དག་སླང་ལ་རབ་ཏ་གཅས་པའ་མད་ཞས་བྱ་བ notes.25
What Mendicants Hold Most Dear notes.25
- Language
- English
notes.25
25. While the preceding verse contains wordplay on the meaning of the term bhikṣu, in this list of a mendicant’s adornments, the Buddha instead employs a symbolic mode, playing further on the meaning of “adornment.” Taken literally, the list appears counterintuitive and surprising, since it contains luxurious items that are restricted by a mendicant’s vows. However, the meaning of these items is symbolically inverted from examples of unwholesome indulgence to supremely wholesome characteristics, as the Buddha continues to explain later.