57
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 56–68, the end / 57
वत्सविवृद्धिनिमित्तं क्षीरस्य यथा प्रवृत्तिरज्ञस्य पुरुषविमोक्षनिमित्तं तथा प्रवृत्तिः प्रधानस्य
vatsavivṛddhinimittaṃ kṣīrasya yathā pravṛttir ajñasya puruṣavimokṣanimittaṃ tathā pravṛttiḥ pradhānasya
The line
As the activity of unknowing milk is for the calf's growth, so the activity of nature is for the person's release.
नेपालीमा
जसरी नजान्ने दूधको काम बाछो बढ्नका लागि हुन्छ, त्यसरी प्रकृतिको काम पुरुषको मोक्षका लागि हुन्छ।
Where it sits
Verse 58 is a second picture, from human life: people act to quiet a longing. Verse 59 is the third: the dancer leaves the stage.
Split: vatsa-vivṛddhi-nimittam (वत्स-विवृद्धि-निमित्तम्) + kṣīrasya (क्षीरस्य) + yathā (यथा) + pravṛttiḥ (प्रवृत्तिः) + ajñasya (अज्ञस्य) + puruṣa-vimokṣa-nimittam (पुरुष-विमोक्ष-निमित्तम्) + tathā (तथा) + pravṛttiḥ (प्रवृत्तिः) + pradhānasya (प्रधानस्य)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| vatsa-vivṛddhi-nimittam (वत्स-विवृद्धि-निमित्तम्) | nominative or adverbial | having the calf's growth as its occasion. |
| kṣīrasya (क्षीरस्य) | genitive singular | of the milk. |
| yathā (यथा) | indeclinable | as. |
| pravṛttiḥ (प्रवृत्तिः) | nominative singular, feminine | the activity, the flowing forth. |
| ajñasya (अज्ञस्य) | genitive singular | of what is unknowing. The milk does not intend. |
| puruṣa-vimokṣa-nimittam (पुरुष-विमोक्ष-निमित्तम्) | adverbial | with the person's release as its occasion. |
| tathā (तथा) | indeclinable | so. |
| pradhānasya (प्रधानस्य) | genitive singular | of nature. |
The phrases
The picture answers the objection that an unseeing nature cannot act for a goal. Milk feeds a calf and does not know the calf. Purpose, in this book, does not require a planner inside the cause.
The person is not the calf in every respect. The calf grows. The person is released. The likeness is the unknowing activity, not the product.
Sanskrit in this line
yathā ... tathā (यथा ... तथा) is as ... so. Genitive kṣīrasya (क्षीरस्य) and pradhānasya (प्रधानस्य) are parallel: activity of the milk, activity of nature.
Say it back
What is the one likeness between milk and nature?