3.2
Upadeśasāhasrī / 3. Īśvara (ईश्वर) / 3.2
आत्मनोऽन्यस्य चेद् धर्मा अस्थूलत्वादयो मताः अज्ञेयत्वेऽस्य किं तैः स्यादात्मत्वे त्वन्यधीह्नुतिः
ātmano 'nyasya ced dharmā asthūlatvādayo matāḥ ajñeyatve 'sya kiṃ taiḥ syād ātmatve tv anyadhīhnutiḥ
The line
If the properties beginning with not-being-gross are assigned to something other than the self, what would they accomplish for him when he is not an object of knowledge? If they belong to the self, they are the denial of the notion of something else.
नेपालीमा
स्थूल होइन भन्नेदेखि सुरु भएका गुणहरू आत्माभन्दा अरूमा लगाइए भने, ऊ ज्ञानको विषय नहुँदा ती गुणले उसको के गर्लान्। ती आत्माका हुन् भने ती अरू चीजको धारणाको निषेध हुन्।
Where it sits
Verse 3.1 identified the self and the Lord. Verse 3.2 places the Upaniṣad (उपनिषद्) negations on the self, as removers of 'the other.' Verse 3.3 names the mistake they remove, mithyādhyāsa (मिथ्याध्यास), and says what they would be if they were aimed elsewhere: a description of śūnyatā (शून्यता).
Split: ātmanaḥ (आत्मनः) + anyasya (अन्यस्य) + ced (चेद्) + dharmāḥ (धर्माः) + asthūla-tva-ādayaḥ (अस्थूल-त्व-आदयः) + matāḥ (मताः) + ajñeya-tve (अज्ञेय-त्वे) + asya (अस्य) + kim (किम्) + taiḥ (तैः) + syāt (स्यात्) + ātma-tve (आत्म-त्वे) + tu (तु) + anya-dhī-hnutiḥ (अन्य-धी-ह्नुतिः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| ātmanaḥ (आत्मनः) | ablative singular, masculine | from the self, other than the self. Written ātmano (आत्मनो) before the vowel. |
| anyasya (अन्यस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of something else. |
| ced (चेद्) | indeclinable | if. |
| dharmāḥ (धर्माः) | nominative plural, masculine | properties. Written dharmā (धर्मा) before a vowel, the visarga lost. |
| asthūla-tva-ādayaḥ (अस्थूल-त्व-आदयः) | nominative plural, masculine | not-being-gross, and the rest. asthūla (अस्थूल) is 'not sthūla (स्थूल), not coarse.' The Bṛhadāraṇyaka (बृहदारण्यक) negations begin there. ādi (आदि) takes the rest of that list. |
| matāḥ (मताः) | nominative plural, masculine | are thought, are regarded. |
| ajñeya-tve (अज्ञेय-त्वे) | locative singular, neuter | if he is ajñeya (अज्ञेय), not an object of knowledge. Locative of the situation. |
| asya (अस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of him, of the self. |
| kim (किम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what. |
| taiḥ (तैः) | instrumental plural, masculine | by those properties. |
| syāt (स्यात्) | optative, third person singular | would there be. What good would they be? |
| ātma-tve (आत्म-त्वे) | locative singular, neuter | if they are the self's, in the self's being what they describe. |
| tu (तु) | indeclinable | but. |
| anya-dhī-hnutiḥ (अन्य-धी-ह्नुतिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the striking-down of the dhī (धी) of the other, the notion that there is something else. hnuti (ह्नुति) is a denial, a pushing away, from hnu (ह्नु). |
The phrases
If the negations belong to some other thing, and the self cannot be known as an object, those negations do nothing for him. If they are said of the self, their work is anyadhīhnuti (अन्यधीह्नुति), the removal of the idea of another.
The line is preparing verse 3.3. The negations have a job. The job is not to describe a blank, and not to describe a second being.
Sanskrit in this line
asthūlatva (अस्थूलत्व) is the abstract, 'the property of not being gross.' ādayaḥ (आदयः) means the list does not stop at the first item. The locative ajñeyatve (अज्ञेयत्वे) is 'given that he is not a knowable object.'
Say it back
If the negations are the self's, what do they do to the notion of another?