1.13
Upadeśasāhasrī / 1. Caitanya (चैतन्य) / 1.13
अहं कर्ता ममेदं स्यादिति कर्म प्रवर्तते वस्त्वधीना भवेद् विद्या कर्त्रधीनो भवेद् विधिः
ahaṃ kartā mamedaṃ syād iti karma pravartate vastvadhīnā bhaved vidyā kartradhīno bhaved vidhiḥ
The line
Action sets off from the thought 'I am the doer, this is mine.' Knowledge is dependent on the thing. Injunction is dependent on the agent.
नेपालीमा
कर्म म कर्ता हुँ, यो मेरो हो भन्ने विचारबाट चल्छ। ज्ञान वस्तुमा भर पर्छ, विधि चाहिँ कर्तामा भर पर्छ।
Where it sits
Verse 12 named the opposition. Verse 13 shows it in the two sentences a person actually thinks. Verse 14 follows knowledge as it bears down on the kārakas (कारक), the factors an action needs.
Split: aham (अहम्) + kartā (कर्ता) + mama (मम) + idam (इदम्) + syāt (स्यात्) + iti (इति) + karma (कर्म) + pravartate (प्रवर्तते) + vastu-adhīnā (वस्तु-अधीना) + bhavet (भवेत्) + vidyā (विद्या) + kartṛ-adhīnaḥ (कर्तृ-अधीनः) + bhavet (भवेत्) + vidhiḥ (विधिः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| aham (अहम्) | nominative singular | I. |
| kartā (कर्ता) | nominative singular, masculine | the doer, the agent. |
| mama (मम) | genitive singular | of me, mine. |
| idam (इदम्) | nominative singular, neuter | this. |
| syāt (स्यात्) | optative, third person singular | it would be. Inside the quoted thought: 'this shall be mine.' |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. Closes the thought from which action starts. |
| karma (कर्म) | nominative singular, neuter | action. |
| pravartate (प्रवर्तते) | present, third person singular, middle | proceeds, sets off. |
| vastu-adhīnā (वस्तु-अधीना) | nominative singular, feminine | dependent on the vastu (वस्तु), the thing as it is. Agrees with vidyā (विद्या). |
| bhavet (भवेत्) | optative, third person singular | it would be. |
| vidyā (विद्या) | nominative singular, feminine | knowledge. |
| kartṛ-adhīnaḥ (कर्तृ-अधीनः) | nominative singular, masculine | dependent on the kartṛ (कर्तृ), the doer. |
| bhavet (भवेत्) | optative, third person singular | it would be. |
| vidhiḥ (विधिः) | nominative singular, masculine | injunction, the 'do this' of the Veda. |
The phrases
Two sources. karma (कर्म) starts from a sentence about me: I do, this is mine. vidyā (विद्या) waits on what the thing is. vidhi (विधि) waits on a doer who can be told to act. Knowledge and injunction lean on different supports, so they are not the same kind of sentence.
This is why verse 12 called them opposed. The next verse says knowledge crushes the factors of action.
Sanskrit in this line
adhīna (अधीन) means 'resting on, dependent.' vastvadhīnā (वस्त्वधीना) and kartradhīnaḥ (कर्त्रधीनः) are the same suffix on two different supports. The genders differ because vidyā (विद्या) is feminine and vidhiḥ (विधिः) is masculine.
Say it back
Which sentence does karma (कर्म) start from?