1.2.28
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.2.28
अत एव न देवता भूतं च
ata eva na devatā bhūtaṃ ca
The line
For that very reason he is not the deity, and not the element.
नेपालीमा
त्यही कारणले ऊ देवता होइन, र भूत पनि होइन।
Where it sits
vaiśvānaraḥ (वैश्वानरः) from 1.2.25 is the subject of na. The reason is the reply of 1.2.27, not a new one. The belly-fire was the inference. These two are the god and the element, a different pair.
Split: ataḥ (अतः) + eva (एव) + na (न) + devatā (देवता) + bhūtam (भूतम्) + ca (च)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| ataḥ (अतः) | indeclinable | from this |
| eva (एव) | indeclinable | very |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not |
| devatā (देवता) | nominative singular, feminine | the deity |
| bhūtam (भूतम्) | nominative singular, neuter | the element |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and |
The phrases
ata eva points at the impossibility and the person-language just given. Two further rivals fall with the belly-fire. devatā (देवता) is Agni, the god. bhūta (भूत) is fire the element.
Neither has heaven as head and earth as feet in the sense of the self of all. na covers devatā (देवता), and ca adds bhūtam (भूतम्) under that na.
Sanskrit in this line
devatā (देवता) is feminine nominative, no visarga. bhūtam (भूतम्) is neuter. They do not match, because they are two alternatives, not one predicate. ca comes after the second.
Say it back
Dismiss three, not one: belly-fire, fire-god, fire-element.