Dighanikaya 3.286_2

3.286_2

Tattha vicitakāḷakanti vicinitvā apanītakāḷakaṃ. Veṭhakanatapassāhīti dussapaṭṭadussaveṇi ādīhi veṭhakehi namitaphāsukāhi. Kuttavālehīti sobhākaraṇatthaṃ kappetuṃ, yuttaṭṭhānesu kappitavālehi. Ettha ca vaḷavānaṃyeva vālā kappitā, na rathānaṃ, vaḷavapayuttattā pana rathāpi ‘‘kuttavālā’’ti vuttā. Ukkiṇṇaparikhāsūti khataparikhāsu. Okkhittapalighāsūti ṭhapitapalighāsu. Nagarūpakārikāsūti ettha upakārikāti paresaṃ ārohanivāraṇatthaṃ samantā nagaraṃ pākārassa adhobhāge katasudhākammaṃ vuccati. Idha pana tāhi upakārikāhi yuttāni nagarāneva ‘‘nagarūpakārikāyo’’ti adhippetāni. Rakkhāpentīti tādisesu nagaresu vasantāpi attānaṃ rakkhāpenti. Kaṅkhāti ‘‘sabbaññū, na sabbaññū’’ti evaṃ saṃsayo. Vimatīti tasseva vevacanaṃ, virūpā mati, vinicchinituṃ asamatthāti attho. Idaṃ bhagavā ‘‘ambaṭṭhassa iminā attabhāvena maggapātubhāvo natthi, kevalaṃ divaso vītivattati, ayaṃ kho pana lakkhaṇapariyesanatthaṃ āgato, tampi kiccaṃ nassarati. Handassa satijananatthaṃ nayaṃ demī’’ti āha.

Therein, ‘with dark grains picked out’ means with black grains sorted out and removed. ‘With sides bent with bindings’ means with ribs bent with wrappings such as strips of cloth and cloth braids. ‘With docked tails’ means with tails sheared in appropriate places to make them handsome. Here, moreover, the tails of the mares alone were sheared, not of the chariots; however, because they were yoked to mares, even the chariots are said to have ‘docked tails’. ‘With excavated moats’ means with moats dug out. ‘With lowered crossbars’ means with crossbars installed. ‘With city ramparts’—here, a rampart refers to plasterwork done on the lower part of the wall all around the city to prevent others from climbing up. But here, cities endowed with those ramparts are meant by ‘city ramparts’. ‘Have themselves guarded’ means that even living in such cities, they have themselves guarded. ‘Doubt’ is uncertainty such as: ‘Is he omniscient, or is he not omniscient?’ ‘Perplexity’ is a synonym for that very thing: a distorted thought, meaning unable to decide. The Blessed One said this thinking: ‘For Ambaṭṭha in this bodily existence, there is no manifestation of the path; the day is simply passing by. Moreover, he has come to search for the marks, but he does not even remember that task. Come, I will give him a lead so as to generate mindfulness.’