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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.40
nehābhikrama-nāśo 'sti pratyavāyo na vidyate | svalpam apy asya dharmasya trāyate mahato bhayāt
Translation. Here—on the path of liberation, in the yoga of action (karma-yoga)—no undertaking once begun is lost, and no adverse consequence (pratyavāya) arises;
even a little of this discipline (dharma), when practiced, protects one from the great fear—the fear of transmigratory existence (saṃsāra), marked by birth, death, and the like.
Grammar check: 14 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 |
| iha | iha | pass |
| abhikrama-nāśaḥ | abhikrama-nāśa | pass |
| asti | as | pass |
| pratyavāyaḥ | pratyavāya | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| vidyate | vid | pass |
| svalpam | svalpa | pass |
| api | api | pass |
| asya | idam | pass |
| dharmasya | dharma | pass |
| trāyate | trai | pass |
| mahataḥ | mahat | pass |
| bhayāt | bhaya | 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.
The deictic iha does not mean merely ‘in this world’; it refers to the present path of liberation, specifically karma-yoga.→ on the path of liberation, in the yoga of action
gita [1]neha mokṣa-mārge karma-yoge abhikrama-nāśo 'bhikramaṇam abhikramaḥ prārambhas tasya nāśo nāsti yathā kṛṣyādeḥ |
Here—on the path of liberation, in karma-yoga—there is no loss of an undertaking.
Abhikrama-nāśa is a genitive tatpuruṣa, ‘loss of an undertaking or beginning,’ rather than ‘destructive advance’ or ‘failure to advance.’→ loss of an undertaking once begun
gita [1]abhikrama-nāśo 'bhikramaṇam abhikramaḥ prārambhas tasya nāśo nāsti
‘Undertaking’ is the act of undertaking, a beginning; there is no destruction of that.
gita [2]yoga-viṣaye prārambhasya na anaikāntika-phalatvam ity arthaḥ |
The meaning is that, in the sphere of yoga, a beginning does not have an uncertain result.
Pratyavāya denotes an adverse or harmful counter-effect, and vidyate is existential (‘arises/exists’), not passive ‘is known.’→ no adverse consequence arises
gita [3]kiṃ ca nāpi cikitsāvat pratyavāyo vidyate bhavati |
Moreover, no adverse consequence exists or occurs, as it may in medical treatment.
Svalpam is neuter nominative singular, the subject of trāyate, with the commentary supplying the agreeing participle anuṣṭhitam, ‘practiced.’ It is not an accusative object.→ even a little, when practiced, protects
gita [4]kiṃ tu svalpam api asya dharmasya yoga-dharmasya anuṣṭhitaṃ trāyate rakṣati
Rather, even a little of this discipline—the discipline of yoga—when practiced, saves, protects.
Asya dharmasya means ‘of this yoga-discipline’; dharma is not generic morality or righteousness here. The genitive is partitive with svalpam.→ a little of this discipline (dharma), namely yoga-dharma
gita [4]asya dharmasya yoga-dharmasya
Of this discipline, that is, of the discipline of yoga.
Trāyate is construed in the active sense ‘protects,’ despite its middle ending; the subject is svalpam ... anuṣṭhitam and the person protected is implicit.→ protects one
gita [4]anuṣṭhitaṃ trāyate rakṣati
When practiced, it saves—protects.
Mahataḥ is neuter ablative singular agreeing with bhayāt, and the ablative marks what one is protected from. The ‘great fear’ is fear of saṃsāra, characterized by birth, death, and the like.→ from the great fear—the fear of saṃsāra marked by birth, death, and the like
gita [4]trāyate rakṣati mahataḥ bhayāt saṃsāra-bhayāt janma-maraṇādi-lakṣaṇāt
It saves, protects, from the great fear—from the fear of saṃsāra, characterized by birth, death, and the like.
Svalpa is analyzed internally as su + alpa, a prādi-tatpuruṣa represented by the schema’s tatpurusa category. The commentary repeats the word but does not analyze this internal relation.→ prādi-tatpuruṣa su + alpa, with whole compound stem svalpa
gita []
The commentary supplies no explicit analysis of the internal su-alpa relation; the decision is grammatical.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1neha mokṣa-mārge karma-yoge abhikrama-nāśo 'bhikramaṇam abhikramaḥ prārambhas tasya nāśo nāsti yathā kṛṣyādeḥ |
2yoga-viṣaye prārambhasya na anaikāntika-phalatvam ity arthaḥ |
3kiṃ ca nāpi cikitsāvat pratyavāyo vidyate bhavati |
4kiṃ tu svalpam api asya dharmasya yoga-dharmasya anuṣṭhitaṃ trāyate rakṣati mahataḥ bhayāt saṃsāra-bhayāt janma-maraṇādi-lakṣaṇāt ||bhgs_2.40||
5yeyaṃ sāṃkhye buddhir uktā yoge ca, vakṣyamāṇa-lakṣaṇā sā -