Sumangalavilasini 25.53_3

25.53_3

"Discussion" means comparing [views]. "Clarity of wisdom" means the state of clear understanding by way of questions and counter-questions. "Ruined by empty dwellings": destroyed in empty dwellings; for only a tiny amount of wisdom was attained by the recluse Gotama at the foot of the Bodhi tree, and even that was destroyed as he sat alone in empty dwellings. But if, like us, he were to sit having formed company with a group, his wisdom would not be destroyed—this is what he shows. "He does not frequent assemblies": owing to lack of confidence he is unable to enter an assembly. "He is not fit for conversation": he is not capable of having a conversation. "He frequents only the outskirts": afraid of questions, thinking 'Someone might ask me a question,' he frequents only the outskirts, secluded lodgings. "Gokāṇā" is a one-eyed cow. She, it is said, wanders along the perimeter, frequenting only the outskirts. She, it is said, because of being blind in one eye, is unable even to face the edge of the forest. Why? Because she is afraid of a blow from a leaf, a branch, or a thorn. She is also unable to face cattle. Why? Because she is afraid of a blow from a horn, an ear, or a tail. "Iṅgha" is a particle in the sense of urging. "We would confound him": by asking a single question we would make him confounded, fallen into dejection. "Like an empty pot": him, like an empty vessel. "We would overturn him": we would bind him fast. For a filled pot, being rolled this way and that, is not easy to bind fast. But an empty one can be rolled and bound fast as one pleases; just so, because his wisdom is ruined, we will encircle the recluse Gotama with a web of arguments as though he were an empty pot—this is what he says.