6
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 6
सामान्यतस् तु दृष्टादतीन्द्रियाणां प्रतीतिरनुमानात् तस्मादपि चासिद्धं परोक्षमाप्तागमात् सिद्धम्
sāmānyatas tu dṛṣṭād atīndriyāṇāṃ pratītir anumānāt tasmād api cāsiddhaṃ parokṣam āptāgamāt siddham
The line
Things beyond the senses are known by inference from a general likeness. What is not settled even by that, and lies past sight, is settled by trusted tradition.
नेपालीमा
इन्द्रियबाहिरका कुरा सामान्य सादृश्यको अनुमानले जानिन्छन्। त्यसले पनि नटुङ्गिने र दृष्टिभन्दा परको कुरा विश्वासिलो परम्पराले टुङ्गिन्छ।
Where it sits
Verses 7 and 8 explain why nature is not seen, without concluding that it is not there. Verse 9 is the pattern of that inference: the effect is already in the cause. You are being shown the tool before the job.
Split: sāmānyataḥ (सामान्यतः) + tu (तु) + dṛṣṭāt (दृष्टात्) + atīndriyāṇām (अतीन्द्रियाणाम्) + pratītiḥ (प्रतीतिः) + anumānāt (अनुमानात्) + tasmāt (तस्मात्) + api (अपि) + ca (च) + asiddham (असिद्धम्) + parokṣam (परोक्षम्) + āpta-āgamāt (आप्त-आगमात्) + siddham (सिद्धम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| sāmānyataḥ (सामान्यतः) | indeclinable | from the general, in a general way. |
| tu (तु) | indeclinable | and, marking the turn. |
| dṛṣṭāt (दृष्टात्) | ablative singular, neuter | from what is seen. Here, from the kind of inference that starts in something seen and jumps to what is like it. |
| atīndriyāṇām (अतीन्द्रियाणाम्) | genitive plural, neuter | of things beyond the senses. ati (अति) is beyond. indriya (इन्द्रिय) is a sense. |
| pratītiḥ (प्रतीतिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the coming-to-know, the awareness. |
| anumānāt (अनुमानात्) | ablative singular, neuter | from inference. |
| tasmāt (तस्मात्) | ablative singular, neuter | from that, from inference. |
| api ca (अपि च) | indeclinables | and even. |
| asiddham (असिद्धम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not established. |
| parokṣam (परोक्षम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what is past sight. A further remove than merely 'too small for the eye.' |
| āpta-āgamāt (आप्त-आगमात्) | ablative singular, masculine | from trusted tradition. āgama (आगम) is what has come down. |
| siddham (सिद्धम्) | nominative singular, neuter | established. |
The phrases
The first line answers how prakṛti (प्रकृति) and puruṣa (पुरुष), which no eye sees, are known at all. The answer is inference, and the kind is sāmānyato dṛṣṭa (सामान्यतो दृष्ट): you have seen that a composite thing is for the sake of something else, and you carry that likeness to the world.
The second line draws a limit. Some things inference also cannot settle. Those are established from āptāgama (आप्तागम), trusted transmission. The school's own verses claim to be that, and so does the part of the Veda it still trusts as knowledge rather than as rite.
Sanskrit in this line
tasmād api (तस्मादपि) carries anumāna (अनुमान) forward. asiddham (असिद्धम्) agrees with parokṣam (परोक्षम्). Two nominatives again: the remote thing is unestablished by inference, and it is established from tradition.
Say it back
Say which means reaches prakṛti (प्रकृति), and which means the verse keeps in reserve.