1.16
Upadeśasāhasrī / 1. Caitanya (चैतन्य) / 1.16
देहाद्यैरविशेषेण देहिनो ग्रहणं निजम् प्राणिनां तदविद्योत्थं तावत् कर्मविधिर् भवेत्
dehādyair aviśeṣeṇa dehino grahaṇaṃ nijam prāṇināṃ tad avidyotthaṃ tāvat karmavidhir bhavet
The line
It is natural for living beings to grasp the embodied one as not different from the body and the rest. That grasping rises from ignorance, and the injunction to act reaches just that far.
नेपालीमा
प्राणीहरूले देहधारीलाई शरीर र अरूभन्दा फरक होइन भनी समात्नु स्वाभाविक छ। त्यो समात्नु अज्ञानबाट उठ्छ, र कर्मको विधि त्यतिसम्म मात्र पुग्छ।
Where it sits
Verse 15 said the seeker should drop action. Verse 16 says for whom injunction is still a sentence that lands. Verse 17 gives the sentence that removes the ignorance: neti neti (नेति नेति).
Split: deha-ādyaiḥ (देह-आद्यैः) + aviśeṣeṇa (अविशेषेण) + dehinaḥ (देहिनः) + grahaṇam (ग्रहणम्) + nijam (निजम्) + prāṇinām (प्राणिनाम्) + tad (तद्) + avidyā-uttham (अविद्या-उत्थम्) + tāvat (तावत्) + karma-vidhiḥ (कर्म-विधिः) + bhavet (भवेत्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| deha-ādyaiḥ (देह-आद्यैः) | instrumental plural, masculine | by the body and the rest. ādi (आदि) takes in the senses, the mind, the roles. |
| aviśeṣeṇa (अविशेषेण) | instrumental singular, masculine | with no distinction, as not different. |
| dehinaḥ (देहिनः) | genitive singular, masculine | of the embodied one, the one who has a body. |
| grahaṇam (ग्रहणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the grasping, the taking. |
| nijam (निजम्) | nominative singular, neuter | one's own, natural. Agrees with grahaṇam (ग्रहणम्). |
| prāṇinām (प्राणिनाम्) | genitive plural, masculine | of living beings. |
| tad (तद्) | nominative singular, neuter | that grasping. |
| avidyā-uttham (अविद्या-उत्थम्) | nominative singular, neuter | risen from avidyā (अविद्या), ignorance. |
| tāvat (तावत्) | indeclinable | so far, for that long. |
| karma-vidhiḥ (कर्म-विधिः) | nominative singular, masculine | the injunction of action. |
| bhavet (भवेत्) | optative, third person singular | it would be, it extends. |
The phrases
People take the one who has a body as nothing different from the body. That taking is natural, and it comes up from avidyā (अविद्या). Injunction has a hearer only while that taking stands. tāvat (तावत्) means 'just so far, and no farther than the ignorance.'
This explains why the Veda can enjoin at all. It speaks to the one who still takes himself as the body. It is not a second path beside knowledge.
Sanskrit in this line
tāvat (तावत्) is a correlative of extent, 'just so far.' It answers 'how far does karmavidhi (कर्मविधि) reach?' As far as avidyottha (अविद्योत्थ) grasping.
Say it back
How far does the injunction to act reach?