1.8
Upadeśasāhasrī / 1. Caitanya (चैतन्य) / 1.8
ननु कर्म तथा नित्यं कर्तव्यं जीवने सति विद्यायाः सहकारित्वं मोक्षं प्रति हि तद् व्रजेत्
nanu karma tathā nityaṃ kartavyaṃ jīvane sati vidyāyāḥ sahakāritvaṃ mokṣaṃ prati hi tad vrajet
The line
Surely action, too, must always be done while life lasts, since toward release it would serve as knowledge's helper.
नेपालीमा
जीवन रहुञ्जेल कर्म पनि सधैँ गर्नुपर्छ नै, किनकि मोक्षतिर त्यो ज्ञानको सहायक बन्नेछ।
Where it sits
Verses 6 and 7 said vidyā (विद्या) alone. Verse 8 is the reply a ritualist would make. Do not take nanu (ननु) lines as the book's conclusion. The book's answer starts at verse 12, and is prepared by 9 to 11 stating the objection more fully.
Split: nanu (ननु) + karma (कर्म) + tathā (तथा) + nityam (नित्यम्) + kartavyam (कर्तव्यम्) + jīvane (जीवने) + sati (सति) + vidyāyāḥ (विद्यायाः) + sahakāritvam (सहकारित्वम्) + mokṣam (मोक्षम्) + prati (प्रति) + hi (हि) + tad (तद्) + vrajet (व्रजेत्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| nanu (ननु) | indeclinable | surely, but. The particle that opens an objection. |
| karma (कर्म) | nominative singular, neuter | action. |
| tathā (तथा) | indeclinable | likewise, it too. |
| nityam (नित्यम्) | indeclinable | always. |
| kartavyam (कर्तव्यम्) | nominative singular, neuter, gerundive | to be done. |
| jīvane (जीवने) | locative singular, neuter | while there is life. |
| sati (सति) | locative singular, neuter | while it is present. With jīvane (जीवने), a locative absolute: as long as one is alive. |
| vidyāyāḥ (विद्यायाः) | genitive singular, feminine | of knowledge. |
| sahakāritvam (सहकारित्वम्) | accusative singular, neuter | being a helper, a co-worker. saha (सह) is together, kārin (कारिन्) is a doer. |
| mokṣam (मोक्षम्) | accusative singular, masculine | toward release. |
| prati (प्रति) | indeclinable | toward. Governs mokṣam (मोक्षम्). |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | for. |
| tad (तद्) | nominative singular, neuter | that, the action. |
| vrajet (व्रजेत्) | optative, third person singular | it would go, it would count as. |
The phrases
From here through verse 11 the voice is the objector, marked by nanu (ननु). He wants karma (कर्म) kept, as a required helper of vidyā (विद्या) for as long as the body lives.
kartavyam (कर्तव्यम्) is a gerundive, 'ought to be done.' That is the language of injunction, the Mīmāṃsā (मीमांसा) voice, brought in as the objection.
Sanskrit in this line
nanu (ननु) always marks the other voice. When a verse begins with it, read the verse as the objection, and wait for the answer.
Say it back
Whose sentence is this, the book or the objector?