Vijñāna Bhairava / The question (प्रश्न) / 5
5
Vijñāna Bhairava (विज्ञान भैरव)
परापरायाः सकलमपरायाश् च वा पुनः ।
पराया यदि तद्वत् स्यात् परत्वं तद् विरुध्यते parāparāyāḥ sakalam aparāyāś ca vā punaḥ |
parāyā yadi tadvat syāt paratvaṃ tad virudhyate
The line
If the supreme were like the part-filled form of the supreme-and-lower, or again of the lower, then that supremacy would contradict itself.
नेपालीमा
यदि परा पनि परापरा वा अपराको सकला रूप जस्तै भइन् भने, त्यो परा हुनु आफैँसँग बाझिन्छ।
Where it sits
She is testing the claim that the supreme Goddess could be described the way the lower forms are described.
Split: parāparāyāḥ (परापरायाः) + sakalam (सकलम्) + aparāyāḥ (अपरायाः) + ca (च) + vā (वा) + punaḥ (पुनः) + parāyāḥ (परायाः) + yadi (यदि) + tadvat (तद्वत्) + syāt (स्यात्) + paratvam (परत्वम्) + tad (तद्) + virudhyate (विरुध्यते)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| parāparāyāḥ (परापरायाः) | genitive singular, feminine | of the one who is supreme and lower. parāparā (परापरा). |
| sakalam (सकलम्) | nominative singular, neuter | what has parts. sa (स) is with. kalā (कला) here is a part. |
| aparāyāḥ (अपरायाः) | genitive singular, feminine | of the lower one. aparā (अपरा). |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. |
| punaḥ (पुनः) | indeclinable | again. |
| parāyāḥ (परायाः) | genitive singular, feminine | of the supreme one. parā (परा). |
| yadi (यदि) | indeclinable | if. |
| tadvat (तद्वत्) | indeclinable | like that. |
| syāt (स्यात्) | optative, third person singular | it would be. From as (अस्), to be. |
| paratvam (परत्वम्) | nominative singular, neuter | being supreme. para (पर) plus the abstract tva (त्व). |
| tad (तद्) | nominative singular, neuter | that. |
| virudhyate (विरुध्यते) | present passive, third person singular | is contradicted. From vi (वि) and rudh (रुध्), to obstruct. |
The phrases
Three genitives name three Goddesses of this tantra (तन्त्र): parāparā (परापरा), aparā (अपरा), and parā (परा). The yadi (यदि) clause says: if parā (परा) were like the sakala (सकल) of the others, her supremacy would fight itself.
Sanskrit in this line
parāyāḥ (परायाः) is the genitive of parā (परा). The long ā (आ) of the stem stays, and āḥ (आः) is the feminine genitive ending. Before c (च्) it is recited aparāyāś ca (अपरायाश् च).
Say it back
Say what would contradict supremacy, in the verse's own if.