30
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 30
युगपच् चतुष्टयस्य तु वृत्तिः क्रमशश् च तस्य निर्दिष्टा दृष्टे तथाप्यदृष्टे त्रयस्य तत्पूर्विका वृत्तिः
yugapac catuṣṭayasya tu vṛttiḥ kramaśaś ca tasya nirdiṣṭā dṛṣṭe tathāpy adṛṣṭe trayasya tatpūrvikā vṛttiḥ
The line
The activity of the four is declared to be both simultaneous and successive. With what is seen it is so. With what is unseen, the activity of the three is preceded by that seeing.
नेपालीमा
चारको काम एकसाथ र पालैपालो दुवै भनिन्छ। देखिएकोमा त्यस्तै हुन्छ, र नदेखिएकोमा तीनको काम त्यो देखाइपछि आउँछ।
Where it sits
This is as close as the kārikā (कारिका) comes to a psychology of memory. Yoga 1.11 defines memory as not losing what was experienced. The two lines can sit together.
Split: yugapat (युगपत्) + catuṣṭayasya (चतुष्टयस्य) + tu (तु) + vṛttiḥ (वृत्तिः) + kramaśaḥ (क्रमशः) + ca (च) + tasya (तस्य) + nirdiṣṭā (निर्दिष्टा) + dṛṣṭe (दृष्टे) + tathā (तथा) + api (अपि) + adṛṣṭe (अदृष्टे) + trayasya (त्रयस्य) + tat-pūrvikā (तत्-पूर्विका) + vṛttiḥ (वृत्तिः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| yugapat (युगपत्) | indeclinable | at once, together. |
| catuṣṭayasya (चतुष्टयस्य) | genitive singular | of the group of four. Mind and the three? The usual reading is intellect, I-maker, mind, and a sense: four operating on one seen object. |
| kramaśaḥ (क्रमशः) | indeclinable | in sequence. |
| nirdiṣṭā (निर्दिष्टा) | nominative singular, feminine | declared, laid down. Agrees with vṛttiḥ (वृत्तिः). |
| dṛṣṭe (दृष्टे) | locative singular | in the case of what is seen, a present object. |
| adṛṣṭe (अदृष्टे) | locative singular | in the case of what is not seen. Memory, inference, a future plan. |
| trayasya (त्रयस्य) | genitive singular | of the three inner organs. |
| tat-pūrvikā (तत्-पूर्विका) | nominative singular, feminine | having that as its predecessor. The outer sense's notice comes first, and the inner three work on what it gave. |
The phrases
When an object is present, a sense and the inner organ can fire together, or in a rapid order. Both are allowed. yugapat (युगपत्) and kramaśaḥ (क्रमशः) are not a contradiction. Sometimes you take the whole at once. Sometimes attention walks.
When the object is not present, there is no fresh notice from outside. The three inner organs still work, and their work is preceded by a past notice. That is memory's shape, though the verse does not use the word.
Sanskrit in this line
Locative dṛṣṭe (दृष्टे) and adṛṣṭe (अदृष्टे) mean 'in the case of,' not 'inside a seen object.' The locative often marks the circumstance.
Say it back
Give one example of the four working at once, and one of the inner three working with the object gone.