諦聽, listen carefully, is Yangshan's doubled command to attend. Blyth prints “Hear the Truth!”, reifying the adverbial 諦 into a noun object and turning an instruction to listen into a claim to possess truth.
The confrontation
The dictionary's band
Attested band verbatim from the dictionary entry 諦聽
- listen carefully
- listen attentively
- pay close attention
Entry Explanation (verbatim)
An imperative directing the addressed person or assembly to give close attention to what is about to be said or heard. Yangshan Huiji follows his declaration about the Great Vehicle with the doubled command "listen carefully, listen carefully" (摩訶衍法離四句絕百非。諦聽諦聽).
Blyth knew better
Corroboration: the entry renders this very line
The dictionary's Explanation quotes this exact Mumonkan passage, 摩訶衍法離四句絕百非。諦聽諦聽, and renders the doubled command “listen carefully, listen carefully.” Blyth reifies the adverbial 諦, closely or attentively, into a noun object, “the Truth,” turning an instruction to attend into a claim of possession. The corroboration is the entry rendering the case's own words against the reading.
The literal reading
Yangshan takes the third seat, strikes the gavel, declares that the Dharma of the Great Vehicle is beyond the four propositions and the hundred negations, and gives the doubled imperative 諦聽諦聽. 諦 is an adverb here, closely, attentively; 聽 is to listen. The band is uniform: listen carefully, listen attentively, pay close attention. It is a command to the assembly about how to hear, not a statement about what is heard.
The alteration
Blyth converts the adverb into a noun and the command into a possession: “Hear the Truth!” 諦, which modifies how one listens, becomes “the Truth,” the thing listened to. An instruction to attend closely is turned into a claim that a Truth is on offer to be received. The koan's irony is that Yangshan announces a Dharma beyond all propositions and then simply tells the hall to pay attention; making the object “the Truth” hands the listeners the very reified content the announcement has just placed beyond reach.