1.4.30
Mīmāṃsā Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.4.30
अर्थाद् वा कल्पनैकदेशत्वात्
arthād vā kalpanaikadeśatvāt
The line
Or the sense decides, because the assumption is only of the part the action needs.
नेपालीमा
वा अर्थले निर्णय गर्छ, किनकि कल्पना कर्मलाई चाहिने भागको मात्र हो।
Where it sits
vā (वा) gives a ground beside vākyaśeṣāt (वाक्यशेषात्) of 1.4.29, for a sentence the tail does not settle. artha is the capacity of the action. The spoon, the knife, and the hand are the three instruments of cutting. The groats from the joined hands are the same rule. kalpanā (कल्पना) is the supposition one must add, and ekadeśa (एकदेश) says it stays a part of the act already stated.
Split: arthāt (अर्थात्) + vā (वा) + kalpanā-ekadeśatvāt (कल्पना-एकदेशत्वात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| arthāt (अर्थात्) | ablative singular, masculine | from the sense |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or |
| kalpanā-ekadeśatvāt (कल्पना-एकदेशत्वात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because what is assumed is only one part |
The phrases
He cuts with the spoon. He cuts with the large knife. He cuts with the hand. The first view, finding no distinction stated, uses each instrument for every material, the liquid, the compact piece, and the meat.
Or else the assumption follows the sense, which is the capacity. He cuts with the spoon where the spoon can cut. A verb that states an action has a capacity beside it. The arrangement is by what each can do. Liquids with the spoon, meat with the knife, compact pieces with the hand. The word is for the action, and the instrumental ending serves that action. It does not start a new act for every substance.
The same capacity fixes the joined hands. He offers groats after holding them out with the joined hands. The hands are opened to the width the offering needs. That is how the offering can be finished. As when one says he eats on a mat and he eats from a bronze plate: he sits on the mat, and the rice is in the plate. One assumes only that part. One does not build a second rite.
Sanskrit in this line
arthāt (अर्थात्) before vā (वा) is heard as arthād (अर्थाद्). kalpanaikadeśatvāt (कल्पनैकदेशत्वात्) is kalpanā (कल्पना) plus ekadeśatva (एकदेशत्व), ā (आ) plus e heard as ai. The line does not name the three instruments. Śabara (शबर) supplies the cutting sentences and the groats. Each instrumental is kept, and each is limited by what that instrument can do.
Say it back
Assign the spoon to liquids, the knife to meat, and the hand to compact pieces, and say the ending serves the cutting rather than starting another rite.