3.3
Upadeśasāhasrī / 3. Īśvara (ईश्वर) / 3.3
मिथ्याध्यासनिषेधार्थं ततोऽस्थूलादि गृह्यताम् परत्र चेन् निषेधार्थं शून्यतावर्णनं हि तत्
mithyādhyāsaniṣedhārthaṃ tato 'sthūlādi gṛhyatām paratra cen niṣedhārthaṃ śūnyatāvarṇanaṃ hi tat
The line
Therefore let 'not gross' and the rest be grasped for the sake of negating a false superimposition. If the point of the negation lay elsewhere, that would be a description of emptiness.
नेपालीमा
यसैले मिथ्या अध्यारोपको निषेधका लागि स्थूल होइन र बाँकी कुरा समात्नुपर्छ। निषेधको तात्पर्य अर्कैतिर हुन्थ्यो भने त्यो शून्यताको वर्णन हुन्थ्यो।
Where it sits
This is the meeting of the two readings. Advaita, in this verse, uses negation to remove mithyādhyāsa (मिथ्याध्यास) from the self. The nāstika (नास्तिक) book of Nāgārjuna (नागार्जुन) uses negation because no thing has a svabhāva (स्वभाव). Verse 3.4 will say the thing one wants to know is the inward self, and will quote the Upaniṣad (उपनिषद्) sentence that would be pointless if the search were aimed anywhere else.
Split: mithyā-adhyāsa-niṣedha-artham (मिथ्या-अध्यास-निषेध-अर्थम्) + tatas (तत) + asthūla-ādi (अस्थूल-आदि) + gṛhyatām (गृह्यताम्) + paratra (परत्र) + ced (चेद्) + niṣedha-artham (निषेध-अर्थम्) + śūnyatā-varṇanam (शून्यता-वर्णनम्) + hi (हि) + tat (तत्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| mithyā-adhyāsa-niṣedha-artham (मिथ्या-अध्यास-निषेध-अर्थम्) | indeclinable, accusative of purpose | for the sake of the niṣedha (निषेध), the negation, of mithyādhyāsa (मिथ्याध्यास), a false superimposition. adhyāsa (अध्यास) is laying one thing onto another. |
| tatas (तत) | indeclinable | therefore. Written tato (ततो) before the vowel. |
| asthūla-ādi (अस्थूल-आदि) | nominative singular, neuter | 'not gross' and the rest. The list from verse 3.2. |
| gṛhyatām (गृह्यताम्) | imperative passive, third person singular | let it be taken up. |
| paratra (परत्र) | indeclinable | elsewhere, about something else. |
| ced (चेद्) | indeclinable | if. Joined cen (चेन्) before n (न्). |
| niṣedha-artham (निषेध-अर्थम्) | indeclinable, accusative of purpose | for the sake of a negation. The same shape as the first compound, with the aim shifted. |
| śūnyatā-varṇanam (शून्यता-वर्णनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | a describing of śūnyatā (शून्यता), emptiness. |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | indeed, for that is what it would be. |
| tat (तत्) | nominative singular, neuter | that. That other-aimed negation. |
The phrases
The negations are for removing a false overlay: taking the self to be gross, and the rest. gṛhyatām (गृह्यताम्) is an imperative. Take them up for that. If instead the negation is paratra (परत्र), about something else, aimed at cancelling a thing rather than an overlay, then what you are doing is śūnyatāvarṇanam (शून्यतावर्णनम्), talking about emptiness.
This verse names the Buddhist teaching in order to keep it off this sentence. It does not explain śūnyatā (शून्यता). Nāgārjuna (नागार्जुन)'s verses do that, in their own book. Verse 24.18 there says śūnyatā (शून्यता) is pratītyasamutpāda (प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद), dependent arising. Do not drag that equation into this line. This line says what asthūla (अस्थूल) and the rest are for, inside Śaṅkara (शङ्कर)'s reading.
Sanskrit in this line
gṛhyatām (गृह्यताम्) is the imperative passive, 'let it be taken.' hi (हि) on the second line marks the consequence of aiming the negation paratra (परत्र). śūnyatā (शून्यता) is in the verse. It is named, not taught.
Say it back
What is asthūlādi (अस्थूलादि) for, in this verse, and what would it be if it were aimed at something else?