48
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 48
भेदस् तमसोऽष्टविधो मोहस्य च दशविधो महामोहः तामिस्रोऽष्टादशधा तथा भवत्यन्धतामिस्रः
bhedas tamaso 'ṣṭavidho mohasya ca daśavidho mahāmohaḥ tāmisro 'ṣṭādaśadhā tathā bhavaty andhatāmisraḥ
The line
Darkness has eight divisions, confusion ten, great confusion eighteen. Gloom is eighteenfold, and blind gloom is so as well.
नेपालीमा
अन्धकारका आठ विभाग, मोहका दस र महामोहका अठार हुन्छन्। तामिस्र अठार प्रकारको हुन्छ, र अन्धतामिस्र पनि त्यस्तै हुन्छ।
Where it sits
This is the darkest page in the inventory. The use of it is to see error as specific, not as a fog. The way out, verse 51, is just as specific.
Split: bhedaḥ (भेदः) + tamasaḥ (तमसः) + aṣṭa-vidhaḥ (अष्ट-विधः) + mohasya (मोहस्य) + ca (च) + daśa-vidhaḥ (दश-विधः) + mahā-mohaḥ (महा-मोहः) + tāmisraḥ (तामिस्रः) + aṣṭādaśa-dhā (अष्टादश-धा) + tathā (तथा) + bhavati (भवति) + andha-tāmisraḥ (अन्ध-तामिस्रः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| bhedaḥ (भेदः) | nominative singular, masculine | the division. |
| tamasaḥ (तमसः) | genitive singular | of darkness. One name of the first error. The commentaries also align these five with the five afflictions Yoga lists. |
| aṣṭa-vidhaḥ (अष्ट-विधः) | nominative singular, masculine | eightfold. Eight kinds of ignorance about the tattvas, in the usual count. |
| mohasya daśa-vidhaḥ (मोहस्य दश-विधः) | genitive, nominative | of confusion, tenfold. |
| mahāmohaḥ (महामोहः) | nominative singular, masculine | great confusion. Attachment to the ten objects, subtle and gross, counted as eighteen with the divine and human ways of it. |
| tāmisraḥ (तामिस्रः) | nominative singular, masculine | gloom. The eighteenfold aversion that follows the ten objects. |
| andha-tāmisraḥ (अन्ध-तामिस्रः) | nominative singular, masculine | blind gloom. Fear and the dread of death, counted eighteenfold in the same way. |
| aṣṭādaśadhā (अष्टादशधा) | indeclinable | eighteenfold. |
| tathā bhavati (तथा भवति) | indeclinable, verb | and so it is, of the last. |
The phrases
Five names: tamas (तम), moha (मोह), mahāmoha (महामोह), tāmisra (तामिस्र), andhatāmisra (अन्धतामिस्र). Their counts, eight, ten, eighteen, eighteen, eighteen, add to sixty-two. Those sixty-two sit inside the five of the fifty. They are not a sixth category.
You can align them, carefully, with Yoga's five afflictions: ignorance, I-am-ness, desire, aversion, clinging to life. The kārikā (कारिका) does not use Yoga's names. The commentaries do the aligning. Learn the kārikā (कारिका)'s names first.
Sanskrit in this line
Genitive tamasaḥ (तमसः) and mohasya (मोहस्य) mean 'of.' The division belongs to the error. 'ṣṭavidhaḥ (ऽष्टविधः) drops a (अ) after tamasaḥ (तमसः) becomes tamaso (तमसो).
Say it back
Five names. Skip the sixty-two until the five are easy.