12
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 12
प्रीत्यप्रीतिविषादात्मकाः प्रकाशप्रवृत्तिनियमार्थाः अन्योन्याभिभवाश्रयजननमिथुनवृत्तयश् च गुणाः
prītyaprītiviṣādātmakāḥ prakāśapravṛttiniyamārthāḥ anyonyābhibhavāśrayajananamithunavṛttayaś ca guṇāḥ
The line
The strands have pleasure, pain, and dullness as their nature, and light, activity, and restraint as their point. They overwhelm one another, support one another, give birth to one another, and pair.
नेपालीमा
गुणहरूको स्वभाव सुख, दुःख र विषाद हो, र तिनको प्रयोजन प्रकाश, प्रवृत्ति र नियम हो। तिनीहरू एकअर्कालाई थिच्छन्, एकअर्कालाई थाम्छन्, एकअर्काबाट जन्मिन्छन्, र जोडिन्छन्।
Where it sits
Verse 13 names them: sattva (सत्त्व), rajas (रज), tamas (तम). Everything you will call mind, sense, or element is these three in some proportion. puruṣa (पुरुष) has none of them. That was verse 11.
Split: prīti-aprīti-viṣāda-ātmakāḥ (प्रीति-अप्रीति-विषाद-आत्मकाः) + prakāśa-pravṛtti-niyama-arthāḥ (प्रकाश-प्रवृत्ति-नियम-अर्थाः) + anyonya-abhibhava-āśraya-janana-mithuna-vṛttayaḥ (अन्योन्य-अभिभव-आश्रय-जनन-मिथुन-वृत्तयः) + ca (च) + guṇāḥ (गुणाः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| prīti-aprīti-viṣāda-ātmakāḥ (प्रीति-अप्रीति-विषाद-आत्मकाः) | nominative plural, masculine | whose own nature is pleasure, displeasure, and dejection. ātman (आत्मन्) here is nature, not the person. prīti (प्रीति) is sattva (सत्त्व). aprīti (अप्रीति) is rajas (रज). viṣāda (विषाद) is tamas (तम). |
| prakāśa-pravṛtti-niyama-arthāḥ (प्रकाश-प्रवृत्ति-नियम-अर्थाः) | nominative plural, masculine | whose purpose is light, activity, and holding-back. artha (अर्थ) is what they are for. |
| anyonya-abhibhava-āśraya-janana-mithuna-vṛttayaḥ (अन्योन्य-अभिभव-आश्रय-जनन-मिथुन-वृत्तयः) | nominative plural, masculine | whose activities are mutual overwhelming, mutual support, mutual birth, and pairing. anyonya (अन्योन्य) is each other. vṛtti (वृत्ति) is activity. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| guṇāḥ (गुणाः) | nominative plural, masculine | the strands, the guṇas (गुण). The noun the adjectives have been aiming at. |
The phrases
Read each long compound from the end. They are ātmakāḥ (आत्मकाः), things whose self is pleasure, pain, and heaviness. They are arthāḥ (अर्थाः), things whose point is illumination, stirring, and restraint. They are vṛttayaḥ (वृत्तयः), things whose behavior is to dominate, lean, generate, and couple.
A guṇa (गुण) in this book is not a quality stuck to a substance, which is what Vaiśeṣika (वैशेषिक) means by guṇa (गुण). Here a guṇa (गुण) is a constituent strand of nature. Using the Vaiśeṣika (वैशेषिक) word for the Sāṅkhya (साङ्ख्य) thing is the most common confusion in the pair. Keep them apart.
Sanskrit in this line
The plural -āḥ (-आः) is masculine nominative. guṇāḥ (गुणाः) is masculine, so the long compounds take masculine endings even though prakṛti (प्रकृति) was feminine. The adjectives follow the noun they are aimed at, which is guṇāḥ (गुणाः), sitting at the end.
Say it back
Say the three natures and the three jobs, before you need the names sattva (सत्त्व), rajas (रज), tamas (तम).