Speech and sound / Saṅgītaratnākara / 1.3.1 Nāda-brahman
1.3.1
The Saṅgītaratnākara (सङ्गीतरत्नाकर)
चैतन्यं सर्वभूतानां विवृत्तं जगदात्मना ।
नादब्रह्म तदानन्दमद्वितीयमुपास्महे caitanyaṃ sarvabhūtānāṃ vivṛttaṃ jagadātmanā |
nādabrahma tad ānandam advitīyam upāsmahe
The line
We worship that nāda-brahman (नाद-ब्रह्मन्): the consciousness of all beings, turned out as the self of the world, bliss, without a second.
नेपालीमा
हामी त्यो नाद-ब्रह्मन्को पूजा गर्छौं, जुन सबै प्राणीको चेतना हो, जगत्को आत्माका रूपमा प्रकट भएको आनन्द हो र जसको दोस्रो छैन।
Where it sits
This opens the third prakaraṇa (प्रकरण) of the first adhyāya (अध्याय), after the body has been promised. Vākyapadīya (वाक्यपदीय) 1.1 calls Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) the word-principle and uses the verb vivartate (विवर्तते). This verse uses vivṛttam (विवृत्तम्) and the compound nāda-brahma (नाद-ब्रह्म). They are two books. Kallinātha (कल्लिनाथ) reads the words twice, once for nāda (नाद) and once for Brahman (ब्रह्मन्). The verse makes them one compound.
Split: caitanyam (चैतन्यम्) + sarva-bhūtānām (सर्व-भूतानाम्) + vivṛttam (विवृत्तम्) + jagat-ātmanā (जगत्-आत्मना) + nāda-brahma (नाद-ब्रह्म) + tat (तत्) + ānandam (आनन्दम्) + advitīyam (अद्वितीयम्) + upāsmahe (उपास्महे)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| caitanyam (चैतन्यम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Consciousness. Of all beings, the genitive says whose. |
| sarva-bhūtānām (सर्व-भूतानाम्) | genitive plural, neuter | Of all beings. |
| vivṛttam (विवृत्तम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Turned out, manifested. Past participle of vi (वि) and the root vṛt (वृत्). Agrees with nāda-brahma (नाद-ब्रह्म). The commentary reads it beside vivarta (विवर्त). The verse's word is vivṛttam (विवृत्तम्). |
| jagat-ātmanā (जगत्-आत्मना) | instrumental singular, masculine | As the self of the world. jagat (जगत्), the world. ātman (आत्मन्), here the form in which it is turned out. Heard jagadātmanā (जगदात्मना). |
| nāda-brahma (नाद-ब्रह्म) | accusative singular, neuter | Nāda-brahman (नाद-ब्रह्मन्), the thing worshipped. One compound. The verse does not split it into two worships. |
| tat (तत्) | accusative singular, neuter | That. |
| ānandam (आनन्दम्) | accusative singular, masculine | Bliss. The noun is masculine, standing with the neuter names of the same thing. |
| advitīyam (अद्वितीयम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Without a second. |
| upāsmahe (उपास्महे) | present, first person plural, ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद) | We worship, we sit near. From upa (उप) and the root ās (आस्). |
The phrases
The verb is at the end, and it is first person plural. Everything before it is what we worship.
Nādabrahma (नादब्रह्म) is one compound. Consciousness, turned out as the world's own form, bliss, without a second: those words say what is being worshipped under that name.
Sanskrit in this line
Jagat (जगत्) plus ātmanā (आत्मना). A final t (त्) before a vowel is heard as d (द्), and the vowel attaches: jagadātmanā (जगदात्मना).
Upāsmahe (उपास्महे) is ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद) and plural. The speaker includes others in the worship. The verse does not name them one by one.
Say it back
Say the compound nādabrahma (नादब्रह्म), then the four descriptions, then the verb.