20
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 20
तस्मात् तत्संयोगादचेतनं चेतनावदिव लिङ्गम् गुणकर्तृत्वे च तथा कर्ता इव भवत्युदासीनः
tasmāt tatsaṃyogād acetanaṃ cetanāvad iva liṅgam guṇakartṛtve ca tathā kartā iva bhavaty udāsīnaḥ
The line
Because the two are joined, the unseeing evolute seems conscious, and the indifferent person, while the strands are the ones who act, seems to be the agent.
नेपालीमा
दुई जोडिएकाले नदेख्ने विकार चेतनजस्तो देखिन्छ, र उदासीन पुरुष, काम गर्ने गुण हुँदा पनि, कर्ताजस्तो देखिन्छ।
Where it sits
Verse 21 says why the conjunction happens at all. It is not an accident and not a fall. It is for seeing, and for release.
Split: tasmāt (तस्मात्) + tat-saṃyogāt (तत्-संयोगात्) + acetanam (अचेतनम्) + cetanā-vat (चेतना-वत्) + iva (इव) + liṅgam (लिङ्गम्) + guṇa-kartṛtve (गुण-कर्तृत्वे) + ca (च) + tathā (तथा) + kartā (कर्ता) + iva (इव) + bhavati (भवति) + udāsīnaḥ (उदासीनः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| tasmāt (तस्मात्) | ablative | from that. From the proximity the system has already required. |
| tat-saṃyogāt (तत्-संयोगात्) | ablative singular | from the conjunction of those two, person and nature. |
| acetanam (अचेतनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the unseeing. |
| cetanā-vat (चेतना-वत्) | indeclinable | as though possessing consciousness. |
| iva (इव) | indeclinable | as if. The verse's whole point is in this word. The likeness is not an identity. |
| liṅgam (लिङ्गम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the mark. Here the evolute, intellect first, which can look like a self. |
| guṇa-kartṛtve (गुण-कर्तृत्वे) | locative singular | while the strands are the agents. Locative of the circumstance. |
| kartā (कर्ता) | nominative singular, masculine | the agent. |
| bhavati (भवति) | present, third person singular | becomes, appears as. |
| udāsīnaḥ (उदासीनः) | nominative singular, masculine | the indifferent one. The person of verse 19. |
The phrases
Two mistakes, both marked iva (इव). The compound looks conscious. The person looks like a doer. Neither look is the fact.
This is what verse 1's pain is made of. Pain belongs to the strands. It is suffered as 'mine' because of this conjunction. Inquiry is the taking apart of the iva (इव).
Sanskrit in this line
iva (इव) does not decline. Whenever a Sāṅkhya (साङ्ख्य) line says iva (इव), stop and ask what is only seeming. cetanāvat (चेतनावत्) is -vat (-वत्) again, 'like,' the same suffix as dṛṣṭavat (दृष्टवत्) in verse 2.
Say it back
Say the two appearances, and say which one is the person.