1.3.23
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.3.23
शब्दादेव प्रमितः
śabdād eva pramitaḥ
The line
The measured one is Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), from the word itself.
नेपालीमा
नापिएको ब्रह्म हो, शब्द आफैँबाटै।
Where it sits
A new passage, the thumb-sized person. Do not confuse him with the small space, though both are 'small in the body'. Śaṅkara (शङ्कर) takes the measure as referring to the heart, Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) meditated there. Rāmānuja (रामानुज) takes the thumb-sized person as the supreme person, the measure being the heart of the human meditator. Madhva takes him as Viṣṇu (विष्णु), lord of past and future, the measure not a limit.
Split: śabdāt (शब्दात्) + eva (एव) + pramitaḥ (प्रमितः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| śabdāt (शब्दात्) | ablative singular, masculine | because of the word |
| eva (एव) | indeclinable | itself, just from that |
| pramitaḥ (प्रमितः) | nominative singular, masculine | the measured one, the one given a measure |
The phrases
The passage is the Kaṭha (कठ) person the size of a thumb, standing in the middle of the body. He is the lord of what was and of what will be. From that time one does not shrink away. Yama says, of what Naciketas asked: this is that.
pramita is measured, here by a thumb. The measure by itself could be the soul. śabdāt (शब्दात्) eva: the word alone decides. The word is īśāna (ईशान), lord of past and future. That word is not a word for the bound soul. eva says no further inference is required.
Sanskrit in this line
pramita is the past participle of pra plus mā (मा), 'to measure'. śabda (शब्द) is masculine, ablative -āt (-आत्). eva does not decline.
Say it back
Say the measure, then the word that beats the measure: lord of past and future.
Next
1.3.24. The thumb is the heart's measure, and the human is the one for whom that measure is used.