4.12
अतीतानागतं स्वरूपतोऽस्त्यध्वभेदाद् धर्माणाम्
atītānāgataṃ svarūpato 'sty adhva-bhedād dharmāṇām
The line
Past and future exist in their own form, because properties differ by the road they are on.
नेपालीमा
भूत र भविष्य आफ्नै रूपमा रहन्छन्, किनकि धर्महरू आफू भएको बाटोअनुसार फरक हुन्छन्।
Where it sits
A metaphysical line after the karma passage. If past and future exist, then knowledge of them, from the third pāda (पाद), is knowledge of something real. 4.13 says those properties, manifest or subtle, are the guṇas (गुण). 4.14 says a thing's suchness is the oneness of its change.
Split: atīta (अतीत) + anāgatam (अनागतम्) + svarūpataḥ (स्वरूपतः) + asti (अस्ति) + adhva (अध्व) + bhedāt (भेदात्) + dharmāṇām (धर्माणाम्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| atīta (अतीत) | stem | the past. |
| anāgatam (अनागतम्) | nominative singular, neuter | and the future. The ending covers both. |
| svarūpataḥ (स्वरूपतः) | indeclinable | by way of their own form. -taḥ (तः) “from the side of.” |
| asti (अस्ति) | verb, present | it exists. |
| adhva (अध्व) | stem | the road. The path of time a property is on. |
| bhedāt (भेदात्) | ablative singular | because of a difference of road. |
| dharmāṇām (धर्माणाम्) | genitive plural | of the properties. |
The phrases
Past and future exist in their own form, because the properties differ by the road they are on. atīta (अतीत) + anāgata (अनागत) is a (अ) + a (अ) = ā (आ). svarūpataḥ asti (स्वरूपतः अस्ति) is recited svarūpato 'sti (स्वरूपतोऽस्ति), aḥ (अः) + a (अ). bhedāt dharmāṇām (भेदात् धर्माणाम्) doubles the d (द्): bhedād dharmāṇām (भेदाद् धर्माणाम्), t (त्) before a voiced consonant.
3.14 said the bearer holds subsided, arisen, and not-yet-named properties. This line says the past and future ones exist. They are not fictions. They are on a different road.
Sanskrit in this line
A verb, asti (अस्ति), “exists.” The subject is past and future. aḥ (अः) + a (अ) gives svarūpato 'sti (स्वरूपतोऽस्ति). -taḥ (तः) is the adverbial ablative, “from the standpoint of their own form.” Ablative bhedāt (भेदात्) is the because.
Say it back
Say what exists, and why. The why is a difference of road.
Next
4.13. Those, manifest or subtle, have the guṇas as their nature.