40
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 40
पूर्वोत्पन्नमसक्तं नियतं महदादिसूक्ष्मपर्यन्तम् संसरति निरुपभोगं भावैरधिवासितं लिङ्गम्
pūrvotpannam asaktaṃ niyataṃ mahadādisūkṣmaparyantam saṃsarati nirupabhogaṃ bhāvair adhivāsitaṃ liṅgam
The line
The subtle body, produced of old, unstuck, constant, stretching from the great one to the subtle elements, transmigrates without enjoyment, scented by the dispositions.
नेपालीमा
सूक्ष्म शरीर उहिले बनेको, नटाँसिएको, स्थिर, महत्देखि सूक्ष्म भूतसम्म फैलिएको हुन्छ, र भावको बास्ना लिएर भोगबिना संसरण गर्छ।
Where it sits
Verse 41 says this body cannot exist with nothing to support it. Verse 42 says why it goes on at all: the person's purpose.
Split: pūrva-utpannam (पूर्व-उत्पन्नम्) + asaktam (असक्तम्) + niyatam (नियतम्) + mahat-ādi-sūkṣma-paryantam (महत्-आदि-सूक्ष्म-पर्यन्तम्) + saṃsarati (संसरति) + nir-upabhogam (निर्-उपभोगम्) + bhāvaiḥ (भावैः) + adhivāsitam (अधिवासितम्) + liṅgam (लिङ्गम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| pūrva-utpannam (पूर्व-उत्पन्नम्) | nominative singular, neuter | arisen before. It is not made at this birth. |
| asaktam (असक्तम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not attached, not stuck to one gross body. |
| niyatam (नियतम्) | nominative singular, neuter | constant. |
| mahat-ādi-sūkṣma-paryantam (महत्-आदि-सूक्ष्म-पर्यन्तम्) | nominative singular, neuter | having mahat (महत्) as its start and the subtle elements as its end. Intellect, I-maker, mind, senses, and tanmātras (तन्मात्र). |
| saṃsarati (संसरति) | present, third person singular | it transmigrates, it wanders through births. |
| nir-upabhogam (निर्-उपभोगम्) | nominative singular, neuter | without experience. The subtle body does not by itself enjoy. Enjoyment needs the gross particulars of verse 38. |
| bhāvaiḥ (भावैः) | instrumental plural | by the dispositions. Verse 43 names them: dharma (धर्म) and the rest. |
| adhivāsitam (अधिवासितम्) | nominative singular, neuter | perfumed, tinged. The dispositions scent it. |
| liṅgam (लिङ्गम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the mark, the subtle body. The subject, delayed until the end of the verse. |
The phrases
The adjectives come first, the noun liṅgam (लिङ्गम्) last, the verb saṃsarati (संसरति) in the middle. Gather the nominatives onto liṅgam (लिङ्गम्).
It wanders, but it does not taste. Taste is the gross body's. What it carries from life to life is the scent of bhāva (भाव): virtue, knowledge, dispassion, power, and their opposites.
Sanskrit in this line
bhāvaiḥ (भावैः) is instrumental, 'by means of the dispositions.' They are not the body. They color it. adhivāsita (अधिवासित) is a past participle, like cloth left in incense.
Say it back
What transmigrates, and what does it not do, by itself?