Aṣṭāvakra Gītā / Aṣṭāvakra (अध्याय १८) / 18.86
18.86
the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (अष्टावक्र गीता)
पततूदेतु वा देहो नास्य चिन्ता महात्मनः ।
स्वभावभूमिविश्रान्तिविस्मृताशेषसंसृतेः patatūdetu vā deho nāsya cintā mahātmanaḥ |
svabhāvabhūmiviśrāntivismṛtāśeṣasaṃsṛteḥ
The line
Let the body fall or let it rise: this great souled one has no worry, he who rests on the ground of his own being and for whom the whole round of rebirth is forgotten.
नेपालीमा
देह खसोस् वा उठोस्, यो महात्माको चिन्ता छैन। ऊ स्वभावको भूमिमा विश्राम गरेर सारा संसृति बिर्सेको छ।
Where it sits
Aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) is still speaking, and the one content wherever he stops is now the great souled one with no worry for the body.
Split: patatu (पततु) + udetu (उदेतु) + vā (वा) + dehaḥ (देहः) + na (न) + asya (अस्य) + cintā (चिन्ता) + mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः) + svabhāvabhūmiviśrāntivismṛtāśeṣasaṃsṛteḥ (स्वभावभूमिविश्रान्तिविस्मृताशेषसंसृतेः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| patatu (पततु) | imperative third person singular | let it fall. From pat (पत्). Joined with udetu (उदेतु) as patatūd (पततूद्). |
| udetu (उदेतु) | imperative third person singular | let it rise. From i (इ) with ud (उद्). Subject is dehaḥ (देहः). |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. |
| dehaḥ (देहः) | nominative singular, masculine | the body. Subject of both imperatives. Recited deho (देहो) before n (न्). |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. Joined with asya (अस्य) as nā (ना). |
| asya (अस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of this one. Agrees with mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः). |
| cintā (चिन्ता) | nominative singular, feminine | worry. Subject of the nominal denial. |
| mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः) | genitive singular, masculine | of the great souled one. |
| svabhāvabhūmiviśrāntivismṛtāśeṣasaṃsṛteḥ (स्वभावभूमिविश्रान्तिविस्मृताशेषसंसृतेः) | genitive singular, masculine | of him for whom, in the rest on the ground of his own being, the whole round of rebirth is forgotten. saṃsṛti (संसृति) is that round. aśeṣa (अशेष) is the whole of it. vismṛta (विस्मृत) is forgotten. viśrānti (विश्रान्ति) is rest. bhūmi (भूमि) is the ground. svabhāva (स्वभाव) is his own being. Agrees with mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः). |
The phrases
dehaḥ (देहः) is the subject of patatu (पततु) and of udetu (उदेतु), and vā (वा) offers either. na (न) denies cintā (चिन्ता), which belongs to asya (अस्य) mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः). The long genitive agrees with mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः) and names the rest in which the round is forgotten.
Sanskrit in this line
patatu (पततु) plus udetu (उदेतु) joins the two u (उ) sounds into ū (ऊ), recited patatūdetu (पततूदेतु). dehaḥ (देहः) before na (न) is deho (देहो). na (न) plus asya (अस्य) is nāsya (नास्य). The long compound ends in the genitive saṃsṛteḥ (संसृतेः) and qualifies mahātmanaḥ (महात्मनः).
Say it back
What may the body do, and what worry is absent for the great souled one?