Aṣṭāvakra Gītā / Janaka (अध्याय २) / 2.20
2.20
the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (अष्टावक्र गीता)
शरीरं स्वर्गनरकौ बन्धमोक्षौ भयं तथा ।
कल्पनामात्रमेवैतत् किं मे कार्यं चिदात्मनः śarīraṃ svarganarakau bandhamokṣau bhayaṃ tathā |
kalpanāmātram evaitat kiṃ me kāryaṃ cidātmanaḥ
The line
Body, heaven and hell, bondage and release, and fear: this is imagining alone. What is there for me to do, for the self that is awareness?
नेपालीमा
शरीर, स्वर्ग र नरक, बन्ध र मोक्ष, भय पनि, यो कल्पना मात्र हो। चेतनास्वरूप आत्मा भएको मलाई के गर्नु छ?
Where it sits
Janaka is still speaking. The imagining of the previous line is now the name of a list.
Split: śarīram (शरीरम्) + svarganarakau (स्वर्गनरकौ) + bandhamokṣau (बन्धमोक्षौ) + bhayam (भयम्) + tathā (तथा) + kalpanāmātram (कल्पनामात्रम्) + eva (एव) + etat (एतत्) + kim (किम्) + me (मे) + kāryam (कार्यम्) + cidātmanaḥ (चिदात्मनः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| śarīram (शरीरम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the body. |
| svarganarakau (स्वर्गनरकौ) | nominative dual, masculine | heaven and hell. svarga (स्वर्ग) is heaven. naraka (नरक) is hell. |
| bandhamokṣau (बन्धमोक्षौ) | nominative dual, masculine | bondage and release. |
| bhayam (भयम्) | nominative singular, neuter | fear. |
| tathā (तथा) | indeclinable | and, likewise. |
| kalpanāmātram (कल्पनामात्रम्) | nominative singular, neuter | imagining alone. |
| eva (एव) | indeclinable | indeed. |
| etat (एतत्) | nominative singular, neuter | this. |
| kim (किम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what. |
| me (मे) | genitive singular | my, for me. |
| kāryam (कार्यम्) | nominative singular, neuter | a thing to be done. |
| cidātmanaḥ (चिदात्मनः) | genitive singular, masculine | of the self that is awareness. cit (चित्) is awareness. ātman (आत्मन्) is the self. |
The phrases
The list śarīram (शरीरम्), svarganarakau (स्वर्गनरकौ), bandhamokṣau (बन्धमोक्षौ), and bhayam (भयम्) is gathered as etat (एतत्), which is kalpanāmātram (कल्पनामात्रम्). kim kāryam (किम् कार्यम्) is the question for me (मे), and cidātmanaḥ (चिदात्मनः) names whose business it would be.
Sanskrit in this line
kalpanāmātram (कल्पनामात्रम्) plus eva plus etat is kalpanāmātram (कल्पनामात्रम्) evaitat, because a plus e is ai.
Say it back
What four items are imagining alone?