3.1
Upadeśasāhasrī / 3. Īśvara (ईश्वर) / 3.1
ईश्वरश् चेदनात्मा स्यान् नासावस्मीति धारयेतात्मा चेदीश्वरोऽस्मीति विद्या सा अन्यनिवर्तिका
īśvaraś ced anātmā syān nāsāv asmīti dhārayet ātmā ced īśvaro 'smīti vidyā sā anyanivartikā
The line
If the Lord were not the self, one would not hold 'I am he.' If the self is the Lord, the knowledge 'I am the Lord' is the knowledge that turns away what is other.
नेपालीमा
यदि ईश्वर आत्मा नहुन्थे भने मानिस म त्यही हुँ भनी समात्दैनथ्यो। आत्मा ईश्वर हो भने म ईश्वर हुँ भन्ने ज्ञान अरूलाई फर्काउने ज्ञान हो।
Where it sits
Prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) 2 brought the seeker to his own self. Prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) 3 says that self and īśvara (ईश्वर) are not two. Verse 3.2 asks what the negations 'not gross' and the rest are for. Verse 3.3 will say: they negate a false superimposition. Aimed at something else, they would be a description of emptiness.
Split: īśvaraḥ (ईश्वरः) + ced (चेद्) + anātmā (अनात्मा) + syāt (स्यात्) + na (न) + asau (असौ) + asmi (अस्मि) + iti (इति) + dhārayet (धारयेत्) + ātmā (आत्मा) + ced (चेद्) + īśvaraḥ (ईश्वरः) + asmi (अस्मि) + iti (इति) + vidyā (विद्या) + sā (सा) + anya-nivartikā (अन्य-निवर्तिका)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| īśvaraḥ (ईश्वरः) | nominative singular, masculine | the Lord. Written īśvaraś (ईश्वरश्) before c (च्). |
| ced (चेद्) | indeclinable | if. |
| anātmā (अनात्मा) | nominative singular, masculine | not the self. an-ātman (अन्-आत्मन्). |
| syāt (स्यात्) | optative, third person singular | he were. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| asau (असौ) | nominative singular, masculine | he, that one. |
| asmi (अस्मि) | present, first person singular | I am. |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. Quoting 'I am he.' |
| dhārayet (धारयेत्) | optative, third person singular | one would hold. |
| ātmā (आत्मा) | nominative singular, masculine | the self. |
| ced (चेद्) | indeclinable | if. |
| īśvaraḥ (ईश्वरः) | nominative singular, masculine | the Lord. Written īśvaro (ईश्वरो) before the vowel, and the a (अ) of asmi (अस्मि) dropped: 'smīti (ऽस्मीति). |
| asmi (अस्मि) | present, first person singular | I am. |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. |
| vidyā (विद्या) | nominative singular, feminine | the knowledge. |
| sā (सा) | nominative singular, feminine | that. Agrees with vidyā (विद्या). |
| anya-nivartikā (अन्य-निवर्तिका) | nominative singular, feminine | what turns anya (अन्य), the other, away. The file writes sānyanivartikā (सान्यनिवर्तिका). |
The phrases
Two conditionals. If īśvara (ईश्वर) were anātmā (अनात्मा), a second beside the self, nobody could truthfully hold asāv asmi (असावस्मि), 'I am he.' If the self is the Lord, then īśvaro 'smi (ईश्वरोऽस्मि) is vidyā (विद्या), and that knowledge is what removes what is other than it.
This is Śaṅkara (शङ्कर)'s reading, in his own verse. The Lord is not a person standing over against the self. The sentence of knowledge is first person.
Sanskrit in this line
ced (चेद्) twice makes two ifs. The first if removes a picture. The second if names the vidyā (विद्या). anyanivartikā (अन्यनिवर्तिका) is a feminine agent noun: she who makes the other cease.
Say it back
What sentence does this vidyā (विद्या) actually say?