1.1.14
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.1.14
विकारशब्दान् नेति चेन् न प्राचुर्यात्
vikāraśabdān neti cen na prācuryāt
The line
If you say it is not Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) because maya means a modification, no, because maya means abundance.
नेपालीमा
यदि मायाको अर्थ विकार हो भनी यो ब्रह्म होइन भन्छौ भने, होइन, किनकि मायाको अर्थ प्रचुरता हो।
Where it sits
ānandamayaḥ (आनन्दमयः) from 1.1.13 is the subject of both the objection and the reply. The divide named there is exactly the fight over this suffix. Śaṅkara (शङ्कर)'s sūtra-reading (सूत्र-रेअदिन्ग्) takes prācurya (प्राचुर्य). The sheath-reading he uses on the Taittirīya (तैत्तिरीय) is the objection's side of this line.
Split: vikāra-śabdāt (विकार-शब्दात्) + na (न) + iti (इति) + cet (चेत्) + na (न) + prācuryāt (प्राचुर्यात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| vikāra-śabdāt (विकार-शब्दात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because of the word for a modification |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. This na belongs to the objection |
| iti (इति) | indeclinable | thus, marking the objection as a quotation |
| cet (चेत्) | indeclinable | if |
| na (न) | indeclinable | no. This na is the reply |
| prācuryāt (प्राचुर्यात्) | ablative singular, neuter | because of abundance |
The phrases
The objection notes that the earlier sheaths are modifications: made of food, made of breath. If maya means vikāra (विकार) there, it means vikāra (विकार) for the blissful one too, and then the blissful one is the soul in a sheath, not brahman (ब्रह्मन्). The text also says 'Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) is the tail, the support', which can sound like a different thing.
The reply is the second na. maya also means prācurya (प्राचुर्य), being full of. 'Full of bliss' fits the repetition better than 'a product made of bliss'. The word vikāra (विकार) is doing its work on the lower sheaths. It does not force the last step.
Sanskrit in this line
Two na's, and they do not cancel. iti cet brackets the objection. cet before na is cen. vikāraśabdāt (विकारशब्दात्) before na is heard vikāraśabdān (विकारशब्दान्).
Say it back
Say the objection in one sentence and the sense of prācurya (प्राचुर्य) in one sentence.
Next
1.1.15. The blissful one is called the cause of bliss, so it is not a sheath.