24.18
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā / 24. Āryasatya (आर्यसत्य) / 24.18
यः प्रतीत्यसमुत्पादः शून्यतां तां प्रचक्ष्महे सा प्रज्ञप्तिरुपादाय प्रतिपत् सैव मध्यमा
yaḥ pratītyasamutpādaḥ śūnyatāṃ tāṃ pracakṣmahe sā prajñaptir upādāya pratipat saiva madhyamā
The line
Dependent arising is what we call emptiness. That is a designation in dependence, and it is itself the middle way.
नेपालीमा
अरूमा अडेर उठ्नुलाई हामी शून्यता भन्छौँ। त्यो अडेर राखिएको नाम हो, र त्यही मध्यको बाटो हो।
Where it sits
Chapter 1 examined conditions and did not yet say this sentence. It is said here, in the chapter on the noble truths, after an objector has charged that emptiness destroys the truths, the Buddha, and the path. The verse answers by identifying emptiness with dependent arising. Chapter 25, next, is nirvāṇa (निर्वाण), so the identification is not left only as a slogan.
Split: yaḥ (यः) + pratītya-samutpādaḥ (प्रतीत्य-समुत्पादः) + śūnyatām (शून्यताम्) + tām (ताम्) + pracakṣmahe (प्रचक्ष्महे) + sā (सा) + prajñaptiḥ (प्रज्ञप्तिः) + upādāya (उपादाय) + pratipat (प्रतिपत्) + sā (सा) + eva (एव) + madhyamā (मध्यमा)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| yaḥ (यः) | nominative singular, masculine | that which. |
| pratītya-samutpādaḥ (प्रतीत्य-समुत्पादः) | nominative singular, masculine | dependent arising. |
| śūnyatām (शून्यताम्) | accusative singular, feminine | emptiness. The absence of svabhāva (स्वभाव). |
| tām (ताम्) | accusative singular, feminine | that. Agrees with śūnyatām (शून्यताम्). |
| pracakṣmahe (प्रचक्ष्महे) | present, first person plural, middle | we declare, we call. |
| sā (सा) | nominative singular, feminine | that. Emptiness, or the dependent arising just identified with it. |
| prajñaptiḥ (प्रज्ञप्तिः) | nominative singular, feminine | a designation, a conceptual assigning. |
| upādāya (उपादाय) | absolutive | having taken up, in dependence on. upādāya prajñapti (उपादाय प्रज्ञप्ति) is a designation that depends on a basis. |
| pratipat (प्रतिपत्) | nominative singular, feminine | the path, the way of proceeding. A consonant stem, nominative pratipat (प्रतिपत्). |
| sā (सा) | nominative singular, feminine | that same. |
| eva (एव) | indeclinable | itself. Joined saiva (सैव). |
| madhyamā (मध्यमा) | nominative singular, feminine | the middle. Agrees with pratipat (प्रतिपत्). |
The phrases
Three names for one thing. What is pratītyasamutpāda (प्रतीत्यसमुत्पाद) is what we call śūnyatā (शून्यता). That is a prajñapti (प्रज्ञप्ति) made in dependence, upādāya (उपादाय). And that is the madhyamā pratipat (मध्यमा प्रतिपत्).
Emptiness is not a blank, and not a denial that anything happens. It is the other name of arising in dependence. The middle is the middle between 'it is, by its own nature' and 'it is not, so nothing occurs.'
Sanskrit in this line
pracakṣmahe (प्रचक्ष्महे) is 'we call.' The accusative śūnyatāṃ tām (शून्यतां ताम्) is what we call it. sā eva (सा एव) ties the path to that same thing. One identification, three words.
Say it back
Say the three names as one.