2.60
यततो ह्यपि कौन्तेय पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः ।
इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः ॥
yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ
indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking, to Kaunteya (कौन्तेय).
The verse
Even of a striving, discerning man, the churning senses carry off the mind by force, son of Kuntī (कुन्ती).
नेपालीमा
हे कुन्तीका छोरा, प्रयास गर्ने, छुट्याउने मानिसको पनि मथ्ने इन्द्रियहरूले मनलाई जबर्जस्ती लग्छन्।
Where it sits
The senses can take the mind of a man who is already striving and already clear, so 2.59 was not a finished schedule. The next verse says what he does about that, and it is the first time in the portrait that Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) points the discipline at himself.
Split: यततः + हि + अपि + कौन्तेय + पुरुषस्य + विपश्चितः + इन्द्रियाणि + प्रमाथीनि + हरन्ति + प्रसभम् + मनः
yatataḥ + hi + api + kaunteya + puruṣasya + vipaścitaḥ + indriyāṇi + pramāthīni + haranti + prasabham + manaḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यततः | yatataḥ | genitive of the participle yatat (यतत्) | of the one who is striving. From yat (यत्). |
| हि | hi | indeclinable | indeed. |
| अपि | api | indeclinable | even. |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | vocative | Kaunteya (कौन्तेय). Son of Kuntī (कुन्ती). |
| पुरुषस्य | puruṣasya | genitive | of a man. |
| विपश्चितः | vipaścitaḥ | genitive | of the discerning one. |
| इन्द्रियाणि | indriyāṇi | nominative plural | the senses. |
| प्रमाथीनि | pramāthīni | nominative plural | the churning ones, the violent. Agrees with indriyāṇi (इन्द्रियाणि). |
| हरन्ति | haranti | present, 3rd plural | they carry off. |
| प्रसभम् | prasabham | indeclinable | by force. |
| मनः | manaḥ | accusative | the mind. |
The phrases
yatataḥ hi api puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ (यततः हि अपि पुरुषस्य विपश्चितः) is the man, entirely in the genitive. Even of a man who is striving, a discerning man. Three genitives, one person. kaunteya (कौन्तेय) is only the call. यततः + हि yatataḥ + hi is yatato hi (यततो हि), and हि + अपि hi + api is hy api (ह्यपि).
indriyāṇi pramāthīni (इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि) is the subject, and it is nominative. The senses, the ones that churn. They are not the man's instruments in this sentence. They are the actors.
haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ (हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः) is what they do. They carry the mind off by force. manaḥ (मनः) is the object. The striving and the discernment were not enough to stop it.
Sanskrit in this line
The genitive is the person something happens to, and the nominative is the thing that does it. yatataḥ (यततः), puruṣasya (पुरुषस्य), and vipaścitaḥ (विपश्चितः) do not act in this sentence. indriyāṇi (इन्द्रियाणि) acts. haranti (हरन्ति) agrees with the senses, plural. If you make the striving man the subject, you have reversed the verse.
Say it back
Who the senses can still rob, and what they carry off. If manaḥ (मनः) comes out as the subject, stay here.