1.3
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā / 1. Pratyaya (प्रत्यय) / 1.3
न हि स्वभावो भावानां प्रत्ययादिषु विद्यते अविद्यमाने स्वभावे परभावो न विद्यते
na hi svabhāvo bhāvānāṃ pratyayādiṣu vidyate avidyamāne svabhāve parabhāvo na vidyate
The line
For the own-nature of things is not found in the conditions and so on. When own-nature is not found, other-nature is not found.
नेपालीमा
चीजहरूको स्वभाव प्रत्यय आदिमा पाइँदैन। स्वभाव नपाइँदा परभाव पनि पाइँदैन।
Where it sits
Verse 1.2 listed the conditions. Verse 1.3 says they do not contain a svabhāva (स्वभाव). Verse 1.4 says an action is neither with conditions nor without them, and asks whether the conditions themselves have the action.
Split: na (न) + hi (हि) + svabhāvaḥ (स्वभावः) + bhāvānām (भावानाम्) + pratyaya-ādiṣu (प्रत्यय-आदिषु) + vidyate (विद्यते) + avidyamāne (अविद्यमाने) + svabhāve (स्वभावे) + parabhāvaḥ (परभावः) + na (न) + vidyate (विद्यते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | for. |
| svabhāvaḥ (स्वभावः) | nominative singular, masculine | own-nature, a nature a thing has by itself. |
| bhāvānām (भावानाम्) | genitive plural, masculine | of existing things. |
| pratyaya-ādiṣu (प्रत्यय-आदिषु) | locative plural, masculine | in the conditions and the rest. ādi (आदि) takes in whatever else one would search. |
| vidyate (विद्यते) | present, third person singular, middle | is found. |
| avidyamāne (अविद्यमाने) | locative singular, masculine | when it is not found. Locative absolute, agreeing with svabhāve (स्वभावे). |
| svabhāve (स्वभावे) | locative singular, masculine | when own-nature is absent. |
| parabhāvaḥ (परभावः) | nominative singular, masculine | other-nature, a nature borrowed from another. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| vidyate (विद्यते) | present, third person singular, middle | is found. |
The phrases
svabhāva (स्वभाव) is not sitting inside the pratyayas (प्रत्यय). And parabhāva (परभाव) needs a svabhāva (स्वभाव) to be other than. If the first is not found, the second is not found.
This is the word the whole book turns on. śūnyatā (शून्यता), later, is the absence of this svabhāva (स्वभाव).
Sanskrit in this line
A locative absolute, avidyamāne svabhāve (अविद्यमाने स्वभावे), is 'when own-nature is not present.' The main clause is parabhāvo na vidyate (परभावो न विद्यते).
Say it back
If svabhāva (स्वभाव) is not found, what else fails?