67
Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 56–68, the end / 67
सम्यग्ज्ञानाधिगमाद् धर्मादीनामकारणप्राप्तौ तिष्ठति संस्कारवशाच् चक्रभ्रमिवद् धृतशरीरः
samyagjñānādhigamād dharmādīnām akāraṇaprāptau tiṣṭhati saṃskāravaśāc cakrabhramivad dhṛtaśarīraḥ
The line
When right knowledge is attained and virtue and the rest have ceased to be causes, the one who still has a body remains by the force of impulse, like a turning wheel.
नेपालीमा
सम्यक् ज्ञान पाएपछि र धर्म आदि कारण नरहेपछि शरीर बाँकी भएको व्यक्ति संवेगको बलले रहन्छ, घुमिरहेको चक्रझैँ।
Where it sits
Verse 68 is the end of the spin. When the body falls, and nature's work is done, the aloneness is both complete and final.
Split: samyak-jñāna-adhigamāt (सम्यक्-ज्ञान-अधिगमात्) + dharma-ādīnām (धर्म-आदीनाम्) + akāraṇa-prāptau (अकारण-प्राप्तौ) + tiṣṭhati (तिष्ठति) + saṃskāra-vaśāt (संस्कार-वशात्) + cakra-bhrami-vat (चक्र-भ्रमि-वत्) + dhṛta-śarīraḥ (धृत-शरीरः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| samyak-jñāna-adhigamāt (सम्यक्-ज्ञान-अधिगमात्) | ablative | from the attainment of right knowledge. |
| dharma-ādīnām (धर्म-आदीनाम्) | genitive plural | of virtue and the rest. The seven binding forms. |
| akāraṇa-prāptau (अकारण-प्राप्तौ) | locative singular | when they have come to be non-causes. Locative of the circumstance. |
| tiṣṭhati (तिष्ठति) | present | he remains, he stands. |
| saṃskāra-vaśāt (संस्कार-वशात्) | ablative | from the force of the impressions already made. saṃskāra (संस्कार) is the momentum of what was done. |
| cakra-bhrami-vat (चक्र-भ्रमि-वत्) | indeclinable | like the spinning of a wheel. A potter's wheel keeps turning after the hand leaves it. |
| dhṛta-śarīraḥ (धृत-शरीरः) | nominative singular, masculine | one who still bears a body. |
The phrases
Knowledge does not drop the body on the instant. The causes of a further birth are cancelled. The present body runs out its spin. This is release with the body still there, jīvanmukti (जीवन्मुक्ति) in the later name. The kārikā (कारिका) does not use that later name. It uses the wheel.
dharmādīnām (धर्मादीनाम्) no longer cause a next sarga (सर्ग). They may still describe the life that is finishing. They do not bind another.
Sanskrit in this line
prāptau (प्राप्तौ) is a locative absolute in feeling: 'on their having become non-causes.' vat (वत्) again, the likeness suffix.
Say it back
Why does the body not vanish in the same moment as the knowledge?