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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.39
eṣā te 'bhihitā sāṃkhye buddhir yoge tv imāṃ śṛṇu | buddhyā yukto yayā pārtha karmabandhaṃ prahāsyasi
Translation. This knowledge (buddhi) has been declared to you
in the teaching whose subject is discrimination of ultimate reality (Sāṃkhya);
but in the discipline that is its means (Yoga), hear now this [knowledge].
Joined with which, O Pārtha, you will cast off the bondage that is action (karma).
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 |
|---|
| eṣā | etad | pass |
| te | tvad | pass |
| abhihitā | abhihita | pass |
| sāṃkhye | sāṃkhya | pass |
| buddhiḥ | buddhi | pass |
| yoge | yoga | pass |
| tu | tu | pass |
| imām | idam | pass |
| śṛṇu | śru | pass |
| buddhyā | buddhi | pass |
| yuktaḥ | yukta | pass |
| yayā | yad | pass |
| pārtha | pārtha | pass |
| karmabandham | karmabandha | pass |
| prahāsyasi | hā | 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 te as a dative, “to you,” rather than as a genitive, “your.”→ Dative singular governed semantically by abhihitā.
gita [1]eṣā te tubhyam abhihitā uktā
This has been stated—declared—to you.
Render buddhi as saving knowledge or understanding, not merely as the psychological faculty of intellect.→ “Knowledge (buddhi),” because the commentary equates it with jñāna and describes it as the direct cause of ending the defects responsible for saṃsāra.
gita [1]buddhir jñānaṃ sākṣāt śoka-mohādi-saṃsāra-hetu-doṣa-nivṛtti-kāraṇam
Buddhi is knowledge, the direct cause of the cessation of such defects as grief and delusion, which cause saṃsāra.
Take sāṃkhye as a locative of subject matter concerning discrimination of ultimate reality, rather than an unqualified reference to the historical Sāṃkhya school.→ The domain or teaching concerned with discrimination of ultimate reality.
gita [1]sāṃkhye paramārtha-vastu-viveka-viṣaye
In Sāṃkhya, whose subject is discrimination of the ultimately real entity.
Interpret yoge as the practical means to attainment of the preceding knowledge, including detached karma-yoga and samādhi-yoga.→ “The discipline that is its means (Yoga).”
gita [2]yoge tu tat-prāpty-upāye niḥsaṅgatayā dvandva-prahāṇa-pūrvakam īśvarārādhanārthe karma-yoge karmānuṣṭhāne samādhi-yoge ca
But in Yoga, the means of attaining that—in karma-yoga, the performance of action for worship of the Lord, without attachment and preceded by abandoning the pairs of opposites, and in samādhi-yoga.
Take imām as referring to the Yoga-oriented buddhi that is about to be taught immediately afterward.→ A forward-pointing “this [knowledge].”
gita [2]imām anantaram evocyamānāṃ buddhiṃ śṛṇu
Hear this knowledge that is to be stated immediately afterward.
Construe yayā as agreeing with buddhyā and the resulting instrumental phrase as the complement of yuktaḥ.→ “Joined with which [knowledge].”
gita [3]buddhyā yayā yoga-viṣayayā yuktaḥ
Joined with that knowledge which has Yoga as its subject.
Analyze karmabandha as an appositional karmadhāraya: karma itself, specifically what is called merit and demerit, is the bondage.→ Appositional karmadhāraya, translated “the bondage that is action (karma).”
gita [4]karma-bandhaṃ karmaiva dharmādharmākhyo bandhaḥ karma-bandhas tam
Karma-bondage: karma itself, called merit and demerit, is bondage; that is karma-bondage, and that [you will abandon].
Render prahāsyasi as the active future “you will cast off”; the commentary understands this result as occurring through acquisition of knowledge occasioned by divine grace.→ Active future, “you will cast off,” while recognizing the commentary's stated causal sequence.
gita [4]taṃ prahāsyasi īśvara-prasāda-nimitta-jñāna-prāpter ity abhiprāyaḥ
You will cast it off, through attaining knowledge occasioned by the Lord's grace—such is the intention.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1eṣā te tubhyam abhihitā uktā sāṃkhye paramārtha-vastu-viveka-viṣaye buddhir jñānaṃ sākṣāt śoka-mohādi-saṃsāra-hetu-doṣa-nivṛtti-kāraṇam |
2yoge tu tat-prāpty-upāye niḥsaṅgatayā dvandva-prahāṇa-pūrvakam īśvarārādhanārthe karma-yoge karmānuṣṭhāne samādhi-yoge cemām anantaram evocyamānāṃ buddhiṃ śṛṇu |
3tāṃ ca buddhiṃ stauti prarocanārtham -- buddhyā yayā yoga-viṣayayā yuktaḥ |
4he pārtha, karma-bandhaṃ karmaiva dharmādharmākhyo bandhaḥ karma-bandhas taṃ prahāsyasi īśvara-prasāda-nimitta-jñāna-prāpter ity abhiprāyaḥ ||bhgs_2.39||
5kiṃ cānyat --