63
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 56–68, the end / 63
रूपैः सप्तभिरेव तु बध्नात्यात्मानमात्मना प्रकृतिः सैव च पुरुषार्थं प्रति विमोचयत्येकरूपेण
rūpaiḥ saptabhir eva tu badhnāty ātmānam ātmanā prakṛtiḥ saiva ca puruṣārthaṃ prati vimocayaty ekarūpeṇa
The line
Nature binds herself by herself with seven forms. That same nature, for the person's purpose, releases herself by one form.
नेपालीमा
प्रकृति आफैँले आफूलाई सात रूपले बाँध्छे। त्यही प्रकृति पुरुषको प्रयोजनका लागि एउटा रूपले आफूलाई छुटाउँछे।
Where it sits
Verse 64 says what the knowledge sounds like when it is said in the first person: I am not, it is not mine, I am not this.
Split: rūpaiḥ (रूपैः) + saptabhiḥ (सप्तभिः) + eva (एव) + tu (तु) + badhnāti (बध्नाति) + ātmānam (आत्मानम्) + ātmanā (आत्मना) + prakṛtiḥ (प्रकृतिः) + sā (सा) + eva (एव) + ca (च) + puruṣa-artham (पुरुष-अर्थम्) + prati (प्रति) + vimocayati (विमोचयति) + eka-rūpeṇa (एक-रूपेण)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| rūpaiḥ saptabhiḥ (रूपैः सप्तभिः) | instrumental plural | by seven forms. The bhāvas (भाव) of verse 23 except knowledge: virtue, dispassion, power, and the four reverses. Some counts take all except jñāna (ज्ञान). The one form that frees is knowledge. |
| badhnāti (बध्नाति) | present | she binds. |
| ātmānam (आत्मानम्) | accusative | herself. |
| ātmanā (आत्मना) | instrumental | by herself. No outside jailer. |
| prakṛtiḥ (प्रकृतिः) | nominative | nature. |
| sā eva (सा एव) | nominative feminine | that same she. |
| puruṣārtham prati (पुरुषार्थम् प्रति) | accusative with prati | toward the person's purpose, for his sake. |
| vimocayati (विमोचयति) | present | she releases. Causative in feel: she sets herself free. |
| eka-rūpeṇa (एक-रूपेण) | instrumental singular | by one form. Knowledge. |
The phrases
Seven bind, one frees, and the one is jñāna (ज्ञान), the discrimination intellect is able to make. Virtue without that knowledge was verse 44's upward path, still a path. Knowledge is apavarga (अपवर्ग).
She binds herself by herself. The person is not the binder and not the one who picks the lock. His purpose is the reason she uses the one form.
Sanskrit in this line
Instrumental rūpaiḥ (रूपैः) and rūpeṇa (रूपेण) are 'by means of the form.' saptabhiḥ (सप्तभिः) is the instrumental of seven. Numbers have their own forms. You can meet saptabhiḥ (सप्तभिः) here without learning the whole table.
Say it back
How many forms bind, how many free, and which free one did verse 44 already name?