Buddhist confessional poetry:

Narratives of self-conversion

[Part 5]

Last week I discussed the complex ways in which the idea of a Buddhist sublime finds expression in the poems contained in the Theragatha and Therigatha. Today, I wish to pursue a related topic - the aesthetics of renunciation that seems to guide and underwrite these confessional poems. The idea of renunciation, to be sure, is intimately linked with the concept of the Buddhist sublime that I discussed last week. It is the perfect realization of this much sought out renunciation that leads to the emergence of the Buddhist sublime in these poetic texts as I glossed it.

Let us consider the Therigatha. The poems gathered in it are joyous expressions of the achievement of renunciation. The nuns, who have abandoned their household life, some of whom led extremely comfortable lives, now find happiness in giving up that way of life, entering the Buddhist order and finding spiritual enlightenment and inner tranquility. Many of the nuns and monks in writing their experiences give the impression of the poems having been written from a great depth in themselves; this adds to the disruptive power of renouncing worldly life. The idea of renunciation is at the emotional center of all of these poems. Let us consider the biographies of a few representative cases.

The nun Khema was born at Sagala, in Magadha, into a royal family. She was extremely beautiful with a golden skin; she ended up being the consort of King Bimbisara. She strongly resisted the idea of going to see the Buddha. Khema was so obsessed with her wonderful appearance that she might meet with the disapproval of the Buddha. King Bimbisara had to trick her to go and see the Buddha the Buddha was fully aware of the vanity and self-obsession of Khema. Therefore, he created an image of a beautiful woman even more attractive than Khema. As he approached the Buddha, she chanced to see the other beautiful woman fanning the Buddha. At that point, the Buddha decided to make this attractive woman grow old and decrepit and lose the luster and descend into a bag of bones. Observing these happenings, Khema arrived at a two-fold judgment. First, she realized that she certainly was not unparalleled in her beauty and this had shattering impact on her self-image. Secondly, it dawned on her that she too would be subject to the process of age and decay and that beauty is extremely transcient. The Buddha showed her the path to spiritual enlightenment and she eventually attained arahatship.

The Nun Vasitthi was born in Vesali to a clansman’s family. She was given in marriage by her parents to a clansman’s son; the families were of equal rank. She had one son, she lived happily with husband and the child. Unfortunately, the son does at a tender age; understandably, she was overcome by unspeakable grief.

While the relatives were seeking to comfort the husband, she unknown to them ran away and wondered aimlessly driven by sorrow; she eventually arrived in Mithila. There she happened to see the Buddha walking down the next street, with total self-control. The moment she saw the Buddha, she was able to regain her normal faculties and dispel the instability of mind. The Buddha showed her the path to spiritual salvation, and she entered the Buddhist order.

The nun Sujata was born at Saketa in a Treasurer’s family. Her parents gave her in marriage to a Treasurer’s son; the families were of equal rank. They lead a happy and contented life. One day, having participated in an Astral Festival in the pleasure-grounds, as she was coming back with her entourage, she happened to see the Buddha in the Anjana Grove. She was immediately mesmerized by him. She paid respects to him, and seated herself in the vicinity where the Master was speaking. He explicated the nature of spiritual salvation. She returned home, sought out and received the permission of her husband and parents and entered the Buddhist order.

The nun Anopama was born in Saketa; her father was the treasurer, Majjha. She was astonishingly beautiful and was given the name Anopama (matchless). When she grew up to womanhood, several sons of rich and distinguished people – kings, princes, ministers – sent emissaries to her father expressing their desire to marry her; they promised all kinds of gifts and treasures if she agreed. When she heard of this, she said to herself that this household life does not hold any meaning or appeal to her.

Consequently she sought out the presence of the Buddha. When she heard him preach, she was totally swayed and requested his permission to enter the Buddhist order and it was granted. This is the entire poem that recaptured this experience of conversion.

I was born into a noble family,
Wealthy and influential.
I had a perfect figure and a golden skin
Color; I was the daughter of Majjha

Sons of kings sought my hand
Sons of merchants longed for me
With costly gifts displayed
Entreating, give me Anopama
Weigh your daughter Anopama
And I will give you eight times
That weight in gold and jewels

I happened to see the Buddha
Unequalled, the supreme in the world
I paid my deep respects to him
And sat down at his feet

In compassion, the Buddha
Taught me the path to salvation
Seated there, I attained wisdom

Then, having shaved my head
I entered the state of houselessness
Today I commemorate
The seventh night sine my desires

Were put out.

What we find in these poems, then, is an unwavering determination to renounce worldly life and enter the Buddhist order and achieve salvation. The idea of renunciation is central to all poems in Therigaha, and it is vitally linked to the concept of the sublime that I discussed earlier. Now, it is interesting to observe that the idea of renunciation has been held in the highest esteem as a privileged experience and concept in ancient Indian religious and intellectual traditions. For example, in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism it figures very prominently indeed. As a matter of fact, this concept of renunciation gives greater definition to the nature and dynamics of domestic life. Scholars like Louis Dumont have sought to explicate this idea in detail. What is interesting, controversial thought it may be, about Louis Dumont’s approach is that it links the caste system, which is the most visible social institution of India, with the idea of renunciation which is one of the dominant cultural ideals.

Ancient Indian religious thinkers saw renunciation not as a negation of worldly life but a culmination of it; according to the cultural logic that animates their thinking, renunciation is the crowning achievement of mundane existence.

It is interesting to note that in Manusmriti, one of the foundational texts of moral life (dharmasastras), disallows men to renounce worldly life before they have fulfilled their household duties. The idea of renunciation, most knowledgeable commentators of Indian culture would agree, is a supremely important cultural value. Dumont calls it ‘a sort of universal language of India,’; he characterizes the renouncer as ‘the creator of values’ in Indian social life. Dumont goes on to assert that ‘what one is in the habit of calling Indian thought is for the very great part the thought of the sannyasi (renouncer).’ It is hardly surprising therefore, that the Hindu has been imaged as the sannyasi in many parts of the globe.

Louis Dumont has stated that, ’not only the founding of sects and their maintenance, but their major ideas, the inventions are due to the renouncer whose unique position gave him a sort of monopoly for putting everything in question.’ It is his considered judgment that, ‘the true historical development of Hinduism I in the sannyasic development on the one hand, and their aggregation to worldly religion on the other. ’Dumont makes the controversial argument that the true individuality, in the Western sense, is to be found in the conduct of the renouncer and not the householder. The renouncer, in this sense, is an enemy of the caste system and seeks emancipation from worldly bonds. He achieves his identity and freedom by jettisoning the restrictive and determinative social imperatives.

Buddhism

The idea of renunciation is central to Buddhism as well. The life of Siddhartha Gautama illustrates this poignantly. However, what is interesting about Buddhism and its pursuance of renunciation is how a community of like-minded people pursuing identical goals acts as a cushioning order. This is clearly evident in poems gathered in the Theragatha and Therigatha. What is interesting from our point of vow, that is, in terms of the literary value of the poetic texts that we are considering, is the aesthetics of renunciation. What kind of aesthetics of renunciation subvents these poems? How is it different from, say, Western approaches? Does the aesthetics of renunciation have a diminishing effect on the idea of poetic beauty? Before addressing this issue, let us consider some other examples of classical Indian poetry that reconfigure the theme of renunciation. Here I wish to select two texts from two different Indian traditions – the Vairagya Sataka by Bhartrihari and the Manimekalai by Chathanar..

The Vairagya Sataka is generally regarded as the work of Bhatrihari. He is credited with having composed the Satakatraym (three satakas) – they are Niti Sataka, Sringara Sataka and Vairagya Sataka. As very little is known about the life and times of Bhatrihari much of what commentators say hardly rises above conjecture. However, most scholars agree that in addition to the satakatrayam, he also wrote the famous treatise on language - The Vakyapadiya ( I have commented on this work in some of my columns).On the basis of the available body of evidence one can say that Bhatrihari lived in the 7th century A.D. and had the patronage of the court. His three works Niti Sataka, Srigara Sataka and Vairagya Sataka deal with three different themes. The first focuses on good counsel related to man’s preoccupation with acquiring worldly power and wealth; ideas of power, evil, greed figure prominently in the verses.

Erotic moods

The second is devoted to depictions of erotic moods. This work is interesting because the author seeks to establish the fact that pleasures, pains, anxieties associated with erotic love are a vital part of human life. The third deals with the question of renunciation; the author extols the virtues of internal calm, the tranquility offered by forests and river banks and mountains as spaces of peace that allow free meditation.

An interesting feature of the Vairagya Sataka is that while the text privileges the idea of renunciation and illustrates its virtues, there is a countervailing power that pulls it towards the allurements of mundane existence. Literary critics of a deconstructive cast of mind will, no doubt, find this warring of signification interesting. A stanza like the following exemplifies this textual propensity.

God of love, why do waste your energy in
Stroking your bow? O cuckoo, why do you
Make music fruitlessly?
Beautiful girls, no need of your gazing
You are so full of love, clever, tender
And alluring. My mind is set on
The nectar of meditation
Enjoying at the feet of Siva

The verses in the Vairagya Sataka deal with the joys of renunciation while indicating the power of the counter pull of worldly pleasures, sensuous experiences. Stanzas such as the following, I would argue, illustrate this tendency powerfully.

The lusts for pleasure have faded
The glory of humans have dwindled
To the heavens have departed
Close friends and colleagues in life
Even the basic bodily movements
Need the support of a cane
Darkness has covered the eyes
The body cannot but dread
The impending strike of death

Wrinkles have marked my face
Grayness has invaded my head
My limbs are weak and fragile
Only my desires preserve its youth

Embracing austerity on a sacred bank of a river
Or should I, as a worldly being
Serve our wives adorned with virtue
Or should I imbibe the currents of scriptures
Or the nectar of mellifluous poetry
Life is transitory like an eye-blink
And I am uncertain as to which I should select

Life is an unpredictable wave
The radiance of youth
Is a bloom ephemeral
Lock is a caprice of imagination
Pleasure is momentary
Like a flashes in the rain dark
The loving embraces lovers; arms
Disappear instantly
Meditate therefore on the Supreme Being To cross the ocean of mundane terror

Renunciation

What is interesting about the verses in the Vairagya Sataka is that they all deal with the theme of renunciation – the compelling need for renunciation and the manifold impediments that lie in wait. These verses cannot be dismissed as naively didactic or gnomic; that is because they are activated by the pressure of lived experience. An internal conflict is given concrete shape in the verbal texture of the poems. The author clearly is a man in his old age, accepting the realities of old age, yet looking nostalgically back on his youthful and vigorous life. Indeed, it is this dual focus that invests these stanzas with sense of vibrancy and the conviction of lived reality.

The next text dealing with the theme of renunciation that I wish to focus on is the Tamil-Buddhist poem Manimekali by Chathanar composed in the sixth century.. This is among the greatest of classical Tamil poems along with the Silappadikaram. The Manimekalai narrates the story of a woman who was caught in the cross-currents of love and renunciation and how eventually renunciation triumphed. The initial six chapters of the poem depict the love of Prince Uthayakumaran for Manimekalai and her attraction to him. From chapters 7-15, what we see is the desire of the poet to change the focus of narrative interest from the love relationship to the steady progress of Manimekalai down the road of spiritual enlightenment. It is her ripening spiritual knowledge that is of interest to the poet. In the third section of the poem what we observe is the attempt by Chathanar to once again focus the reader’s attention on the ongoing relationship between Manimekalai and Prince Uthayakumaran.

While Manimekalai, in keeping with his spiritual values, is interested in bringing about the betterment of the people at large, Prince Uthayakumaran is more and more obsessed with her and is desirous of a physical union with her. He enlists the aid of her grandmother Cittirapati to undermine her spiritual ambitions. However, things turn out badly and the prince is murdered. His death has the effect of creating the necessary space for the poet to expound the virtues of spiritual growth as outlined in Buddhism. The surprising and brutal assassination of the prince brings the third section of the book to a conclusion, and the sadness and anxieties generated by this event naturally lead to a discussion of the ephemeral nature of life.

Spiritual

The last section of the Manimekalai is devoted spiritual edification of the reader. The poet describes the various stages through which Manimekalai graduates into the intricacies of Buddhist thinking. Her visit to Kanci, a famous center of Buddhist studies in South India at the time, allows her to pursue her path of renunciation and spiritual growth productively. The poem concludes with the exposition of central tenets of Buddhist thought – dependent co-origination, three defining features, four noble truths etc. This part has the appearance of a Buddhist manual; having been introduced into the subtleties of Buddhist thought and conduct, Manimekalai commits her time and energy to overcoming the hold of rebirth and the power of worldly bonds. This poem, then, dramatizes the conflict between the power of love and the pull of renunciation and how in the end the latter triumphs. The didactic impulse of the poem is clear and acknowledged.

Once gain we see a poetic text that lays out the power of renunciation. This Tamil-Buddhist text, of course, has vital connections with Sri Lankan life most notably in the Pattini rituals. In this poem then, we see through a powerful narrative dealing with lives and loves of a few chosen characters, the poet striving to display the joys and fruits of renunciation. The way the narrative has been constructed in the Manimekalai and the rhetoric deployed by the poet makes it a different kind of poem that deals with the theme of renunciation from the Vairagya Sataka and the Therigatha, although, there are obviously similarities as well. The way words are given spiritual shape is a preoccupation common to all three texts.

It is against this backdrop that I propose to examine the aesthetics of renunciation inscribed in the Therigatha. This aesthetics, so far as I can see, consists of nine intersecting features. The first is that it seeks to place emphasis on the idea of tranquility as opposed to motion. This is a common theme in many Buddhist texts with literary ambitions. For example, in an academic paper published some years ago devoted to a tropological analysis of the Dhammapada, I pointed out that the two dominant and determining tropes in the text are that of motion and tranquility.(This essay is included in my book Self as Body in Asian Theory and Practice, State University of New York Pres,) Similarly, the poems contained in the Therigatha underline this rhetorical structure. The aesthetics of tranquility that shows the way to the beauty of contemplation is indeed important in this regard.

Second, Unlike with many other types of aesthetics where the emphasis falls on self-enlargement and self-expansion, the aesthetics that underwriters the Therigatha, in keeping with the central tenets of Buddhism, gives pride of place to self-dissolution and the merger of the perceiving subject and created poetic text. What this aesthetic does is to encourage the subject to free itself from itself. This, once again conforms admirably to the priorities of Buddhism. Third, the aesthetic imperatives of the Therigatha are vitally linked to a notion of freedom – freedom as growth, freedom as wisdom. What we see in the various poems by the Buddhist nuns is a freedom away from worldly bonds, sensual attachments, towards a freedom of inner calm. This movement is worked into the aesthetics of the poems.

Aesthetics

Fourth, the idea of beauty is important. After all, aesthetics centrally addresses the issue of beauty. Poets generate beauty in diverse ways, much of this effort is closely associated with sensory experience. What is interesting about the poems in the Therigatha is that they have set themselves the task of creating a beauty that is supra-sensuous. Now the achievement of this is no easy matter given the fact that language, which is intimately linked to sensual experience, disallows such an effort. Indeed, some of the tension in these poems arises precisely out of this desideratum. The poetic texts seek to create a supra-sensory beauty deploying the language, imagery, meters that are allied with sensory beauty. Hence this is indeed an aspect of these poetic texts that merits close study and unfortunately it has received scant attention.

Fifth, these poems labor to offer an insight into the causes of poetic experience. Just as much as in Buddhist thought the idea of dependent co-origination (paticcha samuppada) , which underlines the complex web of cause and effect that underlines the Buddhist view of things, explains the multi-faceted nature of causality, these poems by focusing on the kind of tension I alluded to above, offer us insight into the genesis of the poetic experience. They demonstrate through the use of words the inherent limitations of words. This is indeed an important feature of the aesthetics of renunciation that activates these poems.

Sixth, the idea of pleasure, which figures prominently in any aesthetic, deserves careful consideration important. These confessional poems that highlight the joys of renunciation and abandoning worldly life seek to create a pleasure in the minds of the reader that is different from the pleasures generated by the activities of day to day living, or for that matter literary experience. It is different because it seeks to lift itself above the pleasures tainted by sensuous and worldly experience. Instead, it strains towards a still center, a dispassionate objectivity, the occupation of which generates an intense pleasure of a different kind. This pleasure grows out of desire coming to know itself, and this is an integral part of the aesthetics of the Therigatha.

Invisible worlds

Seventh, as we probe into the aesthetics of renunciation that marks the Therigatha, we begin to perceive an interesting interplay between the visible and invisible worlds. The poems deal with the visible world, and the vivid imagery that characterizes many of them bears testimony to this fact; However the flow of poems culminate in an invisible world of spiritual calm. The apparent emptiness in it is a sign of its fullness. The aim of the poems is to convince us of the power and meaning of this invisible, but very real, world. Eighth, the way the poems in the Therigatha position us as readers merits inspection. We are positioned by them as reflective readers who can reflect on the process of reflection itself. In fact this meta-reflective capacity is a vital part of the aesthetic proposed by these poems of renunciation.

Ninth, there is an interesting duality between the immensity of the material world and the immensity of the spiritual world. All these poems display the power and variety of the material world only to give way to a triumphant emergence of the inner world that is even vaster than the material world. This idea is woven into the aesthetics of these poems.

In an earlier column I raised the question whether this aesthetics of renunciation leads to a renunciation of aesthetics? Clearly, the answer is a vehement no. In fact, this aesthetics of renunciation connects logically with the idea of the Buddhist sublime that I examined earlier.

(To be continued)