1.1.1
Vaiśeṣika Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.1
अथातो धर्मं व्याख्यास्यामः
athāto dharmaṃ vyākhyāsyāmaḥ
The line
Now, therefore, we shall explain dharma (धर्म).
नेपालीमा
अब, त्यसैले, हामी धर्म व्याख्या गर्नेछौं।
Where it sits
Kaṇāda (कणाद)'s dharma (धर्म) is the means to abhyudaya and niḥśreyasa (निःश्रेयस), elevation and the highest good. 1.1.2 defines it that way. 1.1.4 then says the highest good comes from knowing the categories. The explanation of dharma (धर्म) turns out to be a list of what is real.
Split: atha (अथ) + ataḥ (अतः) + dharmam (धर्मम्) + vyākhyāsyāmaḥ (व्याख्यास्यामः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| atha (अथ) | indeclinable | now. The teaching begins. |
| ataḥ (अतः) | indeclinable | therefore. |
| dharmam (धर्मम्) | accusative singular, masculine | dharma (धर्म). Here it is what leads to the good, not Jaimini's 'purpose marked by injunction.' The next line says so. |
| vyākhyāsyāmaḥ (व्याख्यास्यामः) | future, first person plural | we shall explain. vi-ā-khyā (वि-आ-ख्या), to set out in detail. The plural is the author's 'we,' or the tradition speaking. |
The phrases
This book opens with a finite verb, which the sūtra (सूत्र) style often avoids. vyākhyāsyāmaḥ (व्याख्यास्यामः) takes dharmam as its object. The accusative is 'what we will explain,' not a subject.
athāto (अथातो) is the same join as in Jaimini and Bādarāyaṇa (बादरायण). Three books begin 'now, therefore.' The object of the inquiry is the difference.
Sanskrit in this line
The future syāmaḥ (स्यामः) is first person plural. Sanskrit can announce a book in the future: we are about to explain. The accusative dharmam is the object. A final m before a vowel stays m. Before a consonant it would be the dot.
Say it back
What is the verb, and what is its object?
Next
1.1.2. Dharma is that from which elevation and the highest good come.