back to questions
Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.16
nāsato vidyate bhāvo nābhāvo vidyate sataḥ | ubhayor api dṛṣṭo 'ntas tv anayos tattva-darśibhiḥ
Translation. Of the unreal (asat) there is no being (bhāva);
of the real (sat) there is no non-being (abhāva).
But the final determination of both these alike
has been apprehended by the seers of reality (tattva-darśins).
Grammar check: 15 words pass / 0 flagged / 0 beyond the checkerPāṇini-verified
Every word's claimed grammar is re-derived with vidyut-prakriya, software implementing Pāṇini's rules. Flags are shown, never hidden; some are the text taking epic or Vedic liberties the classical rules do not generate.
Word by word
| surface | lemma | grammar |
|---|
| na | na | pass |
| asataḥ | asat | pass |
| vidyate | vid | pass |
| bhāvaḥ | bhāva | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| abhāvaḥ | abhāva | pass |
| vidyate | vid | pass |
| sataḥ | sat | pass |
| ubhayoḥ | ubhaya | pass |
| api | api | pass |
| dṛṣṭaḥ | dṛṣṭa | pass |
| antaḥ | anta | pass |
| tu | tu | pass |
| anayoḥ | idam | pass |
| tattva-darśibhiḥ | tattva-darśin | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Śaṅkara's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Construe asataḥ as a masculine genitive dependent on bhāvaḥ and as denoting the unreal non-Self—especially caused and variable modifications such as cold, heat, the body, and the dualities—not merely an abstract logical nothing.→ Genitive referring to the unreal non-Self and caused modifications.
gita [1]na asato 'vidyamānasya śītoṣṇādeḥ sa-kāraṇasya na vidyate nāsti bhāvo bhavanam astitā ||
For the unreal—that which is nonexistent, such as cold and heat together with their causes—there is no being, no existence: being, becoming, existentiality.
gita [30]tasmād dehāder dvandvasya ca sa-kāraṇasya asato na vidyate bhāva iti |
Therefore, for the unreal body and the caused dualities, there is no being.
gita [32]evam ātmānātmanoḥ sad-asatoḥ ubhayor api dṛṣṭaḥ upalabdho 'nto nirṇayaḥ sat sad eva, asat asad eveti, tv anayoḥ yathoktayoḥ tattva-darśibhiḥ |
Thus, for both Self and non-Self, real and unreal, the conclusion has been seen or apprehended: the real is only real and the unreal only unreal; this concerns the two just described and is known by the seers of reality.
Translate bhāvaḥ as ‘being’ or ‘existence’, rather than as a mental state, condition, or emotion.→ Being (bhāva), explicitly including existence.
gita [1]na asato 'vidyamānasya śītoṣṇādeḥ sa-kāraṇasya na vidyate nāsti bhāvo bhavanam astitā ||
Śaṅkara glosses bhāva as bhavana and astitā, ‘becoming/being’ and ‘existence’.
Construe sataḥ as a masculine genitive referring here to the Self and abhāvaḥ as ‘non-being’ or ‘nonexistence’. The claim is that the Self does not become nonexistent because the cognition of being is invariable.→ Masculine genitive ‘of the real’, referring to the Self; abhāva means nonexistence.
gita [10]yad-viṣayā buddhir na vyabhicarati, tat sat |
That whose cognition does not vary is real.
gita [19]na tu sad-buddhi-viṣayaḥ, avyabhicārāt ||
But the object of the cognition of being is not unreal, because that cognition does not vary.
gita [31]tathā sataś ca ātmano 'bhāvo 'vidyamānatā na vidyate, sarvatrāvyabhicārāt ity avocāma ||
Likewise, for the real Self there is no non-being—no nonexistence—because it is invariable everywhere, as we have said.
Take dṛṣṭaḥ antaḥ to mean ‘the final determination has been apprehended’, not ‘the end has been seen’. Dṛṣṭaḥ has passive sense and agrees with antaḥ.→ The definitive conclusion has been apprehended.
gita [32]evam ātmānātmanoḥ sad-asatoḥ ubhayor api dṛṣṭaḥ upalabdho 'nto nirṇayaḥ sat sad eva, asat asad eveti, tv anayoḥ yathoktayoḥ tattva-darśibhiḥ |
Śaṅkara directly glosses dṛṣṭaḥ with upalabdhaḥ, ‘apprehended’, and antaḥ with nirṇayaḥ, ‘determination’.
Read ubhayoḥ and anayoḥ as genitive duals referring to the same pair—Self/non-Self or real/unreal—and associate api with ubhayoḥ, ‘of both alike’.→ Coreferential genitive duals: ‘of both these alike’.
gita [32]evam ātmānātmanoḥ sad-asatoḥ ubhayor api dṛṣṭaḥ upalabdho 'nto nirṇayaḥ sat sad eva, asat asad eveti, tv anayoḥ yathoktayoḥ tattva-darśibhiḥ |
Śaṅkara identifies the two as Self and non-Self, real and unreal, and explains anayoḥ as ‘of the two just described’.
Analyze tattva-darśin as an object-relation tatpuruṣa, ‘one disposed to see tattva’, and understand tattva here as Brahman’s true nature rather than as an unspecified philosophical category.→ Tatpuruṣa ‘seer of reality’, where reality is Brahman’s true nature.
gita [33]tad iti sarva-nāma sarvaṃ ca brahma, tasya nāma tad iti, tad-bhāvas tattvam, brahmaṇo yāthātmyam |
‘Tad’ is an all-designating pronoun, and the all is Brahman; its designation is ‘tad’. The state of that is tattva, Brahman’s true nature.
gita [34]tad draṣṭuṃ śīlaṃ yeṣāṃ te tattva-darśinaḥ, tais tattva-darśibhiḥ |
Those whose disposition is to see that are tattva-darśins; by those seers of reality.
Construe tattva-darśibhiḥ as the instrumental agent of passive dṛṣṭaḥ: the determination is apprehended by the seers of reality.→ Instrumental of agent.
gita [34]tad draṣṭuṃ śīlaṃ yeṣāṃ te tattva-darśinaḥ, tais tattva-darśibhiḥ |
Śaṅkara’s demonstrative instrumental tais confirms the agentive construction: ‘by those seers of reality’.
Analyze asat and abhāva as privative nañ-tatpuruṣas, reflecting Śaṅkara’s glosses avidyamāna and avidyamānatā.→ Privative nañ-tatpuruṣas: ‘not real/existent’ and ‘non-being’.
gita [1]na asato 'vidyamānasya śītoṣṇādeḥ sa-kāraṇasya na vidyate nāsti bhāvo bhavanam astitā ||
Asat is glossed avidyamāna, ‘nonexistent’.
gita [31]tathā sataś ca ātmano 'bhāvo 'vidyamānatā na vidyate, sarvatrāvyabhicārāt ity avocāma ||
Abhāva is glossed avidyamānatā, ‘nonexistence’.
Render tu as a mild contrastive transition, ‘but’. Śaṅkara repeats the particle but supplies no distinct lexical gloss.
→ But.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1na asato 'vidyamānasya śītoṣṇādeḥ sa-kāraṇasya na vidyate nāsti bhāvo bhavanam astitā ||
2na hi śītoṣṇādi sa-kāraṇaṃ pramāṇair nirūpyamāṇaṃ vastu sambhavati |
3vikāro hi saḥ, vikāraś ca vyabhicarati |
4yathā ghaṭādi-saṃsthānaṃ cakṣuṣā nirūpyamāṇaṃ mṛd-vyatirekeṇānupalabdher asat |
5tathā sarvo vikāraḥ kāraṇa-vyatirekeṇānupalabdher asat |
6janma-pradhvaṃsābhyāṃ prāg ūrdhvaṃ cānupalabdheḥ |
7kāryasya ghaṭādeḥ mṛd-ādi-kāraṇasya ca tat-kāraṇa-vyatirekeṇānupalabdher asattvam ||
8tad-asattve sarvābhāva-prasaṅga iti cet, na |
9sarvatra buddhi-dvayopalabdheḥ, sad-buddhir asad-buddhir iti |
10yad-viṣayā buddhir na vyabhicarati, tat sat |
11yad-viṣayā vyabhicarati, tad asat |
12iti sad-asad-vibhāge buddhi-tantre sthite |
13sarvatra dve buddhī sarvair upalabhyete samānādhikaraṇe na nīlotpalavat, san ghaṭaḥ san paṭaḥ, san hastī iti |
14evaṃ sarvatra |
15tayor buddhyoḥ ghaṭādi-buddhir vyabhicarati |
16tathā ca darśitam |
17na tu sad-buddhiḥ |
18tasmāt ghaṭādi-buddhi-viṣayo 'san, vyabhicārāt |
19na tu sad-buddhi-viṣayaḥ, avyabhicārāt ||
20ghaṭe vinaṣṭe ghaṭa-buddhau vyabhicarantyāṃ sad-buddhir api vyabhicaratīti cet na |
21paṭād evapi sad-buddhi-darśanāt |
22viśeṣaṇa-viṣayaiva sā sad-buddhiḥ |
23sad-buddhivat ghaṭa-buddhir api ghaṭāntarā dṛśyata iti cet, na |
24paṭādau adarśanāt ||
25sad-buddhir api naṣṭe ghaṭe na dṛśyata iti cet, na |
26viśeṣyābhāvāt |
27sad-buddhir viśeṣaṇa-viṣayā satī viśeṣyābhāve viśeṣaṇānupapattau kiṃ-viṣayā syāt ? na tu punaḥ sad-buddheḥ viṣayābhāvāt ||
28ekādhikaraṇatvaṃ ghaṭādi-viśeṣyābhāve na yuktam iti cet, na |
29idam udakam iti marīcy-ādau anyatarābhāve 'pi sāmānādhikaraṇya-darśanāt ||
30tasmād dehāder dvandvasya ca sa-kāraṇasya asato na vidyate bhāva iti |
31tathā sataś ca ātmano 'bhāvo 'vidyamānatā na vidyate, sarvatrāvyabhicārāt ity avocāma ||
32evam ātmānātmanoḥ sad-asatoḥ ubhayor api dṛṣṭaḥ upalabdho 'nto nirṇayaḥ sat sad eva, asat asad eveti, tv anayoḥ yathoktayoḥ tattva-darśibhiḥ |
33tad iti sarva-nāma sarvaṃ ca brahma, tasya nāma tad iti, tad-bhāvas tattvam, brahmaṇo yāthātmyam |
34tad draṣṭuṃ śīlaṃ yeṣāṃ te tattva-darśinaḥ, tais tattva-darśibhiḥ |
35tvam api tattva-darśināṃ dṛṣṭim āśritya śokaṃ mohaṃ ca hitvā śītoṣṇādīni niyatāniyata-rūpāṇi dvandvāni vikāro 'yam asann eva marīci-jalavan mithyāvabhāsate iti manasi niścitya titikṣasva ity abhiprāyaḥ ||bhgs_2.16||
36kiṃ punas tat yat sad eva sarvadaiva astīti |
37ucyate ---