1
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 1
दुःखत्रयाभिघाताज् जिज्ञासा तदभिघातके हेतौ दृष्टे सापार्था चेन् नैकान्तात्यन्ततोऽभावात्
duḥkhatrayābhighātāj jijñāsā tadabhighātake hetau dṛṣṭe sāpārthā cen naikāntātyantato 'bhāvāt
The line
The desire to know arises because three kinds of pain strike, and it looks for what removes them. If you say ordinary remedies already do that, they do not, because they are neither certain nor final.
नेपालीमा
तीन प्रकारको दुःख लाग्ने भएकाले जान्ने इच्छा उठ्छ, र त्यो दुःख हटाउने कुरा खोज्छ। यदि साधारण उपायहरूले त्यो पहिले नै गर्छन् भन्नुहुन्छ भने, गर्दैनन्, किनकि ती निश्चित पनि होइनन् र अन्तिम पनि होइनन्।
Where it sits
This is the whole book's reason for existing. The three pains are the ones a later verse will name from inside and from outside: pain of the body and mind, pain from other beings, pain from the world. You do not need the list yet. You need the shape: suffering, an inquiry, and the claim that what people already try is not enough.
Split: duḥkha-traya-abhighātāt (दुःख-त्रय-अभिघातात्) + jijñāsā (जिज्ञासा) + tad-abhighātake (तद्-अभिघातके) + hetau (हेतौ) + dṛṣṭe (दृष्टे) + sā (सा) + apārthā (अपार्था) + cet (चेत्) + na (न) + ekānta-atyantataḥ (एकान्त-अत्यन्ततः) + abhāvāt (अभावात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| duḥkha-traya-abhighātāt (दुःख-त्रय-अभिघातात्) | ablative singular, masculine | from the blow of the three pains. duḥkha (दुःख) is pain. traya (त्रय) is a group of three. abhighāta (अभिघात) is a striking. |
| jijñāsā (जिज्ञासा) | nominative singular, feminine | the desire to know. The book opens on an inquiry. |
| tad-abhighātake (तद्-अभिघातके) | locative singular, masculine | in the cause that strikes that pain back. tat (तत्) is the three pains. abhighātaka (अभिघातक) is what removes the blow. |
| hetau (हेतौ) | locative singular, masculine | in the cause. The inquiry is aimed at the cause of removal, not at a description for its own sake. |
| dṛṣṭe (दृष्टे) | locative singular, masculine | in what is seen, the ordinary remedies: medicine, pleasure, a plan. |
| sā (सा) | nominative singular, feminine | that, the inquiry. It agrees with jijñāsā (जिज्ञासा). |
| apārthā (अपार्था) | nominative singular, feminine | pointless. a- (अ-) is not. artha (अर्थ) here is a point, a use. |
| cet (चेत्) | indeclinable | if. It marks the objection. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. The book's reply. |
| ekānta-atyantataḥ (एकान्त-अत्यन्ततः) | indeclinable, ablative in sense | finally and completely. ekānta (एकान्त) is one end, certainty. atyanta (अत्यन्त) is beyond the end, absolute. |
| abhāvāt (अभावात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because of the absence. Ordinary remedies are absent in that final way. |
The phrases
jijñāsā (जिज्ञासा) is the subject. It arises from the blow, so the cause of the inquiry is in the ablative duḥkhatrayābhighātāt (दुःखत्रयाभिघातात्).
tadabhighātake hetau (तदभिघातके हेतौ) is where the inquiry looks: in the cause that can cancel the pain. Two locatives, one inside the other. The cause is the remover.
The second line is an objection and a reply, packed together. If the inquiry is pointless once a seen remedy exists, the answer is na (न): a seen remedy is not final and not total. abhāvāt (अभावात्) gives the reason, from the absence of that finality.
a (अ) + a (अ) across na (न) and ekānta (एकान्त) does not join here, because na (न) is its own word. Inside atyantataḥ (अत्यन्ततः), a (अ) + a (अ) of ekānta (एकान्त) and atyanta (अत्यन्त) has already become ā (आ) in ekāntātyantataḥ (एकान्तात्यन्ततः). The apostrophe in 'bhāvāt (ऽभावात्) is a dropped a (अ): ataḥ abhāvāt (अतः अभावात्) was not the join. The join is atyantato 'bhāvāt (अत्यन्ततोऽभावात्), o (ओ) staying and the next a (अ) dropped.
Sanskrit in this line
A compound is read from the end. duḥkha-traya-abhighāta (दुःख-त्रय-अभिघात) is a blow, and the blow is of the triad, and the triad is of pain. The ablative -āt (-आत्) answers 'from what?' The locative -e (-ए) in hetau (हेतौ) answers 'aimed where?' Two different cases, two different jobs, in one line.
Say it back
Cover the English. Say what jijñāsā (जिज्ञासा) is, and why dṛṣṭe (दृष्टे) does not stop it. Use abhighāta (अभिघात) and hetu (हेतु).