The Upaniṣads / Īśāvāsya / 14 Crossing by destruction
14
सम्भूतिं च विनाशं च यस् तद् वेदोभयं सह ।
विनाशेन मृत्युं तीर्त्वा सम्भूत्यामृतमश्नुते sambhūtiṃ ca vināśaṃ ca yas tad vedobhayaṃ saha |
vināśena mṛtyuṃ tīrtvā sambhūtyāmṛtam aśnute
The line
Who knows both together, becoming and destruction: by destruction he crosses death, and by becoming he reaches the deathless.
नेपालीमा
जो भव र विनाश दुवै सँगै जान्छ, त्यो विनाशले मृत्यु तर्छ र भवले अमरत्वमा पुग्छ।
Where it sits
Read mantra 11 beside this one. The jobs are parallel. The means have changed. The Kāṇva (काण्व) reader has now heard both pairs. The last four mantras leave the pairs and pray.
Split: sambhūtim (सम्भूतिम्) + ca (च) + vināśam (विनाशम्) + ca (च) + yaḥ (यः) + tat (तत्) + veda (वेद) + ubhayam (उभयम्) + saha (सह) + vināśena (विनाशेन) + mṛtyum (मृत्युम्) + tīrtvā (तीर्त्वा) + sambhūtyā (सम्भूत्या) + amṛtam (अमृतम्) + aśnute (अश्नुते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| sambhūtim (सम्भूतिम्) | accusative singular, feminine | Becoming. Heard sambhūtiṃ (सम्भूतिं). |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | And. |
| vināśam (विनाशम्) | accusative singular, masculine | Destruction. Heard vināśaṃ (विनाशं). |
| yaḥ tat veda ubhayam saha (यः तत् वेद उभयम् सह) | the frame of mantra 11 | Who knows that, both together. |
| vināśena (विनाशेन) | instrumental singular, masculine | By destruction. |
| mṛtyum tīrtvā (मृत्युम् तीर्त्वा) | accusative, gerund | Having crossed death. |
| sambhūtyā (सम्भूत्या) | instrumental singular, feminine | By becoming. Joins amṛtam (अमृतम्): sambhūtyāmṛtam (सम्भूत्यामृतम्). |
| amṛtam aśnute (अमृतमश्नुते) | accusative, verb | He reaches the deathless. |
The phrases
The frame is mantra 11. Sambhūti (सम्भूति) and vināśa (विनाश) stand where vidyā (विद्या) and avidyā (अविद्या) stood.
By destruction he crosses death. By becoming he reaches the deathless.
Sanskrit in this line
Veda (वेद) plus ubhayam (उभयम्) is vedobhayam (वेदोभयम्), as in mantra 11.
Sambhūtyā (सम्भूत्या) plus amṛtam (अमृतम्) is sambhūtyāmṛtam (सम्भूत्यामृतम्).
Say it back
Say which instrumental crosses death here, and which one did that job in mantra 11.