16.22
एतैर्विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमोद्वारैस्त्रिभिर्नरः ।
आचरत्यात्मनः श्रेयस्ततो याति परां गतिम् ॥
etair vimuktaḥ kaunteya tamodvārais tribhir naraḥ
ācaraty ātmanaḥ śreyas tato yāti parāṃ gatim
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) says what the man who has left the three gates does, and where he goes.
The verse
The man freed from these three gates of darkness, son of Kuntī (कुन्ती), practices what is good for the self and then goes to the highest course.
नेपालीमा
यी तीन अन्धकारका ढोकाबाट मुक्त भएको मानिस, हे कुन्तीका छोरा, आत्माका लागि हितकर कुराको आचरण गर्छ र त्यसपछि सर्वोच्च गतिमा जान्छ।
Where it sits
The man freed from the three gates has a practice and a course. The lowest course of 16.20 and the highest course of this verse are the two goings the chapter has now named.
Split: एतैः + विमुक्तः + कौन्तेय + तमस्-द्वारैः + त्रिभिः + नरः + आचरति + आत्मनः + श्रेयः + ततः + याति + पराम् + गतिम्
etaiḥ + vimuktaḥ + kaunteya + tamas-dvāraiḥ + tribhiḥ + naraḥ + ācarati + ātmanaḥ + śreyaḥ + tataḥ + yāti + parām + gatim
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| एतैः | etaiḥ | instrumental plural | by these. From these. The three just named. |
| विमुक्तः | vimuktaḥ | nominative singular | freed. Released. From vi-muc (वि-मुच्). |
| कौन्तेय | kaunteya | vocative | Kaunteya (कौन्तेय). |
| तमस्-द्वारैः | tamas-dvāraiḥ | instrumental plural | by the gates of darkness. tamas (तमस्) is darkness. dvāra (द्वार) is a gate. |
| त्रिभिः | tribhiḥ | instrumental plural | by three. Agrees with etaiḥ (एतैः) and with tamas-dvāraiḥ (तमस्-द्वारैः). |
| नरः | naraḥ | nominative singular | a man. |
| आचरति | ācarati | present, 3rd singular of ā-car (आ-चर्) | he practices. He carries out. |
| आत्मनः | ātmanaḥ | genitive singular | of the self. For the self. |
| श्रेयः | śreyaḥ | accusative singular of śreyas (श्रेयस्) | the better. What is good. |
| ततः | tataḥ | indeclinable | then. From there. |
| याति | yāti | present, 3rd singular of yā (या) | he goes. |
| पराम् | parām | accusative singular feminine | highest. Far. Agrees with gatim (गतिम्). |
| गतिम् | gatim | accusative singular | course. Destination. |
The phrases
etaiḥ vimuktaḥ kaunteya tamas-dvāraiḥ tribhiḥ naraḥ (एतैः विमुक्तः कौन्तेय तमस्-द्वारैः त्रिभिः नरः) is the man. Freed from these three gates of darkness. The one gate of 16.21 is counted here as three. The instrumentals are what he is freed from.
ācarati ātmanaḥ śreyaḥ tataḥ yāti parām gatim (आचरति आत्मनः श्रेयः ततः याति पराम् गतिम्) is what he does and where he goes. He practices what is good for the self, and then he goes to the highest course. 16.20 sent the others to adhamām gatim (अधमाम् गतिम्). This line answers with parām gatim (पराम् गतिम्).
Sanskrit in this line
आचरति + आत्मनः ācarati + ātmanaḥ is recited ācaraty ātmanaḥ (आचरत्यात्मनः). इ + आ i + ā becomes yā (या). The verb is ācarati (आचरति), "he practices." The i (इ) of the ending is the y (य्). तमस् + द्वारैः tamas + dvāraiḥ is recited tamodvāraiḥ (तमोद्वारैः): the s (स्) of tamas (तमस्) before a voiced consonant becomes o (ओ), as in manas-ratha (मनस्-रथ).
Say it back
Cover the English. Say what he is freed from, and which course he goes to. If parām (पराम्) comes out as adhamām (अधमाम्), the two goings have been swapped.