1.3.21
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.3.21
अनुकृतेस् तस्य च
anukṛtes tasya ca
The line
And because of the imitation of him, the small one is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्).
नेपालीमा
र उसको अनुकरणका कारण सानो ब्रह्म हो।
Where it sits
tasya is daharaḥ (दहरः) of 1.3.13. The imitation is in the same stretch of teaching, the following of that self. It is not a new passage.
Split: anukṛteḥ (अनुकृतेः) + tasya (तस्य) + ca (च)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| anukṛteḥ (अनुकृतेः) | ablative singular, feminine | because of imitation |
| tasya (तस्य) | genitive singular, masculine | of him |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and |
The phrases
anukṛti (अनुकृति) is an imitation, a following of a pattern. In this teaching, those who know are said to follow him, and the gods meditate on this self. One imitates the one whose form is the standard.
tasya is the small one already shown to be brahman (ब्रह्मन्). Imitation of a cavity, or of the bound soul, is not what the text is praising. ca adds this mark.
Sanskrit in this line
anukṛti (अनुकृति) is feminine, from anu plus kṛ (कृ). tasya is the genitive of tad. ca at the end.
Say it back
Gloss anukṛti (अनुकृति) as following his pattern, and say whose pattern.
Next
1.3.22. Smṛti (स्मृति) remembers the same lord in the heart.