56
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 56–68, the end / 56
इत्येष प्रकृतिकृतो महदादिविशेषभूतपर्यन्तः प्रतिपुरुषविमोक्षार्थं स्वार्थ इव परार्थ आरम्भः
ity eṣa prakṛtikṛto mahadādiviśeṣabhūtaparyantaḥ pratipuruṣavimokṣārthaṃ svārtha iva parārtha ārambhaḥ
The line
This undertaking, done by nature from the great one down to the particular elements, is for the release of each person. It is for another, as if it were for herself.
नेपालीमा
महत्देखि विशेष भूतसम्म प्रकृतिले गरेको यो उद्यम हरेक पुरुषको मोक्षका लागि हो। त्यो अर्काका लागि हो, मानौं आफ्नै लागि हो।
Where it sits
Verses 57 through 61 are pictures of how an unseeing nature can act for a purpose and then stop. Milk, a dancer, a person who has been seen. They are the heart of the ending. Read them slowly.
Split: iti (इति) + eṣaḥ (एषः) + prakṛti-kṛtaḥ (प्रकृति-कृतः) + mahat-ādi-viśeṣa-bhūta-paryantaḥ (महत्-आदि-विशेष-भूत-पर्यन्तः) + prati-puruṣa-vimokṣa-artham (प्रति-पुरुष-विमोक्ष-अर्थम्) + sva-arthaḥ (स्व-अर्थः) + iva (इव) + para-arthaḥ (पर-अर्थः) + ārambhaḥ (आरम्भः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. It closes the account of creation. |
| eṣaḥ (एषः) | nominative singular, masculine | this. |
| prakṛti-kṛtaḥ (प्रकृति-कृतः) | nominative singular, masculine | done by nature. |
| mahat-ādi-viśeṣa-bhūta-paryantaḥ (महत्-आदि-विशेष-भूत-पर्यन्तः) | nominative singular, masculine | beginning with the great one and ending at the particular elements. |
| prati-puruṣa-vimokṣa-artham (प्रति-पुरुष-विमोक्ष-अर्थम्) | accusative of purpose | for the release of each person. prati (प्रति) distributes: each one. |
| sva-arthaḥ iva (स्व-अर्थः इव) | nominative, indeclinable | as if for her own sake. |
| para-arthaḥ (पर-अर्थः) | nominative singular, masculine | for the sake of another. The person. |
| ārambhaḥ (आरम्भः) | nominative singular, masculine | the undertaking, the creation as a beginning of work. |
The phrases
iva (इव) again, as in verse 20. Nature looks busy on her own account. The account is the person's release. She is not a person and does not gain kaivalya (कैवल्य) for herself. The gain is his, and her activity stops when it is done.
pratipuruṣa (प्रतिपुरुष) matters because persons are many, verse 18. Release is not one event for a world-soul. It is each seer.
Sanskrit in this line
parārtha (परार्थ) is the same compound-piece as parārthatva (परार्थत्व) in verse 17, the compound being for another. The book is closing on the reason it opened.
Say it back
For whom is the creation, in one word from the verse?