1.4.7
Brahma Sūtra / Adhyāya 1 / 1.4.7
महद्वच् च
mahadvac ca
The line
And the unmanifest is like the word 'great' in this text.
नेपालीमा
र अव्यक्त यस पाठमा महान् शब्दजस्तै हो।
Where it sits
The avyakta of 1.4.1 is the thing said to be mahadvat. mahat is the previous term in the same series. The comparison closes the Kaṭha (कठ) argument.
Split: mahat-vat (महत्-वत्) + ca (च)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| mahat-vat (महत्-वत्) | indeclinable | like the word mahat, the great |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and |
The phrases
The Sāṃkhya (सांख्य) hears mahat and thinks of the cosmic intellect, the first product of the pradhāna (प्रधान). In the verse the word is 'the great self', ātmā (आत्मा) mahān (महान्), a self, not a technical rung.
vat says the unmanifest is like that. As mahat does not import the system, avyakta does not either. ca adds this analogy to the three boons. The chariot passage is finished by this comparison.
Sanskrit in this line
-vat does not decline. Before ca, t is heard as c: mahadvac ca.
Say it back
Say the analogy in one line: mahat here is 'the great self', so avyakta need not be their pradhāna (प्रधान).