15
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 15
भेदानां परिमाणात् समन्वयाच् छक्तितः प्रवृत्तेश् च कारणकार्यविभागादविभागाद् वैश्वरूपस्य
bhedānāṃ parimāṇāt samanvayāc chaktitaḥ pravṛtteś ca kāraṇakāryavibhāgād avibhāgād vaiśvarūpasya
The line
Because particulars are limited, because they hang together, because they proceed from a capacity, because cause and effect can be told apart, and because the world's variety is undivided at the source, there is an unmanifest cause.
नेपालीमा
विशेष सीमित भएकाले, तिनीहरू एकसाथ अडिएकाले, शक्तिबाट अघि बढेकाले, कारण र कार्य छुट्याउन सकिने भएकाले, र संसारको विविधता मूलमा अविभक्त भएकाले अव्यक्त कारण छ।
Where it sits
This is the inference verse 6 promised. Nothing here is seen directly. Each reason is a sāmānyato dṛṣṭa (सामान्यतो दृष्ट) move from pots, cloths, and moods to a source behind them.
Split: bhedānām (भेदानाम्) + parimāṇāt (परिमाणात्) + samanvayāt (समन्वयात्) + śaktitaḥ (शक्तितः) + pravṛtteḥ (प्रवृत्तेः) + ca (च) + kāraṇa-kārya-vibhāgāt (कारण-कार्य-विभागात्) + avibhāgāt (अविभागात्) + vaiśvarūpasya (वैश्वरूपस्य)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| bhedānām (भेदानाम्) | genitive plural, masculine | of the distinct things, the particulars of the manifest. |
| parimāṇāt (परिमाणात्) | ablative singular | because of their measure. They are finite. A finite effect wants a cause. The line is often read with kāraṇam asti (कारणमस्ति) carried into verse 16. |
| samanvayāt (समन्वयात्) | ablative singular | because they run together. Pleasure, pain, and dullness show up everywhere, so they share a source. |
| śaktitaḥ (शक्तितः) | indeclinable | from a capacity. Things arise according to a power already in the cause. |
| pravṛtteḥ (प्रवृत्तेः) | ablative singular, feminine | because of activity, the coming-forth. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| kāraṇa-kārya-vibhāgāt (कारण-कार्य-विभागात्) | ablative singular | because cause and effect are distinguished. We do tell clay from pot, so the cause is not identical with the presented effect. |
| avibhāgāt (अविभागात्) | ablative singular | because of non-distinction. At the far end the variety is not divided. |
| vaiśvarūpasya (वैश्वरूपस्य) | genitive singular | of the manifold form of the world. viśva (विश्व) is all. rūpa (रूप) is form. |
The phrases
The verse is a string of reasons with the conclusion held until the first words of verse 16: kāraṇam asty avyaktam (कारणमस्त्यव्यक्तम्), the unmanifest is a cause. Read 15 and the opening of 16 as one argument. That carrying across the verse is intended.
Some editions print vaiśvarūpyasya (वैश्वरूप्यस्य). The meaning is the same: the world's many forms.
Sanskrit in this line
A chain of ablatives is 'because.' When the conclusion is in the next verse, do not force a verb into this one. Wait for asti (अस्ति).
Say it back
Recite verse 15 and stop. Then say the three words that answer it, from the start of verse 16.