The Upaniṣads / Kaṭha / 3.10 Above the senses
3.10
इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्यर्था अर्थेभ्यश् च परं मनः ।
मनसस् तु परा बुद्धिर् बुद्धेरात्मा महान् परः indriyebhyaḥ parā hy arthā arthebhyaś ca paraṃ manaḥ |
manasas tu parā buddhir buddher ātmā mahān paraḥ
The line
Higher than the senses are the objects. Higher than the objects is the mind. Higher than the mind is the intellect. Higher than the intellect is the great self.
नेपालीमा
इन्द्रियभन्दा माथि विषय छन्, विषयभन्दा माथि मन छ, मनभन्दा माथि बुद्धि छ, र बुद्धिभन्दा माथि महान् आत्मा छ।
Where it sits
Gītā (गीता) 3.42 is this ladder: senses, then mind, then intellect, then what is beyond. 3.11 puts the unmanifest above the great, and the person above the unmanifest. Brahma Sūtra (सूत्र) 1.4.1 refuses to read that unmanifest as an inferred pradhāna (प्रधान) free of the body in the figure.
Split: indriyebhyaḥ (इन्द्रियेभ्यः) + parāḥ (पराः) + hi (हि) + arthāḥ (अर्थाः) + arthebhyaḥ ca (अर्थेभ्यः च) + param (परम्) + manaḥ (मनः) + manasaḥ tu (मनसः तु) + parā buddhiḥ (परा बुद्धिः) + buddheḥ (बुद्धेः) + ātmā mahān (आत्मा महान्) + paraḥ (परः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| indriyebhyaḥ (इन्द्रियेभ्यः) | ablative plural, neuter | Than the senses. |
| parāḥ (पराः) | nominative plural, masculine | Higher. Heard parā (परा). |
| hi (हि) | indeclinable | For. |
| arthāḥ (अर्थाः) | nominative plural, masculine | The objects. Heard arthā (अर्था). |
| arthebhyaḥ ca (अर्थेभ्यः च) | ablative plural, plus and | And than the objects. Heard arthebhyaś ca (अर्थेभ्यश् च). |
| param (परम्) | nominative singular, neuter | Higher. Heard paraṃ (परं). |
| manaḥ (मनः) | nominative singular, neuter | The mind. |
| manasaḥ tu (मनसः तु) | ablative singular, plus and | And than the mind. Heard manasas tu (मनसस् तु). |
| parā buddhiḥ (परा बुद्धिः) | nominative singular, feminine | Higher is the intellect. Heard parā buddhir (परा बुद्धिर्). |
| buddheḥ (बुद्धेः) | ablative singular, feminine | Than the intellect. Heard buddher (बुद्धेर्). |
| ātmā mahān (आत्मा महान्) | nominative singular, masculine | The great self. |
| paraḥ (परः) | nominative singular, masculine | Higher. |
The phrases
A ladder. Each step is an ablative of comparison and the word para (पर).
Sanskrit in this line
Arthebhyaḥ ca (अर्थेभ्यः च) is arthebhyaś ca (अर्थेभ्यश् च). A visarga before ca (च) is heard as ś (श्). Buddheḥ ātmā (बुद्धेः आत्मा) is buddher ātmā (बुद्धेरात्मा).
Say it back
Climb the four steps, from the senses upward.