Sāṅkhya Kārikā / Verses 1–21, the two realities

Verses 1–21, the two realities

Summary

Verses 1 to 21 name the two realities. Inquiry starts because three kinds of pain strike, and the remedies already known do not end them. Perception, inference, and trusted speech are the three means of knowing. The manifest is caused and changing. The unmanifest is its opposite, and it is reached through its effects. The three strands are light, stirring, and covering. The person is, and persons are many. He is the witness, not the doer. The world comes from the joining of the two, as a lame man and a blind man travel together.

नेपालीमा

श्लोक १ देखि २१ ले दुई तत्त्व भन्छन्। जिज्ञासा तीन दुःखले चोट गरेर सुरु हुन्छ, र पहिल्यै थाहा भएका उपायले त्यो दुःख अन्त्य गर्दैनन्। प्रत्यक्ष, अनुमान र आप्तवचन तीन प्रमाण हुन्। व्यक्त कारणयुक्त र बदलिने छ। अव्यक्त त्यसको उल्टो हो, र कार्यबाट जानिन्छ। तीन गुण प्रकाश, प्रवृत्ति र आवरण हुन्। पुरुष छ, र पुरुष धेरै छन्। ऊ साक्षी हो, कर्ता होइन। संसार ती दुईको संयोगबाट आउँछ, लङ्गडो र अन्धा सँगै हिँडेझैँ।

21 of 21 lines in this chapter are written out word by word.

Line
1	दुःखत्रयाभिघाताज् जिज्ञासा तदभिघातके हेतौ । दृष्टे सापार्था चेन् नैकान्तात्यन्ततोऽभावात् duḥkhatrayābhighātāj jijñāsā tadabhighātake hetau / dṛṣṭe sāpārthā cen naikāntātyantato 'bhāvāt Inquiry starts because three kinds of pain strike, and the remedies people already know do not end it.
2	दृष्टवदानुश्रविकः स ह्यविशुद्धिक्षयातिशययुक्तः । तद्विपरीतः श्रेयान् व्यक्ताव्यक्तज्ञविज्ञानात् dṛṣṭavad ānuśravikaḥ sa hy aviśuddhikṣayātiśayayuktaḥ / tadviparītaḥ śreyān vyaktāvyaktajñavijñānāt What is heard in scripture is like the seen remedies. The better way is knowing the manifest, the unmanifest, and the knower.
3	मूलप्रकृतिरविकृतिर् महदाद्याः प्रकृतिविकृतयः सप्त । षोडशकस् तु विकारो न प्रकृतिर् न विकृतिः पुरुषः mūlaprakṛtir avikṛtir mahadādyāḥ prakṛtivikṛtayaḥ sapta / ṣoḍaśakas tu vikāro na prakṛtir na vikṛtiḥ puruṣaḥ Root nature is not a product. Seven, from the great one on, are both. Sixteen are products only. The person is neither.
4	दृष्टमनुमानमाप्तवचनं च सर्वप्रमाणसिद्धत्वात् । त्रिविधं प्रमाणमिष्टं प्रमेयसिद्धिः प्रमाणाद् धि dṛṣṭam anumānam āptavacanaṃ ca sarvapramāṇasiddhatvāt / trividhaṃ pramāṇam iṣṭaṃ prameyasiddhiḥ pramāṇād dhi Perception, inference, and a trusted person's speech are the three means of knowing. Whatever is known is known through a means.
5	प्रतिविषयाध्यवसायो दृष्टं त्रिविधमनुमानमाख्यातम् । तल्लिङ्गलिङ्गिपूर्वकमाप्तश्रुतिराप्तवचनं तु prativiṣayādhyavasāyo dṛṣṭaṃ trividham anumānam ākhyātam / talliṅgaliṅgipūrvakam āptaśrutir āptavacanaṃ tu Perception is a determining of each object. Inference is threefold and depends on a sign and what has the sign. Trusted speech is trusted hearing.
6	सामान्यतस् तु दृष्टादतीन्द्रियाणां प्रतीतिरनुमानात् । तस्मादपि चासिद्धं परोक्षमाप्तागमात् सिद्धम् sāmānyatas tu dṛṣṭād atīndriyāṇāṃ pratītir anumānāt / tasmād api cāsiddhaṃ parokṣam āptāgamāt siddham What is beyond the senses is reached by inference of the general kind. What even that cannot reach is reached by trusted tradition.
7	अतिदूरात् सामीप्यादिन्द्रियघातान् मनोऽनवस्थानात् । सौक्ष्म्याद् व्यवधानादभिभवात् समानाभिहाराच् च atidūrāt sāmīpyād indriyaghātān mano'navasthānāt / saukṣmyād vyavadhānād abhibhavāt samānābhihārāc ca A thing can be real and still unseen: too far, too near, the sense damaged, the mind unsteady, too subtle, blocked, overpowered, or mixed with what is like it.
8	सौक्ष्म्यात् तदनुपलब्धिर् नाभावात् कार्यतस् तदुपलब्धिः । महदादि तच् च कार्यं प्रकृतिविरूपं सरूपं च saukṣmyāt tadanupalabdhir nābhāvāt kāryatas tadupalabdhiḥ / mahadādi tac ca kāryaṃ prakṛtivirūpaṃ sarūpaṃ ca Nature is not perceived because it is subtle, not because it is absent. It is got at through its effects, the great one and the rest, which are both like it and unlike it.
9	असदकरणादुपादानग्रहणात् सर्वसम्भवाभावात् । शक्तस्य शक्यकरणात् कारणभावाच् च सत्कार्यम् asadakaraṇād upādānagrahaṇāt sarvasambhavābhāvāt / śaktasya śakyakaraṇāt kāraṇabhāvāc ca satkāryam The effect already is. What is not cannot be made. A cause is taken up. Not everything arises from everything. A capable cause makes what it is capable of. And the effect is of the nature of the cause.
10	हेतुमदनित्यमव्यापि सक्रियमनेकमाश्रितं लिङ्गम् । सावयवं परतन्त्रं व्यक्तं विपरीतमव्यक्तम् hetumad anityam avyāpi sakriyam anekam āśritaṃ liṅgam / sāvayavaṃ paratantraṃ vyaktaṃ viparītam avyaktam The manifest is caused, impermanent, not pervasive, active, many, supported, a mark, with parts, and dependent. The unmanifest is the opposite.
11	त्रिगुणमविवेकि विषयः सामान्यमचेतनं प्रसवधर्मि । व्यक्तं तथा प्रधानं तद्विपरीतस् तथा च पुमान् triguṇam aviveki viṣayaḥ sāmānyam acetanaṃ prasavadharmi / vyaktaṃ tathā pradhānaṃ tadviparītas tathā ca pumān The manifest and nature are both of three strands, undiscriminating, object, general, without consciousness, and productive. The person is the opposite, and also not.
12	प्रीत्यप्रीतिविषादात्मकाः प्रकाशप्रवृत्तिनियमार्थाः । अन्योन्याभिभवाश्रयजननमिथुनवृत्तयश् च गुणाः prītyaprītiviṣādātmakāḥ prakāśapravṛttiniyamārthāḥ / anyonyābhibhavāśrayajananamithunavṛttayaś ca guṇāḥ The strands are of the nature of pleasure, pain, and dullness. They are for light, activity, and restraint. Each overwhelms, rests on, and gives birth with the others.
13	सत्त्वं लघु प्रकाशकमिष्टमुपष्टम्भकं चलं च रजः । गुरु वरणकमेव तमः प्रदीपवच् चार्थतो वृत्तिः sattvaṃ laghu prakāśakam iṣṭam upaṣṭambhakaṃ calaṃ ca rajaḥ / guru varaṇakam eva tamaḥ pradīpavac cārthato vṛttiḥ Sattva is light and illuminating. Rajas is stirring and moving. Tamas is heavy and covering. They work together the way a lamp does.
14	अविवेक्यादि हि सिद्धं त्रैगुण्यात् तद्विपर्ययाभावात् । कारणगुणात्मकत्वात् कार्यस्याव्यक्तमपि सिद्धम् avivekyādi hi siddhaṃ traiguṇyāt tadviparyayābhāvāt / kāraṇaguṇātmakatvāt kāryasyāvyaktam api siddham Undiscriminating and the rest are proved for nature too, because the effect has the three strands, because where those are absent the traits are absent, and because an effect is made of the properties of its cause.
15	भेदानां परिमाणात् समन्वयाच् छक्तितः प्रवृत्तेश् च । कारणकार्यविभागादविभागाद् वैश्वरूपस्य bhedānāṃ parimāṇāt samanvayāc chaktitaḥ pravṛtteś ca / kāraṇakāryavibhāgād avibhāgād vaiśvarūpasya The unmanifest is a cause: the manifest comes in a measure, it is homogeneous, it arises by a power, cause and effect are distinct, and the world's variety is undivided at its source.
16	कारणमस्त्यव्यक्तं प्रवर्तते त्रिगुणतः समुदयाच् च । परिणामतः सलिलवत् प्रतिप्रतिगुणाश्रयविशेषात् kāraṇam asty avyaktaṃ pravartate triguṇataḥ samudayāc ca / pariṇāmataḥ salilavat pratipratiguṇāśrayaviśeṣāt The unmanifest is the cause. It proceeds by the three strands and by their combination, and it changes as water does, according to the particular strand that is the support in each case.
17	सङ्घातपरार्थत्वात् त्रिगुणादिविपर्ययादधिष्ठानात् । पुरुषोऽस्ति भोक्तृभावात् कैवल्यार्थं प्रवृत्तेश् च saṅghātaparārthatvāt triguṇādiviparyayād adhiṣṭhānāt / puruṣo 'sti bhoktṛbhāvāt kaivalyārthaṃ pravṛtteś ca The person is. A compound is for another's sake. He is the opposite of the three strands and the rest. There must be a basis. There is the nature of an enjoyer. And activity is for the sake of aloneness.
18	जननमरणकरणानां प्रतिनियमादयुगपत्प्रवृत्तेश् च । पुरुषबहुत्वं सिद्धं त्रैगुण्यविपर्ययाच् चैव jananamaraṇakaraṇānāṃ pratiniyamād ayugapatpravṛtteś ca / puruṣabahutvaṃ siddhaṃ traiguṇyaviparyayāc caiva Persons are many. Birth, death, and the instruments are allotted one by one. Activity is not simultaneous. And the strands are found in different proportions.
19	तस्माच् च विपर्यासात् सिद्धं साक्षित्वमस्य पुरुषस्य । कैवल्यं माध्यस्थ्यं द्रष्टृत्वमकर्तृभावश् च tasmāc ca viparyāsāt siddhaṃ sākṣitvam asya puruṣasya / kaivalyaṃ mādhyasthyaṃ draṣṭṛtvam akartṛbhāvaś ca And from that contrast it is established that the person is a witness, alone, indifferent, the seer, and not the doer.
20	तस्मात् तत्संयोगादचेतनं चेतनावदिव लिङ्गम् । गुणकर्तृत्वे च तथा कर्ता इव भवत्युदासीनः tasmāt tatsaṃyogād acetanaṃ cetanāvad iva liṅgam / guṇakartṛtve ca tathā kartā iva bhavaty udāsīnaḥ From that conjunction, the unseeing mark appears as if seeing. And with the strands as the real agents, the indifferent one appears as if he were the agent.
21	पुरुषस्य दर्शनार्थं कैवल्यार्थं तथा प्रधानस्य । पङ्ग्वन्धवदुभयोरपि संयोगस् तत्कृतः सर्गः puruṣasya darśanārthaṃ kaivalyārthaṃ tathā pradhānasya / paṅgvandhavad ubhayor api saṃyogas tatkṛtaḥ sargaḥ The conjunction of those two is like a lame man and a blind man. It is so that the person may see, and so that nature may be alone. The creation is made of that conjunction.