21
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities / 21
पुरुषस्य दर्शनार्थं कैवल्यार्थं तथा प्रधानस्य पङ्ग्वन्धवदुभयोरपि संयोगस् तत्कृतः सर्गः
puruṣasya darśanārthaṃ kaivalyārthaṃ tathā pradhānasya paṅgvandhavad ubhayor api saṃyogas tatkṛtaḥ sargaḥ
The line
The conjunction is like that of the lame and the blind, for the person's seeing and aloneness, and likewise for nature's. From that conjunction comes creation.
नेपालीमा
संयोग लङ्गडो र अन्धाको जस्तो हो; यो पुरुषको देखाइ र कैवल्यका लागि हुन्छ, र प्रकृतिका लागि पनि त्यस्तै हुन्छ। त्यो संयोगबाट सृष्टि आउँछ।
Where it sits
The map of what is real is finished: two, joined, for a purpose that ends. Verse 22 starts the order of the creation. You are leaving proof and entering the sequence.
Split: puruṣasya (पुरुषस्य) + darśana-artham (दर्शन-अर्थम्) + kaivalya-artham (कैवल्य-अर्थम्) + tathā (तथा) + pradhānasya (प्रधानस्य) + paṅgu-andha-vat (पङ्गु-अन्ध-वत्) + ubhayoḥ (उभयोः) + api (अपि) + saṃyogaḥ (संयोगः) + tat-kṛtaḥ (तत्-कृतः) + sargaḥ (सर्गः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| puruṣasya (पुरुषस्य) | genitive singular | of the person. |
| darśana-artham (दर्शन-अर्थम्) | accusative of purpose | for the sake of seeing. |
| kaivalya-artham (कैवल्य-अर्थम्) | accusative of purpose | for the sake of aloneness. |
| tathā (तथा) | indeclinable | and likewise. |
| pradhānasya (प्रधानस्य) | genitive singular | of nature, the chief. |
| paṅgu-andha-vat (पङ्गु-अन्ध-वत्) | indeclinable | like the lame and the blind. The lame can see and cannot walk. The blind can walk and cannot see. Together they move. |
| ubhayoḥ (उभयोः) | genitive dual | of both. |
| api (अपि) | indeclinable | also, even. Both have a purpose, not only the person. |
| saṃyogaḥ (संयोगः) | nominative singular, masculine | the conjunction. |
| tat-kṛtaḥ (तत्-कृतः) | nominative singular, masculine | made by that. |
| sargaḥ (सर्गः) | nominative singular, masculine | the creation, the letting-forth. From sṛj (सृज्), to emit. |
The phrases
The purposes are crossed in the usual reading. The person's conjunction is for seeing, and also, in the end, for kaivalya (कैवल्य). Nature's conjunction is for that same kaivalya (कैवल्य), her release from being seen. tathā (तथा) shares the purposes across the two genitives. The commentaries spend pages on which purpose belongs to which. Hold both: seeing, and the end of the need to see.
paṅgvandhavat (पङ्ग्वन्धवत्) is the picture to keep. Neither is complete as an agent of the world. The person does not move. Nature does not see.
tatkṛtaḥ sargaḥ (तत्कृतः सर्गः) : the world that verse 22 will list is not a third thing. It is what this conjunction does.
Sanskrit in this line
Dual genitive ubhayoḥ (उभयोः), 'of the two.' The dual is the number Sanskrit keeps and English folds into the plural. -artham (-अर्थम्) at the end of a compound is 'for the sake of,' and it sits in the accusative as an adverb.
Say it back
Tell the lame-and-blind picture without the Sanskrit, then put saṃyoga (संयोग) and sarga (सर्ग) back on it.