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Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.42
yām imāṃ puṣpitāṃ vācaṃ pravadanty avipaścitaḥ | veda-vāda-ratāḥ pārtha nānyad astīti vādinaḥ
Translation. This following, flower-like, pleasing-to-hear speech which the undiscerning proclaim—
devoted to Vedic statements (veda-vāda), O Pārtha, habitually asserting, “Nothing else exists [apart from rites (karman) that procure such fruits as heaven]”—
Grammar check: 13 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 |
|---|
| yām | yad | pass |
| imām | idam | pass |
| puṣpitām | puṣpita | pass |
| vācam | vāc | pass |
| pravadanti | vad | pass |
| avipaścitaḥ | avipaścit | pass |
| veda-vāda-ratāḥ | vedavādarata | pass |
| pārtha | pārtha | pass |
| na | na | pass |
| anyat | anya | pass |
| asti | as | pass |
| iti | iti | pass |
| vādinaḥ | vādin | 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 accusative sequence yām imām … vācam is the object of pravadanti, and yām/imām point forward to the speech elaborated in what follows.→ Construe it cataphorically: ‘this following speech which they proclaim.’
gita [1]yām imāṃ vakṣyamāṇāṃ puṣpitāṃ puṣpita iva vṛkṣaḥ śobhamānāṃ śrūyamāṇa-ramaṇīyāṃ vācaṃ vākya-lakṣaṇāṃ pravadanti |
‘This’ speech is the speech about to be stated, and it is what they proclaim.
Puṣpitām is metaphorical: the speech is flower-like in being attractive and pleasant to hear, not literally flower-bearing.→ Flower-like and pleasing to hear.
gita [1]yām imāṃ vakṣyamāṇāṃ puṣpitāṃ puṣpita iva vṛkṣaḥ śobhamānāṃ śrūyamāṇa-ramaṇīyāṃ vācaṃ vākya-lakṣaṇāṃ pravadanti |
It is ‘flowered’ like a blossoming tree: attractive and delightful when heard.
Vāc denotes a sentence-like doctrinal statement here, rather than speech or voice in the abstract.→ A sentence-like proclamation or proposition.
gita [1]yām imāṃ vakṣyamāṇāṃ puṣpitāṃ puṣpita iva vṛkṣaḥ śobhamānāṃ śrūyamāṇa-ramaṇīyāṃ vācaṃ vākya-lakṣaṇāṃ pravadanti |
Śaṅkara defines the speech as ‘having the character of a sentence.’
Avipaścitaḥ is one privative compound meaning persons without understanding or discrimination; the analyzer’s separate avyaya a is rejected.→ Privative avipaścit: unintelligent and lacking discrimination.
gita [2]ke ? avipaścito 'medhaso 'vivekina ity arthaḥ |
Who are they? The avipaścits—unintelligent, undiscriminating—that is the meaning.
Veda-vāda-ratāḥ means ‘devoted to Vedic statements,’ not ‘fond of debating about the Veda.’ Formally, the whole is analyzed as a tatpuruṣa with rata governing a locative relation.→ Devoted to Vedic statements (veda-vāda), especially those presenting ritual means and fruits.
gita [3]veda-vāda-ratāḥ
‘Devoted to veda-vāda.’
gita [3]veda-vākyeṣu ratāḥ
‘Devoted to the sentences of the Veda.’
In the quoted claim nānyad asti, anyat is nominative as the subject of asti, and the implied comparison is not unrestricted: Śaṅkara supplies ‘apart from rites that are means to fruits such as attaining heaven.’→ ‘Nothing else exists apart from rites that procure such fruits as heaven.’
gita [3]na anyat svarga-prāpty-ādi-phala-sādhanebhyaḥ karmabhyo 'sti ity evaṃ vādinaḥ vadana-śīlāḥ
They habitually say: ‘There is nothing other than rites that serve as means to results beginning with the attainment of heaven.’
Iti marks nānyad asti as the ritualists’ assertion, not Śaṅkara’s own doctrinal statement, and vādinaḥ expresses habitual assertion.→ The clause is the opponents’ quoted, habitual assertion.
gita [3]ity evaṃ vādinaḥ vadana-śīlāḥ
‘Those who say thus,’ that is, those whose habit is saying it.
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1yām imāṃ vakṣyamāṇāṃ puṣpitāṃ puṣpita iva vṛkṣaḥ śobhamānāṃ śrūyamāṇa-ramaṇīyāṃ vācaṃ vākya-lakṣaṇāṃ pravadanti |
2ke ? avipaścito 'medhaso 'vivekina ity arthaḥ |
3veda-vāda-ratāḥ bahvy-artha-vāda-phala-sādhana-prakāśakeṣu veda-vākyeṣu ratāḥ he pārtha, na anyat svarga-prāpty-ādi-phala-sādhanebhyaḥ karmabhyo 'sti ity evaṃ vādinaḥ vadana-śīlāḥ ||bhgs_2.42||
4te ca --