61
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 56–68, the end / 61
प्रकृतेः सुकुमारतरं न किञ्चिदस्तीति मे मतिर् भवति या दृष्टास्मीति पुनर् न दर्शनमुपैति पुरुषस्य
prakṛteḥ sukumārataraṃ na kiñcid astīti me matir bhavati yā dṛṣṭāsmīti punar na darśanam upaiti puruṣasya
The line
Nothing, I hold, is more delicate than nature. Once she has said 'I have been seen,' she does not come again into that person's sight.
नेपालीमा
प्रकृतिभन्दा सुकुमार अरू केही छैन भन्ने म मान्छु। एकचोटि म देखिएँ भनेपछि प्रकृति त्यो पुरुषको दृष्टिमा फेरि आउँदिन।
Where it sits
If she does not come again, what is left in front of the person? Verse 65: he sees nature whose bringing-forth has stopped, and he is settled in himself. The next verses say who was bound.
Split: prakṛteḥ (प्रकृतेः) + su-kumāra-taram (सु-कुमार-तरम्) + na (न) + kiñcit (किञ्चित्) + asti (अस्ति) + iti (इति) + me (मे) + matiḥ (मतिः) + bhavati (भवति) + yā (या) + dṛṣṭā (दृष्टा) + asmi (अस्मि) + iti (इति) + punaḥ (पुनः) + na (न) + darśanam (दर्शनम्) + upaiti (उपैति) + puruṣasya (पुरुषस्य)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| prakṛteḥ (प्रकृतेः) | ablative singular | than nature. Ablative of comparison. |
| su-kumāra-taram (सु-कुमार-तरम्) | nominative singular, neuter | more delicate. Comparative -tara (-तर). sukumāra (सुकुमार) is tender, finely made. |
| na kiñcit (न किञ्चित्) | nominative | nothing at all. |
| asti (अस्ति) | present | is. |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus. It closes the thought the author is about to own. |
| me matiḥ (मे मतिः) | genitive, nominative | my view. me (मे) is the short genitive of aham (अहम्). Īśvarakṛṣṇa (ईश्वरकृष्ण) speaking, which is rare in the book. |
| bhavati (भवति) | present | is, comes to be. |
| yā (या) | nominative singular, feminine | she who. Nature. |
| dṛṣṭā asmi iti (दृष्टा अस्मि इति) | quotation | 'I have been seen.' dṛṣṭā (दृष्टा) is feminine. She says it of herself. |
| punaḥ na (पुनः न) | indeclinables | never again. |
| darśanam upaiti (दर्शनमुपैति) | accusative, present | she comes to the sight. |
| puruṣasya (पुरुषस्य) | genitive | of the person. |
The phrases
The verse puts words in nature's mouth: dṛṣṭāsmīti (दृष्टास्मीति), I have been seen. It is a picture, like the dancer. Nature does not speak. The picture says that discrimination, once made, is not a mood that nature keeps undoing.
me matiḥ (मे मतिः) is the author's signature inside the teaching, before the closing verses that name the transmission. One opinion is marked as his: nature's delicacy.
Sanskrit in this line
Comparison takes the ablative: prakṛteḥ sukumārataram (प्रकृतेः सुकुमारतरम्), more delicate than nature. iti (इति) after dṛṣṭāsmi (दृष्टास्मि) marks a quotation. asmi (अस्मि) is 'I am,' first person of as (अस्).
Say it back
Say nature's sentence: dṛṣṭāsmi (दृष्टास्मि).