53
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 22–55, the world / 53
अष्टविकल्पो दैवस् तैर्यग्योनश् च पञ्चधा भवति मानुष्यश् चैकविधः समासतो भौतिकः सर्गः
aṣṭavikalpo daivas tairyagyonaś ca pañcadhā bhavati mānuṣyaś caikavidhaḥ samāsato bhautikaḥ sargaḥ
The line
The divine is eightfold, the animal fivefold, the human of one kind. This, briefly, is the elemental creation.
नेपालीमा
दैवी आठ प्रकारको, पशु पाँच प्रकारको, र मान्छे एक प्रकारको हुन्छ। छोटकरीमा यो भौतिक सृष्टि हो।
Where it sits
Verse 54 says which strand is wide in each band. Above, sattva. Below, tamas. In the middle, rajas. The human world is the rajas band, which is why inquiry is possible and also why it is restless.
Split: aṣṭa-vikalpaḥ (अष्ट-विकल्पः) + daivaḥ (दैवः) + tairyagyonaḥ (तैर्यग्योनः) + ca (च) + pañcadhā (पञ्चधा) + bhavati (भवति) + mānuṣyaḥ (मानुष्यः) + ca (च) + eka-vidhaḥ (एक-विधः) + samāsataḥ (समासतः) + bhautikaḥ (भौतिकः) + sargaḥ (सर्गः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| aṣṭa-vikalpaḥ (अष्ट-विकल्पः) | nominative singular, masculine | of eight sorts. The commentaries list the gods and the divine stations as eight. |
| daivaḥ (दैवः) | nominative singular, masculine | the divine. |
| tairyagyonaḥ (तैर्यग्योनः) | nominative singular, masculine | born of the animal womb. From wild beast to plant, counted in five. |
| pañcadhā (पञ्चधा) | indeclinable | fivefold. |
| mānuṣyaḥ (मानुष्यः) | nominative singular, masculine | the human. |
| eka-vidhaḥ (एक-विधः) | nominative singular, masculine | of one kind. Humans are one class, not five. |
| samāsataḥ (समासतः) | indeclinable | in sum, briefly. |
| bhautikaḥ sargaḥ (भौतिकः सर्गः) | nominative singular, masculine | the elemental creation. bhūta (भूत) is the gross element. This is the creation of beings, as against the creation of intellect in verse 46. |
The phrases
Three destinations, matching verse 44's up and down, with the human in the middle. The numbers are a traditional census, not a biology. What matters is that births are sorted, and the human birth is one.
Sanskrit in this line
caikavidhaḥ (चैकविधः) is ca (च) plus ekavidhaḥ (एकविधः). a (अ) + e (ए) does not become a simple long vowel in the usual rule. Here ca (च) plus eka (एक) is recited cai (चै) because a (अ) + e (ए) becomes e (ए), written together as cai (चै) when ca (च) loses its a (अ) into e (ए). Split ca ekavidhaḥ (च एकविधः).
Say it back
Three bands. Which one is single?