29
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 29
स्वालक्षण्यं वृत्तिस् त्रयस्य सैषा भवत्यसामान्या सामान्यकरणवृत्तिः प्राणाद्या वायवः पञ्च
svālakṣaṇyaṃ vṛttis trayasya saiṣā bhavaty asāmānyā sāmānyakaraṇavṛttiḥ prāṇādyā vāyavaḥ pañca
The line
The activity of the three is specific, each with its own mark. The common activity of the instruments is the five winds, prāṇa (प्राण) and the rest.
नेपालीमा
तीनको काम आआफ्नो चिह्नसहित विशिष्ट हुन्छ। करणहरूको साझा काम प्राण आदि पाँच वायु हुन्।
Where it sits
A student of Yoga will hear prāṇa (प्राण) and think of breath-restraint, sūtra (सूत्र) 2.49. Here the five winds are simply named as the body's shared function. The kārikā (कारिका) does not teach the restraint.
Split: sva-ālakṣaṇyam (स्व-आलक्षण्यम्) + vṛttiḥ (वृत्तिः) + trayasya (त्रयस्य) + sā (सा) + eṣā (एषा) + bhavati (भवति) + asāmānyā (असामान्या) + sāmānya-karaṇa-vṛttiḥ (सामान्य-करण-वृत्तिः) + prāṇa-ādyāḥ (प्राण-आद्याः) + vāyavaḥ (वायवः) + pañca (पञ्च)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| sva-ālakṣaṇyam (स्व-आलक्षण्यम्) | nominative singular, neuter | each having its own mark. |
| vṛttiḥ (वृत्तिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the activity. |
| trayasya (त्रयस्य) | genitive singular | of the three. Intellect, I-maker, and mind, the inner organ. |
| sā eṣā (सा एषा) | nominative singular, feminine | this very one. The specific activity. |
| bhavati (भवति) | present, third person singular | is. |
| asāmānyā (असामान्या) | nominative singular, feminine | not common. Peculiar to each. |
| sāmānya-karaṇa-vṛttiḥ (सामान्य-करण-वृत्तिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the activity common to the instruments. |
| prāṇa-ādyāḥ (प्राण-आद्याः) | nominative plural | prāṇa (प्राण) and the rest. |
| vāyavaḥ (वायवः) | nominative plural, masculine | winds. |
| pañca (पञ्च) | nominative | five. prāṇa (प्राण), apāna (अपान), samāna (समान), udāna (उदान), vyāna (व्यान), the five breaths of one body. |
The phrases
The three inner organs do not share one job. Intellect determines, the I-maker claims, mind intends. That was verses 23, 24, and 27. This verse says those jobs stay unshared.
What they do share with the whole instrument is the five breaths. Breathing is not a sixth sense. It is the common running of the machine.
Sanskrit in this line
trayasya (त्रयस्य) is genitive of tri (त्रि), three. vāyavaḥ (वायवः) is nominative plural of vāyu (वायु), wind. The plural -avaḥ (-अवः) is the pattern of a stem in -u (-उ).
Say it back
Name the three inner organs and one job each. Leave the five winds as a count.