16
Viṃśatikā / All 22 verses / 16
प्रत्यक्षबुद्धिः स्वप्नादौ यथा सा च यदा तदा न सोऽर्थो दृश्यते तस्य प्रत्यक्षत्वं कथं मतम्
pratyakṣabuddhiḥ svapnādau yathā sā ca yadā tadā na so 'rtho dṛśyate tasya pratyakṣatvaṃ kathaṃ matam
The line
A perceptual cognition arises as it does in a dream and the like. And when that is so, that object is not seen. How, then, is it held to be a perception?
नेपालीमा
स्वप्न आदिमा जस्तै प्रत्यक्ष ज्ञान उठ्छ, र त्यसो हुँदा त्यो वस्तु देखिँदैन। त्यसपछि यसलाई प्रत्यक्ष कसरी मानिन्छ?
Where it sits
Verse 15 closed the 'one whole' rescue. This verse closes the appeal to perception. Verse 17 adds memory: the memory also comes from the cognition's own appearance, and a dreamer does not know, while dreaming, that the object was absent.
Split: pratyakṣa-buddhiḥ (प्रत्यक्ष-बुद्धिः) + svapna-ādau (स्वप्न-आदौ) + yathā (यथा) + sā (सा) + ca (च) + yadā (यदा) + tadā (तदा) + na (न) + saḥ (सः) + arthaḥ (अर्थः) + dṛśyate (दृश्यते) + tasya (तस्य) + pratyakṣatvam (प्रत्यक्षत्वम्) + katham (कथम्) + matam (मतम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| pratyakṣa-buddhiḥ (प्रत्यक्ष-बुद्धिः) | nominative singular, feminine | a cognition of the perceptual kind, the thought 'I perceive.' |
| svapna-ādau (स्वप्न-आदौ) | locative singular, masculine | in a dream, and in similar cases. ādi (आदि) includes the other examples already used. |
| yathā (यथा) | indeclinable | as. |
| sā (सा) | nominative singular, feminine | that. The perceptual cognition of waking life. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| yadā (यदा) | indeclinable | when. |
| tadā (तदा) | indeclinable | then. |
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| saḥ (सः) | nominative singular, masculine | that. |
| arthaḥ (अर्थः) | nominative singular, masculine | object. Written so 'rtho (सोऽर्थो) after sandhi. |
| dṛśyate (दृश्यते) | present passive, third person singular | is seen. |
| tasya (तस्य) | genitive singular | of that cognition. |
| pratyakṣatvam (प्रत्यक्षत्वम्) | nominative singular, neuter | being a pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष), a perception. |
| katham (कथम्) | indeclinable | how. |
| matam (मतम्) | nominative singular, neuter | thought, held as a view. |
The phrases
The objection 'I see it' is answered by the dream, where the same 'I see it' arises and the object is not there. If waking perception is like that, then at the time of the cognition the object is not what is seen. Calling it pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष) then has nothing to stand on, if pratyakṣa (प्रत्यक्ष) means contact with an external thing.
yadā tadā (यदा तदा) is when / then. When the cognition is of that dreamlike kind, then the object is not seen.
Sanskrit in this line
pratyakṣatvam (प्रत्यक्षत्वम्) is the abstract, 'perception-ness.' The genitive tasya (तस्य) says whose status is in question.
Say it back
What does the dream show about the thought 'I see it'?