4.16
न चैकचित्ततन्त्रं वस्तु तदप्रमाणकं तदा किं स्यात्
na caika-citta-tantraṃ vastu tad-apramāṇakaṃ tadā kiṃ syāt
The line
A thing does not depend on one mind. If it were unestablished when that mind is not looking, what would it then be?
नेपालीमा
वस्तु एउटै चित्तमा निर्भर हुँदैन। त्यो चित्त नहेर्दा वस्तु अस्थापित हुन्थ्यो भने त्यो के हुन्थ्यो त?
Where it sits
The argument against a single-mind idealism. 4.17 will say how a thing is known or unknown: according as the mind is colored by it. Knowing is a coloring, not a creating.
Split: na (न) + ca (च) + eka (एक) + citta (चित्त) + tantram (तन्त्रम्) + vastu (वस्तु) + tat (तत्) + apramāṇakam (अप्रमाणकम्) + tadā (तदा) + kim (किम्) + syāt (स्यात्)
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|
| na (न) | indeclinable | not. |
| ca (च) | indeclinable | and. |
| eka (एक) | stem | one. |
| citta (चित्त) | stem | mind. |
| tantram (तन्त्रम्) | nominative singular, neuter | depending on. A thing is not strung on one mind. |
| vastu (वस्तु) | nominative singular, neuter | the thing. |
| tat (तत्) | stem | that mind. |
| apramāṇakam (अप्रमाणकम्) | nominative singular, neuter | not established. a- (अ) plus pramāṇaka (प्रमाणक). |
| tadā (तदा) | indeclinable | then. When that mind is not looking. |
| kim (किम्) | indeclinable | what? |
| syāt (स्यात्) | verb, optative | would it be. |
The phrases
A thing does not depend on one mind. na ca eka (न च एक) is recited na caika (न चैक), because a (अ) + e (ए) = ai (ऐ). If the thing were unestablished when that mind does not certify it, what would it then be?
kiṃ syāt (किं स्यात्) is the question that closes the door. A thing that winks out when one mind looks away is not a thing. So 4.15's separate roads stand.
Sanskrit in this line
The optative syāt (स्यात्), “would be,” is the new verb form. It marks a hypothetical. kim (किम्) is “what.” Together, “what would it be?” a (अ) + e (ए) = ai (ऐ) hides inside caika (चैक). na ca (न च) is the “and not” of 3.20.
Say it back
Ask the line's question in English only after you have said kiṃ syāt (किं स्यात्). The verb is the challenge.
Next
4.17. A thing is known or unknown according as the mind is or is not colored by it.