pity is that they "reckon the brahma-world to be the utmost final goal," and with single mind long to be born up in the Brahmā heaven. The treatise's verdict is cold: he "does not seek the existence of desire" (he does not covet the human desires), yet he still "longs for the brahma-world" (he still clings to the existence of the Brahmā heaven) — the goal is mistaken, and however vigorous he is he reaches only the Brahmā heaven, never liberation.

And so the Buddha, "in reliance upon the ultimate truth," redefines the brahmin: "If a brahmin, having done what is to be done, must yet again and again do more, and has yet some further, surpassing thing that ought to be done, know that this is not a true brahmin; if he has realized what ought to be done, has ascended beyond the shore of all satkāya, and rests settled upon the dry land, know that this is a true brahmin." In a word, the true brahmin is not measured by which caste you were born into, but by whether your "work-to-be-done is already accomplished" — whether or not you have crossed beyond that shore of "satkāya" (the existing body). Trainee and one-beyond-training alike can be brahmins of this kind.

How Does One "Reach the Far Shore"? — Tranquillity Plies with the Feet, Insight Plies with the Hands

The treatise next divides the "trainee" into two, the not-yet-desire-freed and the already-desire-freed, and gives an exceedingly vivid picture of crossing a river:

The not-yet-desire-freed trainee has still "not obtained the very bottom, not reached the far shore," because two things are not yet complete: the surpassing inner tranquillity (śamatha, calm) is not obtained; the insight (vipaśyanā, contemplation) of superior wisdom is not purified. What is to be done? "He mounts the buoyant float that is the noble path as it has been obtained" — he binds the noble path already obtained to his body as a float, and then: so as to realize tranquillity, he applies vigor "plying as if with the feet"; so as to purify insight, he applies vigor "plying as if with the hands." Hands and feet stroking together, he crosses the river as he goes. Stroking his way to "freedom from the desire of the desire realm" is "like obtaining the very bottom" (his feet have touched the riverbed); stroking his way to "the realization of arhatship" is "like reaching the far shore."

The already-desire-freed trainee has obtained both tranquillity and insight, and has left only "advancing to cut off the higher fetters"; at this point it is "not with all the bodily parts" (he need no longer stroke hard with hands and feet together). When he has truly crossed over, has become an arhat, and is "with his work-to-be-done accomplished, apart from toilsome exertion," he is called "dwelling upon the dry land, having reached the far shore" — he has come up onto the bank, and need stroke no more.

This figure of "the buoyant float, plying with feet and hands, the very bottom and the far shore" is of one lineage with cluster four's "waist-boat" and cluster nine's "great sea"; the Yogācārabhūmi, in speaking of crossing the flood of birth-and-death, turns again and again to water-figures, and this time it points out especially that only the twin-yoking of tranquillity (feet) and insight (hands) can drive the stroke.

Three True Brahmins, Three Names

The treatise finally divides the ultimate-truth brahmin into three kinds (two trainees, one one-beyond-training), each with a name: the one-beyond-training who has reached the far shore is named "one who has forever exhausted the contaminants"; the not-yet-desire-freed one, vigorous with fierce effort, is named "one who has obtained constant application"; the already-desire-freed one, who has obtained the very bottom, is named "one who has obtained the meditative absorptions" (he has cut off the lower fetters, and cut off the sorrow and burning of greed, ill-will). The one who has forever exhausted the contaminants goes further: he "has forever cut off the afflictions to be cut off by cultivation, has well cultivated the four foundations of mindfulness, and dwells ever in right mindfulness and in liberation of mind." The three names mark out an upward slope from "constant application" through "obtaining the meditative absorptions" to "forever exhausting the contaminants" — and the sign of reaching the top is just this: "he does not, having done, do again and again; he has no surpassing thing that ought to be done." There is no longer any "next thing that still must be done" — this alone is called the true brahmin whose "work-to-be-done is already accomplished."

The Point of This Cluster

The "Brahmin" cluster takes "brahmin" back from caste and restores it to practice-and-realization: the worldly brahmin reckons the brahma-world final (the goal mistaken); the ultimate-truth brahmin is measured by "work-to-be-done accomplished, having crossed beyond the satkāya shore" (trainee and one-beyond-training alike). To cross the river depends on the twin-yoking of tranquillity (the feet) and insight (the hands); freedom from the desire of the desire realm is like obtaining the very bottom, realizing arhatship is like reaching the far shore. The true brahmin is not born, but cultivated — it counts only at the moment the work-to-be-done is accomplished.

Carrying Forward

The twin-yoking of tranquillity and insight · the buoyant float, the very bottom, the far shore → the tranquillity-and-insight of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06) · the flood-crossing figures of clusters four and nine; the ultimate-truth brahmin's work-to-be-done accomplished · liberation of mind → the three trainings of the Intent-Purport Verses (11-02) · the doctrine of the four fruits in the later treatises that issue from this.