1.17
Upadeśasāhasrī / 1. Caitanya (चैतन्य) / 1.17
नेति नेतीति देहादीनपोह्यात्मावशेषितः अविशेषात्मबोधार्थं तेनाविद्या निवर्तिता
neti netīti dehādīn apohyātmāvaśeṣitaḥ aviśeṣātmabodhārthaṃ tenāvidyā nivartitā
The line
By 'not this, not this,' having set aside the body and the rest, the self is what remains. For the sake of knowing that undistinguished self, ignorance is turned back by that phrase.
नेपालीमा
नेति नेति भनी शरीर र अरूलाई पन्छाएपछि बाँकी रहने आत्मा नै हो। भेद नभएको त्यो आत्मा चिन्नका लागि त्यही वाक्यले अज्ञानलाई पछाडि फर्काउँछ।
Where it sits
Verse 16 said ignorance is what injunction lives on. Verse 17 says what turns ignorance back. Verse 18 asks how ignorance, once removed by a pramāṇa (प्रमाण), could arise again.
Split: na (न) + iti (इति) + na (न) + iti (इति) + iti (इति) + deha-ādīn (देह-आदीन्) + apohya (अपोह्य) + ātmā (आत्मा) + avaśeṣitaḥ (अवशेषितः) + aviśeṣa-ātma-bodha-artham (अविशेष-आत्म-बोध-अर्थम्) + tena (तेन) + avidyā (अविद्या) + nivartitā (निवर्तिता)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. neti (नेति) is na iti (न इति), 'not this,' the quoted phrase. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. The phrase is said twice: neti neti (नेति नेति). |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | marking the phrase as what is used. A third iti (इति), closing the quotation. |
| deha-ādīn (देह-आदीन्) | accusative plural, masculine | the body and the rest. |
| apohya (अपोह्य) | absolutive | having set aside, having excluded. |
| ātmā (आत्मा) | nominative singular, masculine | the self. |
| avaśeṣitaḥ (अवशेषितः) | nominative singular, masculine | left as the remainder. Agrees with ātmā (आत्मा). |
| aviśeṣa-ātma-bodha-artham (अविशेष-आत्म-बोध-अर्थम्) | indeclinable, accusative of purpose | for the sake of bodha (बोध), awakening, to the self without viśeṣa (विशेष), without distinguishing marks. |
| tena (तेन) | instrumental singular, neuter | by that. By the neti neti (नेति नेति). |
| avidyā (अविद्या) | nominative singular, feminine | ignorance. |
| nivartitā (निवर्तिता) | nominative singular, feminine | turned back, made to cease. |
The phrases
neti neti (नेति नेति) sets the body and the rest aside. What is not set aside is ātmā (आत्मा). The purpose is knowing the self as without distinctions. By that phrase, avidyā (अविद्या) is nivartitā (निवर्तिता).
The phrase is the Upaniṣad (उपनिषद्)'s, from the Bṛhadāraṇyaka (बृहदारण्यक). The verse is using it, not replacing it. Prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) 2 will stay on this phrase.
Sanskrit in this line
neti (नेति) is na (न) plus iti (इति). The iti (इति) quotes the 'not.' Saying it twice is the method: each 'this' that appears is answered with 'not this,' until the self is the remainder, avaśeṣita (अवशेषित).
Say it back
What is set aside, and what remains?