2.30
अहिंसासत्यास्तेयब्रह्मचर्यापरिग्रहा यमाः
ahiṃsā-satyāsteya-brahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ
The line
The restraints are non-harm, truth, non-stealing, continence, and non-grasping.
नेपालीमा
यम अहिंसा, सत्य, अस्तेय, ब्रह्मचर्य र अपरिग्रह हुन्।
Where it sits
The first limb, opened into its five. 2.31 will say they are not limited by situation. 2.35–2.39 will say what is present when each one is established. Learn the five before those fruits.
Split: ahiṃsā (अहिंसा) + satya (सत्य) + asteya (अस्तेय) + brahmacarya (ब्रह्मचर्य) + aparigrahāḥ (अपरिग्रहाः) + yamāḥ (यमाः)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| ahiṃsā (अहिंसा) | stem | non-harm. a- (अ) plus hiṃsā (हिंसा), “harm.” |
| satya (सत्य) | stem | truth. |
| asteya (अस्तेय) | stem | non-stealing. a- (अ) plus steya (स्तेय). |
| brahmacarya (ब्रह्मचर्य) | stem | continence. Conduct that keeps its energy. |
| aparigrahāḥ (अपरिग्रहाः) | nominative plural | and non-grasping. a- (अ) plus parigraha (परिग्रह). The ending covers the five. |
| yamāḥ (यमाः) | nominative plural, masculine | the restraints. The predicate. |
The phrases
Five restraints, one plural ending. satya (सत्य) + asteya (अस्तेय) and brahmacarya (ब्रह्मचर्य) + aparigraha (अपरिग्रह) are a (अ) + a (अ) = ā (आ). Three of the five are privatives: non-harm, non-stealing, non-grasping. Truth and continence are named positively.
yamāḥ (यमाः) is what the five are. They are restraints, not the observances. The observances are 2.32.
Sanskrit in this line
Privative a- (अ) three times, the “not” of 1.5. The list-ending is masculine plural -āḥ (आः). ahiṃsā (अहिंसा) keeps a long ā (आ) because hiṃsā (हिंसा) is an ā (आ)-stem. The privative does not shorten it.
Say it back
Recite the five restraints. Mark which three are negations.
Next
2.31. They are a great vow, for every ground, not cut by birth, place, time, or circumstance.