Nārada Bhakti Sūtras / Defining the love (प्रेम) / 57
57
the Nārada Bhakti Sūtras (नारद भक्ति सूत्रस्)
उत्तरस्मादुत्तरस्मात् पूर्व पूर्वा श्रेयाय भवति uttarasmād uttarasmāt pūrva pūrvā śreyāya bhavati
The line
Each earlier one comes to be for the better, than each later one.
नेपालीमा
हरेक पछिल्लोभन्दा हरेक अघिल्लो श्रेयको निम्ति हुन्छ।
Where it sits
The ranking of the secondary kinds just named. The earlier outranks the later.
Split: uttarasmāt (उत्तरस्मात्) + uttarasmāt (उत्तरस्मात्) + pūrvapūrvā (पूर्वपूर्वा) + śreyāya (श्रेयाय) + bhavati (भवति)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| uttarasmāt (उत्तरस्मात्) | ablative singular, masculine | than the later one. Ablative of comparison. |
| uttarasmāt (उत्तरस्मात्) | ablative singular, masculine | than the one after that. The comparison is repeated. |
| pūrvapūrvā (पूर्वपूर्वा) | nominative singular, feminine | each earlier one. Distributive, feminine, agreeing with gauṇī (गौणी). The print leaves a space, pūrva (पूर्व) pūrvā (पूर्वा). |
| śreyāya (श्रेयाय) | dative singular, masculine | for the better. Dative of śreya (श्रेय). |
| bhavati (भवति) | present third person singular | comes to be. |
The phrases
pūrvapūrvā (पूर्वपूर्वा) is the subject and agrees with the feminine gauṇī (गौणी). Each uttarasmāt (उत्तरस्मात्) is the standard of comparison. śreyāya (श्रेयाय) bhavati (भवति) is the predicate.
Sanskrit in this line
uttarasmāt (उत्तरस्मात्) is repeated. pūrvapūrvā (पूर्वपूर्वा) is one word. The print puts a space between pūrva (पूर्व) and pūrvā (पूर्वा). The feminine ending sits on the second.
Say it back
Which one comes to be for the better, the earlier or the later?