Aṣṭāvakra Gītā / Aṣṭāvakra (अध्याय १८) / 18.66
18.66
the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (अष्टावक्र गीता)
क्व संसारः क्व चाभासः क्व साध्यं क्व च साधनम् ।
आकाशस्येव धीरस्य निर्विकल्पस्य सर्वदा kva saṃsāraḥ kva cābhāsaḥ kva sādhyaṃ kva ca sādhanam |
ākāśasyeva dhīrasya nirvikalpasya sarvadā
The line
Where is the round of birth, and where is appearance? Where is the goal, and where is the means? For the steady one without constructions they have no place, always, as they have no place for space.
नेपालीमा
संसार कहाँ, आभास कहाँ, साध्य कहाँ, साधन कहाँ? विकल्प नभएको धीरको लागि आकाशको जस्तै ती सधैँ कतै छैनन्।
Where it sits
Aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) is still speaking, and the knower just described is now the steady one for whom goal and means have no place.
Split: kva (क्व) + saṃsāraḥ (संसारः) + kva (क्व) + ca (च) + ābhāsaḥ (आभासः) + kva (क्व) + sādhyam (साध्यम्) + kva (क्व) + ca (च) + sādhanam (साधनम्) + ākāśasya (आकाशस्य) + iva (इव) + dhīrasya (धीरस्य) + nirvikalpasya (निर्विकल्पस्य) + sarvadā (सर्वदा)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| kva (क्व) | indeclinable | where? |
| saṃsāraḥ (संसारः) | nominative singular, masculine | the round of going from birth to birth. |
| kva (क्व) | indeclinable | where? |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. Joined with the following ā (आ) as cā (चा). |
| ābhāsaḥ (आभासः) | nominative singular, masculine | appearance, a showing forth. |
| kva (क्व) | indeclinable | where? |
| sādhyam (साध्यम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what is to be accomplished, the goal. |
| kva (क्व) | indeclinable | where? |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| sādhanam (साधनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the means. |
| ākāśasya (आकाशस्य) | genitive singular, neuter | of space. Joined with iva (इव) as ākāśasyeva (आकाशस्येव). |
| iva (इव) | indeclinable | like, as of. |
| dhīrasya (धीरस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of the steady one. |
| nirvikalpasya (निर्विकल्पस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of the one without alternative constructions. Agrees with dhīrasya (धीरस्य). |
| sarvadā (सर्वदा) | indeclinable | always. |
The phrases
Four kva (क्व) questions, the nouns all nominative, with no finite verb. ca (च) joins the second and the fourth. The genitives dhīrasya (धीरस्य) nirvikalpasya (निर्विकल्पस्य) are the person for whom the questions are asked, compared by iva (इव) with ākāśasya (आकाशस्य). sarvadā (सर्वदा) covers the whole.
Sanskrit in this line
ca (च) plus ābhāsaḥ (आभासः) is recited cābhāsaḥ (चाभासः). ākāśasya (आकाशस्य) plus iva (इव) is ākāśasyeva (आकाशस्येव), a (अ) plus i (इ) becoming e (ए).
Say it back
Name the four things that have no place for the steady one without constructions.