Aṣṭāvakra Gītā / Aṣṭāvakra (अध्याय १८) / 18.91
18.91
the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (अष्टावक्र गीता)
भिक्षुर् वा भूपतिर् वापि यो निष्कामः स शोभते ।
भावेषु गलिता यस्य शोभनाशोभना मतिः bhikṣur vā bhūpatir vāpi yo niṣkāmaḥ sa śobhate |
bhāveṣu galitā yasya śobhanāśobhanā matiḥ
The line
Whether a mendicant or even a king, he who is without desire shines, he whose judgment of the fair and the unfair has melted in the states of things.
नेपालीमा
भिक्षु होस् वा राजा नै होस्, जो निष्काम छ ऊ शोभा पाउँछ। जसको सुन्दर र असुन्दर मति भावहरूमा पग्लिसकेको छ।
Where it sits
Aṣṭāvakra (अष्टावक्र) is still speaking, and the one without traces is now said to shine in either station, mendicant or king.
Split: bhikṣuḥ (भिक्षुः) + vā (वा) + bhūpatiḥ (भूपतिः) + vā (वा) + api (अपि) + yaḥ (यः) + niṣkāmaḥ (निष्कामः) + saḥ (सः) + śobhate (शोभते) + bhāveṣu (भावेषु) + galitā (गलिता) + yasya (यस्य) + śobhanāśobhanā (शोभनाशोभना) + matiḥ (मतिः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| bhikṣuḥ (भिक्षुः) | nominative singular, masculine | a mendicant. Recited bhikṣur (भिक्षुर्) before v (व्). |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. |
| bhūpatiḥ (भूपतिः) | nominative singular, masculine | a king, a lord of the earth. Recited bhūpatir (भूपतिर्) before v (व्). |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. Joined with api (अपि) as vāpi (वापि). |
| api (अपि) | indeclinable | even. |
| yaḥ (यः) | nominative singular, masculine | who. Recited yo (यो) before n (न्). |
| niṣkāmaḥ (निष्कामः) | nominative singular, masculine | without desire. Agrees with yaḥ (यः). |
| saḥ (सः) | nominative singular, masculine | he. Visarga dropped before ś (श्). Correlative of yaḥ (यः). Subject of śobhate (शोभते). |
| śobhate (शोभते) | present third person singular | shines. From śubh (शुभ्). |
| bhāveṣu (भावेषु) | locative plural, masculine | in the states of things. |
| galitā (गलिता) | nominative singular, feminine | melted, dropped away. Agrees with matiḥ (मतिः). |
| yasya (यस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | whose. Refers to saḥ (सः). |
| śobhanāśobhanā (शोभनाशोभना) | nominative singular, feminine | the fair and the unfair. śobhanā (शोभना) is the fair. aśobhanā (अशोभना) is the unfair. Agrees with matiḥ (मतिः). |
| matiḥ (मतिः) | nominative singular, feminine | judgment, the mind's weighing. |
The phrases
yaḥ (यः) niṣkāmaḥ (निष्कामः) is the relative, saḥ (सः) the correlative and the subject of śobhate (शोभते). bhikṣuḥ (भिक्षुः) vā (वा) bhūpatiḥ (भूपतिः) vā (वा) api (अपि) is either station of that person. yasya (यस्य) points back to saḥ (सः). matiḥ (मतिः) is galitā (गलिता) and śobhanāśobhanā (शोभनाशोभना), and bhāveṣu (भावेषु) is where it has melted.
Sanskrit in this line
bhikṣuḥ (भिक्षुः) before v (व्) is bhikṣur (भिक्षुर्). bhūpatiḥ (भूपतिः) before v (व्) is bhūpatir (भूपतिर्). vā (वा) plus api (अपि) is vāpi (वापि). yaḥ (यः) before n (न्) is yo (यो). saḥ (सः) before ś (श्) drops the visarga. śobhanā (शोभना) plus aśobhanā (अशोभना) is śobhanāśobhanā (शोभनाशोभना).
Say it back
In which two stations does the one without desire shine, and what judgment of his has melted?