7.4
भूमिरापोऽनलो वायुः खं मनो बुद्धिरेव च ।
अहंकार इतीयं मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिरष्टधा ॥
bhūmir āpo 'nalo vāyuḥ khaṃ mano buddhir eva ca
ahaṃkāra itīyaṃ me bhinnā prakṛtir aṣṭadhā
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन).
The verse
Earth, water, fire, wind, space, mind, understanding, and the I-maker: this, divided eight ways, is my nature.
नेपालीमा
पृथ्वी, पानी, आगो, हावा, आकाश, मन, बुद्धि र अहङ्कार, यो आठ किसिमले बाँडिएको मेरो प्रकृति हो।
Where it sits
The knowing promised in 7.2 starts here, with a list. He does not begin from a definition of brahman (ब्रह्म). He begins from what a person can already point at, and he says it is his.
Split: भूमिः + आपः + अनलः + वायुः + खम् + मनः + बुद्धिः + एव + च + अहंकारः + इति + इयम् + मे + भिन्ना + प्रकृतिः + अष्टधा
bhūmiḥ + āpaḥ + analaḥ + vāyuḥ + kham + manaḥ + buddhiḥ + eva + ca + ahaṃkāraḥ + iti + iyam + me + bhinnā + prakṛtiḥ + aṣṭadhā
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| भूमिः | bhūmiḥ | nominative singular | earth. |
| आपः | āpaḥ | nominative plural | the waters. āp (आप्) is water. The nominative is plural in form. |
| अनलः | analaḥ | nominative singular | fire. |
| वायुः | vāyuḥ | nominative singular | wind. |
| खम् | kham | nominative singular | space. The open sky. |
| मनः | manaḥ | nominative of manas (मनस्) | mind. |
| बुद्धिः | buddhiḥ | nominative singular | understanding. The faculty that decides. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | indeed. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. It brings ahaṃkāraḥ (अहंकारः) into the list. |
| अहंकारः | ahaṃkāraḥ | nominative singular | the I-maker. aham (अहम्) "I," kāra (कार) "making." |
| इति | iti | indeclinable | thus. It closes the list. |
| इयम् | iyam | nominative feminine | this. |
| मे | me | genitive of aham (अहम्) | my. |
| भिन्ना | bhinnā | nominative feminine | divided. Agrees with prakṛtiḥ (प्रकृतिः). |
| प्रकृतिः | prakṛtiḥ | nominative feminine | nature. His lower making, named in this verse. |
| अष्टधा | aṣṭadhā | indeclinable | eightfold. In eight ways. aṣṭa (अष्ट) is eight. |
The phrases
bhūmiḥ āpaḥ analaḥ vāyuḥ kham (भूमिः आपः अनलः वायुः खम्) is the first five: earth, water, fire, wind, space. They are all nominative. The list is the thing he is about to name, not a sentence with a verb yet.
manaḥ buddhiḥ eva ca ahaṃkāraḥ (मनः बुद्धिः एव च अहंकारः) finishes the eight. Mind, understanding, and the I-maker. The five were the world outside. These three are the inner apparatus. iti (इति) shuts the list.
iyam me bhinnā prakṛtiḥ aṣṭadhā (इयम् मे भिन्ना प्रकृतिः अष्टधा) is the sentence. This, divided eight ways, is my nature. The next verse will call it the lower one.
Sanskrit in this line
The eight nominatives are hard to hear because visarga keeps changing.
iḥ (इः) before a vowel becomes r (र्). भूमिः + आपः bhūmiḥ + āpaḥ is bhūmir āpaḥ (भूमिरापः). बुद्धिः + एव buddhiḥ + eva is buddhir eva (बुद्धिरेव). प्रकृतिः + अष्टधा prakṛtiḥ + aṣṭadhā is prakṛtir aṣṭadhā (प्रकृतिरष्टधा).
अः + अ aḥ + a is the other path. आपः + अनलः āpaḥ + analaḥ is recited āpo 'nalaḥ (आपोऽनलः): o (ओ), and the next a (अ) marked by ऽ. Count the eight from the split, not from the pauses in the recited line.
Say it back
Say the eight, in order, then the word nature. If aṣṭadhā (अष्टधा) is short a part, stay here. The one that drops most easily is ahaṃkāraḥ (अहंकारः), because eva ca (एव च) hides the "and."