1.1.21
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.21
अनपेक्षत्वात्
anapekṣatvāt
The line
Because it does not depend on a cause of destruction.
नेपालीमा
नाशको कारणमा नअड्ने भएकाले।
Where it sits
The subject is still the eternal word of 1.1.18. Anapekṣatva (अनपेक्षत्व) in 1.1.5 was the independence of verbal testimony. Here the same abstract is said of the word: it does not depend on a cause that would end it.
Split: anapekṣatvāt (अनपेक्षत्वात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| anapekṣatvāt (अनपेक्षत्वात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because it does not depend on a destroying cause |
The phrases
Some things are known to perish even when we never saw them made. We see the cause that will destroy them. A cloth perishes when its threads perish, or when the weave comes apart.
No such cause is known for the word. There is nothing of which one can say: when that goes, the word will go. The word does not depend on a destroyer. That independence is a reason for its lasting.
Sanskrit in this line
The suffix tva makes the abstract, and the prefix a negates it. The ablative is one more reason under nityaḥ (नित्यः) syāt (स्यात्).
Say it back
Contrast the cloth, which has a known way of perishing, with the word, which has none.