Speech and sound / Vākyapadīya / 1.1 The word-principle
1.1
अनादिनिधनं ब्रह्म शब्दतत्त्वं यदक्षरम् ।
विवर्ततेऽर्थभावेन प्रक्रिया जगतो यतः anādinidhanaṃ brahma śabdatattvaṃ yadakṣaram |
vivartate 'rthabhāvena prakriyā jagato yataḥ
The line
Brahman (ब्रह्मन्), without beginning or end, the word-principle, imperishable, appears by way of meaning. From it is the unfolding of the world.
नेपालीमा
अनादि, अनन्त, शब्दतत्त्वरूप र अविनाशी ब्रह्मन् अर्थको बाटोले प्रकट हुन्छ। त्यसबाट संसारको विस्तार हुन्छ।
Where it sits
This is the first kārikā (कारिका) of the Brahmakāṇḍa (ब्रह्मकाण्ड). Nothing is carried in from a previous line. The Vākyakāṇḍa (वाक्यकाण्ड) and the Padakāṇḍa (पदकाण्ड) are named on the book page and are not sat. Readers call this teaching śabda-brahman (शब्द-ब्रह्मन्), Brahman (ब्रह्मन्) as the word. The verse's own words are brahma (ब्रह्म) and śabda-tattvam (शब्द-तत्त्वम्), set side by side. The compound śabda-brahman (शब्द-ब्रह्मन्) is the name of the teaching. The four levels are how readers lay that principle out in speech. 1.44 starts the account of the two words inside the word one uses.
Split: anādi-nidhanam (अनादि-निधनम्) + brahma (ब्रह्म) + śabda-tattvam (शब्द-तत्त्वम्) + yad (यद्) + akṣaram (अक्षरम्) + vivartate (विवर्तते) + artha-bhāvena (अर्थ-भावेन) + prakriyā (प्रक्रिया) + jagataḥ (जगतः) + yataḥ (यतः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| anādi-nidhanam (अनादि-निधनम्) | nominative singular, neuter | Without beginning or end. anādi (अनादि) is without a beginning. nidhana (निधन) is an end. The compound agrees with brahma (ब्रह्म). |
| brahma (ब्रह्म) | nominative singular, neuter | Brahman (ब्रह्मन्). The subject of the first half, and of vivartate (विवर्तते). |
| śabda-tattvam (शब्द-तत्त्वम्) | nominative singular, neuter | The word-principle. śabda (शब्द) is word. tattva (तत्त्व) is the that-ness of a thing. In apposition with brahma (ब्रह्म). |
| yad (यद्) | nominative singular, neuter | Which. The relative picks up brahma (ब्रह्म). In the recited line it joins the next word: yadakṣaram (यदक्षरम्). |
| akṣaram (अक्षरम्) | nominative singular, neuter | Imperishable. The same stem is a syllable. Here it stands with brahma (ब्रह्म), so the line says imperishable, and a grammarian still hears the syllable. |
| vivartate (विवर्तते) | present, third person singular, ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद) | Appears, turns out as. From vi (वि) and the root vṛt (वृत्). The subject is brahma (ब्रह्म). |
| artha-bhāvena (अर्थ-भावेन) | instrumental singular, masculine | By way of the being of meaning. artha (अर्थ) is a meaning, an object. bhāva (भाव) is being, the state of being that. |
| prakriyā (प्रक्रिया) | nominative singular, feminine | The unfolding. The process by which a thing is laid out. |
| jagataḥ (जगतः) | genitive singular, neuter | Of the world. jagat (जगत्). In the recited line the visarga is heard as o (ओ) before yataḥ (यतः): jagato yataḥ (जगतो यतः). |
| yataḥ (यतः) | indeclinable | From which. It answers to yad (यद्). |
The phrases
The first half names Brahman (ब्रह्मन्): without beginning or end, the word-principle, imperishable.
The second half says what follows from that. It appears by way of meaning, and from it comes the unfolding of the world.
Sanskrit in this line
The verb is vivartate (विवर्तते). In this book the world's appearance from the word-principle is a vivarta (विवर्त): the cause shows as the effect. A Sāṅkhya (साङ्ख्य) page uses pariṇāma (परिणाम) for a cause that changes into the effect. This line's verb is vivartate (विवर्तते). The two words belong to the two books.
Sandhi. The e (ए) at the end of vivartate (विवर्तते) drops the a (अ) of artha (अर्थ). The apostrophe in the recited line is that missing a (अ): vivartate 'rthabhāvena (विवर्ततेऽर्थभावेन).
yad (यद्) plus akṣaram (अक्षरम्) is heard yadakṣaram (यदक्षरम्). The d (द्) meets a vowel and the recited line writes them as one: यदक्षरम्.
jagataḥ (जगतः) before yataḥ (यतः). A visarga after short a (अ), before a voiced consonant, is heard as o (ओ).
Say it back
Cover the page below the verse. Say the ten words, and say which three nominatives are naming Brahman (ब्रह्मन्).