4
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 4
दृष्टमनुमानमाप्तवचनं च सर्वप्रमाणसिद्धत्वात् त्रिविधं प्रमाणमिष्टं प्रमेयसिद्धिः प्रमाणाद् धि
dṛṣṭam anumānam āptavacanaṃ ca sarvapramāṇasiddhatvāt trividhaṃ pramāṇam iṣṭaṃ prameyasiddhiḥ pramāṇād dhi
The line
Perception, inference, and trusted speech are accepted as the three means of knowing, because every means stands by them. What is known is established from a means of knowing.
नेपालीमा
प्रत्यक्ष, अनुमान र आप्तवचन तीन जान्ने साधन मानिन्छन्, किनकि हरेक साधन तिनीहरूमा अडिन्छ। जानिएको कुरा जान्ने साधनबाट सिद्ध हुन्छ।
Where it sits
Nyāya (न्याय) will name four means and add comparison. Mīmāṃsā (मीमांसा) will argue about implication. Sāṅkhya (साङ्ख्य) stops at three. Verse 5 says what each one is. Verse 6 says which one reaches what the senses cannot.
Split: dṛṣṭam (दृष्टम्) + anumānam (अनुमानम्) + āpta-vacanam (आप्त-वचनम्) + ca (च) + sarva-pramāṇa-siddhatvāt (सर्व-प्रमाण-सिद्धत्वात्) + tri-vidham (त्रि-विधम्) + pramāṇam (प्रमाणम्) + iṣṭam (इष्टम्) + prameya-siddhiḥ (प्रमेय-सिद्धिः) + pramāṇāt (प्रमाणात्) + hi (हि)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| dṛṣṭam (दृष्टम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the seen. Perception. |
| anumānam (अनुमानम्) | nominative singular, neuter | inference. |
| āpta-vacanam (आप्त-वचनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the speech of a trusted person. āpta (आप्त) is someone who has got at the thing and reports it straight. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| sarva-pramāṇa-siddhatvāt (सर्व-प्रमाण-सिद्धत्वात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because of the fact that every means of knowing is established. The other candidates, comparison and the rest, are already inside these three. |
| tri-vidham (त्रि-विधम्) | nominative singular, neuter | threefold. |
| pramāṇam (प्रमाणम्) | nominative singular, neuter | a means of valid knowing. |
| iṣṭam (इष्टम्) | nominative singular, neuter | accepted. The school's choice. |
| prameya-siddhiḥ (प्रमेय-सिद्धिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the establishing of what is to be known. prameya (प्रमेय) is the object. siddhi (सिद्धि) is its being settled. |
| pramāṇāt (प्रमाणात्) | ablative singular, neuter | from a means of knowing. |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | indeed, for. |
The phrases
The first line names three means and gives the reason the list stops at three: every means there is gets its standing from these.
trividhaṃ pramāṇam iṣṭam (त्रिविधं प्रमाणमिष्टम्) is 'A is B' with both sides nominative. The means is accepted, and what is accepted is that it is threefold.
prameyasiddhiḥ pramāṇād dhi (प्रमेयसिद्धिः प्रमाणाद् धि) says you do not get a known object except through a means. hi (हि) is the push of the sentence: this is why the list matters.
Some manuscripts read sarvaprameyasiddheḥ (सर्वप्रमेयसिद्धेः), 'because every object gets established,' in place of sarvapramāṇasiddhatvāt (सर्वप्रमाणसिद्धत्वात्). The point holds either way. This sitting recites pramāṇa (प्रमाण).
Sanskrit in this line
pramāṇād dhi (प्रमाणाद् धि) is pramāṇāt (प्रमाणात्) plus hi (हि). Before h (ह्), that t (त्) is heard as d (द्). The word is hi (हि), 'indeed.' It is not a separate verb.
Say it back
Say the three means, and say why the verse thinks two more would be extra.