39
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 39
सूक्ष्मा मातापितृजाः सह प्रभूतैस् त्रिधा विशेषाः स्युः सूक्ष्मास् तेषां नियता मातापितृजा निवर्तन्ते
sūkṣmā mātāpitṛjāḥ saha prabhūtais tridhā viśeṣāḥ syuḥ sūkṣmās teṣāṃ niyatā mātāpitṛjā nivartante
The line
Particulars are threefold: subtle ones, those born of mother and father, together with the gross elements. Of these, the subtle are constant. Those born of mother and father pass away.
नेपालीमा
विशेष तीन प्रकारका हुन्: सूक्ष्म, मातापिताबाट जन्मेका, र स्थूल भूतसँगै। यीमध्ये सूक्ष्म स्थिर हुन्छन्, र मातापिताबाट जन्मेका बित्छन्।
Where it sits
Rebirth in this book is not the person traveling. Verse 62 will say the person does not transmigrate. What transmigrates is the liṅga (लिङ्ग), the subtle body. This verse is the first piece of that claim.
Split: sūkṣmāḥ (सूक्ष्माः) + mātṛ-pitṛ-jāḥ (मातृ-पितृ-जाः) + saha (सह) + prabhūtaiḥ (प्रभूतैः) + tridhā (त्रिधा) + viśeṣāḥ (विशेषाः) + syuḥ (स्युः) + sūkṣmāḥ (सूक्ष्माः) + teṣām (तेषाम्) + niyatāḥ (नियताः) + mātṛ-pitṛ-jāḥ (मातृ-पितृ-जाः) + nivartante (निवर्तन्ते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| sūkṣmāḥ (सूक्ष्माः) | nominative plural | the subtle ones. Subtle bodies. |
| mātṛ-pitṛ-jāḥ (मातृ-पितृ-जाः) | nominative plural | born of mother and father. The gross body of a life. |
| prabhūtaiḥ (प्रभूतैः) | instrumental plural | with the gross elements. prabhūta (प्रभूत) is the element become fully arisen. |
| tridhā (त्रिधा) | indeclinable | in three ways. |
| viśeṣāḥ syuḥ (विशेषाः स्युः) | nominative, optative | the particulars would be, are. |
| niyatāḥ (नियताः) | nominative plural | constant, fixed. They last through death. |
| nivartante (निवर्तन्ते) | present, third person plural | they cease, they turn back. The gross body ends. |
The phrases
Three bodies, or three ways a particular shows up: a subtle body, a body born of parents, and the bare elements those are made with.
What dies is mātāpitṛja (मातापितृज). What continues, and carries the dispositions of verse 40, is the subtle. The elements themselves are not a person's body. They are the stock.
Sanskrit in this line
syuḥ (स्युः) is the optative of as (अस्), 'they would be,' often used for a calm 'they are.' nivartante (निवर्तन्ते) is middle: they cease of themselves.
Say it back
Which body is niyata (नियत), and which nivartate (निवर्तते)?