25.2
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā / 25. Nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) / 25.2
यद्यशून्यमिदं सर्वमुदयो नास्ति न व्ययः प्रहाणाद् वा निरोधाद् वा कस्य निर्वाणमिष्यते
yady aśūnyam idaṃ sarvam udayo nāsti na vyayaḥ prahāṇād vā nirodhād vā kasya nirvāṇam iṣyate
The line
If all this is not empty, there is no arising and no passing away. Of what, then, by abandonment or by cessation, is nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) maintained?
नेपालीमा
यदि यो सबै शून्य होइन भने उत्पत्ति छैन र नाश छैन। त्यसपछि त्यागले वा निरोधले कसको निर्वाण मानिन्छ?
Where it sits
25.1 was the objector. 25.2 is the reply in the objector's own shape. 25.3 will say what nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) is called: not abandoned, not attained, not cut off, not permanent, not ceased, not arisen.
Split: yadi (यदि) + aśūnyam (अशून्यम्) + idam (इदम्) + sarvam (सर्वम्) + udayaḥ (उदयः) + na (न) + asti (अस्ति) + na (न) + vyayaḥ (व्ययः) + prahāṇāt (प्रहाणात्) + vā (वा) + nirodhāt (निरोधात्) + vā (वा) + kasya (कस्य) + nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) + iṣyate (इष्यते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| yadi (यदि) | indeclinable | if. |
| aśūnyam (अशून्यम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not empty, possessed of svabhāva (स्वभाव). |
| idam (इदम्) | nominative singular, neuter | this. |
| sarvam (सर्वम्) | nominative singular, neuter | all. |
| udayaḥ (उदयः) | nominative singular, masculine | arising. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| asti (अस्ति) | present, third person singular | there is. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| vyayaḥ (व्ययः) | nominative singular, masculine | passing away. |
| prahāṇāt (प्रहाणात्) | ablative singular, neuter | by abandoning. |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. |
| nirodhāt (निरोधात्) | ablative singular, masculine | by cessation. |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. |
| kasya (कस्य) | genitive singular | of what. |
| nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | nirvāṇa (निर्वाण). |
| iṣyate (इष्यते) | present passive, third person singular | is held. |
The phrases
The same sentence as 25.1, with aśūnyam (अशून्यम्) where śūnyam (शून्यम्) stood. If things have own-nature, they do not arise and do not pass either, because own-nature does not begin and does not stop. Then nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) as abandonment or cessation is just as homeless.
The objection is turned around. Emptiness is not the special threat. Both pictures fail nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) if nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) is the abandoning of a real thing.
Sanskrit in this line
a- (अ-) on śūnyam (शून्यम्) is the whole change from the previous verse. Everything else is repeated so the parallel is audible.
Say it back
Which one word changed, and what does the repetition do?