The Upaniṣads / Kaṭha / 3.15 No sound, no touch
3.15
अशब्दमस्पर्शमरूपमव्ययं तथारसं नित्यमगन्धवच् च यत् ।
अनाद्यनन्तं महतः परं ध्रुवं निचाय्य तन् मृत्युमुखात् प्रमुच्यते aśabdam asparśam arūpam avyayaṃ tathārasaṃ nityam agandhavac ca yat |
anādy anantaṃ mahataḥ paraṃ dhruvaṃ nicāyya tan mṛtyumukhāt pramucyate
The line
What is without sound, touch, form, or change, and likewise without taste, constant, and without scent, beginningless and endless, higher than the great, steady: perceiving that, one is released from the mouth of death.
नेपालीमा
जुन शब्द, स्पर्श, रूप र परिवर्तनरहित छ, त्यस्तै स्वादरहित, नित्य र गन्धरहित, अनादि र अनन्त, महान्भन्दा माथि र स्थिर छ, त्यसलाई देखेर मानिस मृत्युको मुखबाट मुक्त हुन्छ।
Where it sits
The mouth of death is where the father sent the boy, and from which 1.11 said he would be seen freed. The thing perceived is the person above the great.
Split: aśabdam (अशब्दम्) + asparśam (अस्पर्शम्) + arūpam (अरूपम्) + avyayam (अव्ययम्) + tathā-arasam (तथा-अरसम्) + nityam (नित्यम्) + agandhavat ca (अगन्धवत् च) + yat (यत्) + anādi (अनादि) + anantam (अनन्तम्) + mahataḥ param (महतः परम्) + dhruvam (ध्रुवम्) + nicāyya (निचाय्य) + tat (तत्) + mṛtyu-mukhāt (मृत्यु-मुखात्) + pramucyate (प्रमुच्यते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| aśabdam (अशब्दम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Without sound. |
| asparśam (अस्पर्शम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Without touch. |
| arūpam (अरूपम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Without form. |
| avyayam (अव्ययम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Unchanging. Heard avyayaṃ (अव्ययं). |
| tathā-arasam (तथा-अरसम्) | accusative singular, neuter | And so, without taste. Heard tathārasam (तथारसम्). |
| nityam (नित्यम्) | accusative singular, neuter | Constant. |
| agandhavat ca (अगन्धवत् च) | accusative, plus and | And without scent. Heard agandhavac ca (अगन्धवच् च). |
| yat (यत्) | nominative, or accusative | Which. |
| anādi (अनादि) | accusative | Without beginning. |
| anantam (अनन्तम्) | accusative | Without end. Heard anantaṃ (अनन्तं). |
| mahataḥ param (महतः परम्) | ablative, nominative | Higher than the great. |
| dhruvam (ध्रुवम्) | accusative | Steady. Heard dhruvaṃ (ध्रुवं). |
| nicāyya (निचाय्य) | gerund | Having perceived. |
| tat (तत्) | accusative | That. Heard tan (तन्) before mṛtyu (मृत्यु). |
| mṛtyu-mukhāt (मृत्यु-मुखात्) | ablative singular, neuter | From the mouth of death. |
| pramucyate (प्रमुच्यते) | present, third person singular, passive | He is released. |
The phrases
A row of privatives, then release from death's mouth.
Sanskrit in this line
Agandhavat ca (अगन्धवत् च) is agandhavac ca (अगन्धवच् च). Tat mṛtyu (तत् मृत्यु) is tan mṛtyu (तन् मृत्यु). A final t (त्) before m (म्) is heard as n (न्).
Say it back
Name three senses this thing does not meet.