25.6
Mūlamadhyamakakārikā / 25. Nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) / 25.6
भावश् च यदि निर्वाणमनुपादाय तत् कथम् निर्वाणं नानुपादाय कश्चिद् भावो हि विद्यते
bhāvaś ca yadi nirvāṇam anupādāya tat katham nirvāṇaṃ nānupādāya kaścid bhāvo hi vidyate
The line
And if nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) were an existent, how is that nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) without appropriation? For no existent at all is found without appropriation.
नेपालीमा
यदि निर्वाण भएको चीज हुन्थ्यो भने त्यो निर्वाण उपादान बिना कसरी होस्? कुनै भएको चीज पनि उपादान बिना पाइँदैन।
Where it sits
25.4, 25.5, and 25.6 are three marks a bhāva (भाव) cannot shake off: aging and death, being conditioned, being dependent on appropriation. 25.7 asks: if it is not a bhāva (भाव), will it then be an abhāva (अभाव), a nonexistent?
Split: bhāvaḥ (भावः) + ca (च) + yadi (यदि) + nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) + anupādāya (अनुपादाय) + tat (तत्) + katham (कथम्) + nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) + na (न) + anupādāya (अनुपादाय) + kaścid (कश्चिद्) + bhāvaḥ (भावः) + hi (हि) + vidyate (विद्यते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| bhāvaḥ (भावः) | nominative singular, masculine | an existent. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| yadi (यदि) | indeclinable | if. |
| nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | nirvāṇa (निर्वाण). |
| anupādāya (अनुपादाय) | absolutive | without having appropriated, without clinging to a basis. upa-ā-dā (उप-आ-दा). |
| tat (तत्) | nominative singular, neuter | that. |
| katham (कथम्) | indeclinable | how. |
| nirvāṇam (निर्वाणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | nirvāṇa (निर्वाण). |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| anupādāya (अनुपादाय) | absolutive | without appropriation, again. |
| kaścid (कश्चिद्) | nominative singular, masculine | any. |
| bhāvaḥ (भावः) | nominative singular, masculine | existent. |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | for. |
| vidyate (विद्यते) | present, third person singular, middle | is found. |
The phrases
Every bhāva (भाव) is upādāya (उपादाय), in dependence on a taken-up basis. anupādāya (अनुपादाय) is how nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) would have to stand if it were free. No bhāva (भाव) is found that way. So nirvāṇa (निर्वाण) is not a bhāva (भाव).
The absolutive anupādāya (अनुपादाय) is 'not having taken something up.'
Sanskrit in this line
upādāya (उपादाय) will return in 24.18's prajñaptir upādāya (प्रज्ञप्तिरुपादाय), a designation in dependence. Here the point is narrower: a bhāva (भाव) always leans on something taken up.
Say it back
What does every bhāva (भाव) lean on?