25.4
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā / 25. Nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) / 25.4
भावस् तावन् न निर्वाणं जरामरणलक्षणम् प्रसज्येतास्ति भावो हि न जरामरणं विना
bhāvas tāvan na nirvāṇaṃ jarāmaraṇalakṣaṇam prasajyetāsti bhāvo hi na jarāmaraṇaṃ vinā
The line
Nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) is not, first of all, an existent. It would then follow that it had aging and death as its mark. For there is no existent without aging and death.
नेपालीमा
निर्वाण पहिले भएको चीज होइन, नत्र त्यसको चिन्ह बुढ्यौली र मृत्यु हुन्थ्यो। बुढ्यौली र मृत्यु बिनाको भएको चीज छैन।
Where it sits
25.3 said what nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) is called. 25.4 says it is not a bhāva (भाव). 25.5 adds: if it were a bhāva (भाव), it would be conditioned, and no unconditioned bhāva (भाव) is found.
Split: bhāvaḥ (भावः) + tāvat (तावत्) + na (न) + nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) + jarā-maraṇa-lakṣaṇam (जरा-मरण-लक्षणम्) + prasajyeta (प्रसज्येत) + asti (अस्ति) + bhāvaḥ (भावः) + hi (हि) + na (न) + jarā-maraṇam (जरा-मरणम्) + vinā (विना)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| bhāvaḥ (भावः) | nominative singular, masculine | an existent thing. |
| tāvat (तावत्) | indeclinable | for a start, first of all. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | nirvāṇa (निर्वाण). |
| jarā-maraṇa-lakṣaṇam (जरा-मरण-लक्षणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | having old age and death as its mark. The consequence, if it were a bhāva (भाव). |
| prasajyeta (प्रसज्येत) | optative passive, third person singular | it would follow, as an unwanted consequence. |
| asti (अस्ति) | present, third person singular | there is. |
| bhāvaḥ (भावः) | nominative singular, masculine | an existent. |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | for. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| jarā-maraṇam (जरा-मरणम्) | accusative singular, neuter | aging and death. |
| vinā (विना) | indeclinable | without. Governs the accusative. |
The phrases
tāvat (तावत्) starts the first half of a pair: first, nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) is not a bhāva (भाव). The reason is the mark. Whatever is a bhāva (भाव) is marked by aging and death. prasajyeta (प्रसज्येत) is the word this book uses for a consequence you cannot accept.
The second line states the rule the consequence rests on.
Sanskrit in this line
prasajyeta (प्रसज्येत) is the optative of an unwanted entailment. When you see it, the verse is saying 'you would then be stuck with.'
Say it back
What mark would nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) have, if it were a bhāva (भाव)?