1.38
स्वप्ननिद्राज्ञानालम्बनं वा
svapna-nidrā-jñānālambanaṃ vā
The line
Or taking dream and sleep as the support.
नेपालीमा
अथवा स्वप्न र निद्राको आश्रय लिइन्छ।
Where it sits
Sleep was an obstacle-adjacent activity in 1.10, something the mind does. Here a cognition of dream or sleep is a support the mind can be set on. The vā (वा) list is still offering options.
Split: svapna (स्वप्न) + nidrā (निद्रा) + jñāna (ज्ञान) + ālambanam (आलम्बनम्) + vā (वा)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| svapna (स्वप्न) | stem | dream. |
| nidrā (निद्रा) | stem | sleep. The activity from 1.10, here as an object one can examine. |
| jñāna (ज्ञान) | stem | knowing, the cognition of them. |
| ālambanam (आलम्बनम्) | nominative or accusative singular, neuter | the support. Taking that cognition as what the mind rests on. |
| vā (वा) | indeclinable | or. |
The phrases
svapna-nidrā-jñānālambanam (स्वप्ननिद्राज्ञानालम्बनम्) is one compound. Read from the end: a support, and the support is a cognition, and the cognition is of dream and of sleep. jñāna (ज्ञान) + ālambana (आलम्बन) is a (अ) + ā (आ) = ā (आ).
cittam (चित्तम्) from 1.37 can still be felt under ālambanam (आलम्बनम्), which is why the ending is neuter -am (अम्). Or the word is simply “the support,” neuter, and vā (वा) offers it as another way. Either reading keeps the same practice: dream and sleep are usable objects.
Sanskrit in this line
No new ending. The sandhi is a (अ) + ā (आ) = ā (आ), which you can now hear inside a compound without stopping to calculate it. ālambana (आलम्बन) is “support,” and it will return whenever the book says what the mind is resting on.
Say it back
Say what the support is made of: dream, sleep, the cognition of them. Then the word ālambanam (आलम्बनम्).