[INDOLOGY] Help with a simile

[Richard G. Salomon]

Or maybe the trick is to understand *haṭhāt *not as "force (open)," but
rather in the sense of "necessarily, inevitably" (so MW). Thus the simile
refers to the infallibility of the kuṇḍalinī yoga, rather than to its power.

Rich Salomon

On Fri, May 14, 2021 at 2:12 PM Matthew Kapstein via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Jim,
>
> Perhaps try thinking of a heavy medieval lock opened by a very large metal
> key, requiring rather a lot of force to turn or slide, depending upon the
> type of lock being used. Maybe my imagination is too influenced by images
> of huge Tibetan locks and keys that served also as lethal weapons. Might
> not some old Indian locks be preserved in one or another of the palace
> museums?
>
> best ever,
> Matthew
>
> Matthew Kapstein
> Directeur d'études, émérite
> Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris
>
> Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies,
> The University of Chicago
> ------------------------------
> *From:* INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of James
> Mallinson <jm63 at soas.ac.uk>
> *Sent:* Friday, May 14, 2021 3:44 PM
> *To:* Indology <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject:* [INDOLOGY] Help with a simile
>
> Dear colleagues,
>
> I wonder if anybody can help me understand a simile in a *haṭhayoga* text
> I’m editing, the *Vivekamārtaṇḍa*. Verse 34 reads:
>
> udghāṭayet kapāṭaṃ tu yathā kuñcikayā haṭhāt |
> kuṇḍalinyā tathā yogī mokṣadvāraṃ vibhedayet ||
>
> My incomplete translation is as follows: “The yogi should use Kuṇḍalinī to
> break open the doorway to liberation in the same way that one might use a
> *kuñcikā* to force open a *kapāṭa*.” I had been translating *kuñcikā* as
> “key” and *kapāṭa* as “door”, but this isn’t altogether satisfactory. A
> key does not force a door to open. But I am unable to think of what this
> *kuñcikā* and *kapāṭa* might be. I am aware that a * kapāṭa* is usually a
> double door (I think of saloon doors in cowboy films) but what then is the
> *kuñcikā*? Of course it is quite possible that it is just a rather sloppy
> simile.
>
> All the best,
>
> Jim
>
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