1.4.22
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.4.22
आनर्थक्यादकारणं कर्तुर् हि कारणानि गुणार्थो हि विधीयते
ānarthakyād akāraṇaṃ kartur hi kāraṇāni guṇārtho hi vidhīyate
The line
It is not a cause, because that would be useless. The causes belong to the agent, and what is enjoined is a quality of the rite.
नेपालीमा
त्यो कारण होइन, किनकि त्यसो हुनु व्यर्थ हुन्छ। कारणहरू कर्ताका हुन्, र विधिले तोकिएको कुरा कर्मको गुण हो।
Where it sits
akāraṇam (अकारणम्) answers kāraṇam (कारणम्) syāt (स्यात्) of 1.4.21. kartuḥ (कर्तुः) is the sacrificer of the Vaiśvānara (वैश्वानर), whose purity the praise states. guṇārthaḥ (गुणार्थः) is the one quality-sense of that offering, not a row of new cakes. ānarthakyāt (आनर्थक्यात्) is the same uselessness as in 1.4.18, now against the wish-reading.
Split: ānarthakyāt (आनर्थक्यात्) + a-kāraṇam (अ-कारणम्) + kartuḥ (कर्तुः) + hi (हि) + kāraṇāni (कारणानि) + guṇa-arthaḥ (गुण-अर्थः) + hi (हि) + vidhīyate (विधीयते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| ānarthakyāt (आनर्थक्यात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because it would be useless |
| a-kāraṇam (अ-कारणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not a cause |
| kartuḥ (कर्तुः) | genitive singular, masculine | of the agent |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | for |
| kāraṇāni (कारणानि) | nominative plural, neuter | the causes |
| guṇa-arthaḥ (गुण-अर्थः) | nominative singular, masculine | a sense that is a quality |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | for |
| vidhīyate (विधीयते) | third person singular, present, passive, of vi-dhā (वि-धा) | it is enjoined |
The phrases
If each wish were an injunction, the sentences would split. There is one sentence. It runs from he should offer the Vaiśvānara (वैश्वानर) on twelve potsherds when a son is born, through the lines about eight and the metres, and on to he is pure, full of lustre, an eater, vigorous, and possessed of cattle.
Purity and the rest would be causes belonging to the agent. What is enjoined is that quality-sense of the Vaiśvānara (वैश्वानर) offering: he is pure, and the rest. The eight and the other numbers connect as the stated reason inside the praise. Because the gāyatrī (गायत्री) purifies him with sacred lustre, he is pure. Because the trivṛt (त्रिवृत्) places lustre in him, he is full of lustre. The same runs through food, vigor, and cattle.
They cannot be injunctions aimed at those wishes. If they were not praise either, they would have no use. So the eight is not a cause. The lines are praise.
Sanskrit in this line
ānarthakyāt (आनर्थक्यात्) before a vowel is heard as ānarthakyād (आनर्थक्याद्). akāraṇam (अकारणम्) before kartuḥ (कर्तुः) is heard as akāraṇaṃ (अकारणं). kartuḥ (कर्तुः) before hi is heard as kartur. guṇārthaḥ (गुणार्थः) before hi is heard as guṇārtho (गुणार्थो). The two hi clauses give the two reasons.
Say it back
Say that purity and the rest are said of the man, and that eight potsherds stays inside the praise of the one Vaiśvānara (वैश्वानर).