42
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 42
पुरुषार्थहेतुकमिदं निमित्तनैमित्तिकप्रसङ्गेन प्रकृतेर् विभुत्वयोगान् नटवद् व्यवतिष्ठते लिङ्गम्
puruṣārthahetukam idaṃ nimittanaimittikaprasaṅgena prakṛter vibhutvayogān naṭavad vyavatiṣṭhate liṅgam
The line
This subtle body, caused by the person's purpose, through the link of occasion and result, and by union with nature's wide power, takes its stand like an actor.
नेपालीमा
यो सूक्ष्म शरीर पुरुषको प्रयोजनले, निमित्त र फलको जोडले, र प्रकृतिको व्यापक शक्तिको संयोगले नटझैँ उभिन्छ।
Where it sits
Verses 43 to 45 name the occasions: dharma (धर्म) sends upward, knowledge releases, passion binds. The actor's next role is not random.
Split: puruṣa-artha-hetukam (पुरुष-अर्थ-हेतुकम्) + idam (इदम्) + nimitta-naimittika-prasaṅgena (निमित्त-नैमित्तिक-प्रसङ्गेन) + prakṛteḥ (प्रकृतेः) + vibhutva-yogāt (विभुत्व-योगात्) + naṭa-vat (नट-वत्) + vyavatiṣṭhate (व्यवतिष्ठते) + liṅgam (लिङ्गम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| puruṣa-artha-hetukam (पुरुष-अर्थ-हेतुकम्) | nominative singular, neuter | having the person's purpose as its cause. |
| idam (इदम्) | nominative singular, neuter | this. |
| nimitta-naimittika-prasaṅgena (निमित्त-नैमित्तिक-प्रसङ्गेन) | instrumental singular | by the connection of occasion and what the occasion brings. nimitta (निमित्त) is the occasion, virtue and the rest. naimittika (नैमित्तिक) is the result that follows. |
| prakṛteḥ vibhutva-yogāt (प्रकृतेः विभुत्व-योगात्) | ablative | from union with the pervasion of nature. Nature is capable everywhere, so a body can arise. |
| naṭa-vat (नट-वत्) | indeclinable | like an actor. One actor, many parts. |
| vyavatiṣṭhate (व्यवतिष्ठते) | present, third person singular | it takes its stand, it appears in a role. |
| liṅgam (लिङ्गम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the subtle body. |
The phrases
Why does the support keep being taken? Not because the person wants another life in the way a planner wants a house. Because the purpose of verse 21 is unfinished, and because dispositions have occasions that drag a matching birth.
naṭavat (नटवत्) is the image to keep beside the lame and the blind. The subtle body plays parts. It is not the person who is costumed. Verse 59 will give nature herself the dancer's exit.
Sanskrit in this line
-ka (-क) on hetuka (हेतुक) means 'having that as cause.' Instrumental -ena (-एन) on prasaṅgena (प्रसङ्गेन) is 'by means of this connection.'
Say it back
Who is the actor in the image, the person or the liṅga (लिङ्ग)?