Maha Prajnaparamita Sastra
by Gelongma Karma Migme Chödrön | 2001 | 941,039 words
This page describes “rejection of pleasant sounds” as written by Nagarjuna in his Maha-prajnaparamita-sastra (lit. “the treatise on the great virtue of wisdom”) in the 2nd century. This book, written in five volumes, represents an encyclopedia on Buddhism as well as a commentary on the Pancavimsatisahasrika Prajnaparamita.
Section A.2 - Rejection of pleasant sounds
Why condemn sounds (śabda)? The nature of sounds is instability; once heard, they vanish. The madman (mūḍha) who does not know that sound is characterized by impermanence (anityatva), change (pariṇamatva) and disappearance (hāni), finds a futile pleasure in sounds (ghoṣa) and, when the sound has disappeared, he remembers it and is attached to it.
[The kiṃnarī and the five hundred ṛṣis].
[181c] Hearing this song of subtle beauty in sweet (mṛdu), tender (taruṇa) and pure (viśuddha) accents, they had a bad experience and were unable to control the violence of their minds. In the present lifetime, they lost their qualities (guṇa) and in the following lifetime, they fell into a bad destiny (durgati).
The sage considers that sound arises and ceases from moment to moment (kṣaṇakṣaṇam upannaniruddha), that the previous moment is not joined to the later moment and that there is no continuity (prabandha); knowing that, they do not have any attachment (abhinivesa) for sounds. If the music of the gods cannot trouble such a sage, how could the human voice succeed in doing so?
It is for all these reasons that desire for sounds (śabdakāmaguṇa) is condemned.