back to questions
Bhagavad-Gītā with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 2.60
yatato hy api kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ | indriyāṇi pramāthīni haranti prasabhaṃ manaḥ
Translation. For, O son of Kuntī, the senses (indriyāṇi)—agitating by nature—
forcibly carry away the mind (manas) even of a striving, discerning man.
Grammar check: 11 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 |
|---|
| yatataḥ | yatat | pass |
| hi | hi | pass |
| api | api | pass |
| kaunteya | kaunteya | pass |
| puruṣasya | puruṣa | pass |
| vipaścitaḥ | vipaścit | pass |
| indriyāṇi | indriya | pass |
| pramāthīni | pramāthin | pass |
| haranti | hṛ | pass |
| prasabham | prasabham | pass |
| manaḥ | manas | 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.
Interpret yatataḥ as the genitive singular of the present active participle yatat from √yat, modifying puruṣasya, rather than as a form of the pronoun yad.→ Participial yatataḥ, “of one who strives.”
gita [1]yatataḥ prayatnaṃ kurvataḥ
“Yatataḥ means ‘of one making an effort.’”
Take hi as an explanatory or causal particle introducing the reason: “for.”→ Causal/explanatory “for.”
gita [1]hi yasmāt
“Hi means ‘because/inasmuch as.’”
Despite its intervening position, construe api with vipaścitaḥ: the senses carry off the mind even of a discerning man.→ api has displaced syntactic connection with vipaścitaḥ.
gita [1]puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ medhāvino 'pi iti vyavahitena saṃbandhaḥ
“[It is] ‘even of the discerning, intelligent man’: the connection is made across the intervening words.”
Translate vipaścitaḥ as “of a discerning man,” not merely “of a learned man.”→ Discerning, reflecting the gloss medhāvin and the subsequent reference to discriminative knowledge.
gita [1]vipaścitaḥ medhāvinaḥ
“Vipaścitaḥ means ‘of the intelligent/discerning man.’”
gita [2]prakāśam eva paśyato viveka-vijñāna-yuktaṃ manaḥ
“The mind, endowed with discriminative knowledge, of one who sees the matter clearly.”
Analyze indriyāṇi as nominative plural, the subject of haranti, rather than as accusative plural.→ Nominative plural subject, with pramāthīni in agreement and manaḥ as the accusative object.
gita [2]indriyāṇi pramāthīni pramathana-śīlāni viṣayābhimukhaṃ hi puruṣaṃ vikṣobhayanti ākulīkurvanti, ākulīkṛtya ca haranti
“The senses, habitually agitating, disturb and bewilder the person by turning him toward objects, and after bewildering him they carry [the mind] away.”
Understand pramāthīni as expressing a habitual disposition: the senses are “agitating by nature.”→ “Agitating by nature,” because -śīla in the gloss marks habitual disposition.
gita [2]pramāthīni pramathana-śīlāni
“Pramāthīni means ‘having agitation/churning as their habitual nature.’”
Take prasabham adverbially with haranti in the sense “forcibly.”→ Forcibly.
gita [2]haranti prasabhaṃ prasahya
“They carry [it] away prasabham, that is, forcibly.”
Treat manaḥ as the accusative object of haranti and the genitives puruṣasya, yatataḥ, and vipaścitaḥ as identifying its possessor.→ “Carry away the mind of a striving, discerning man.”
gita [1]yatataḥ prayatnaṃ kurvataḥ hi yasmāt kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ medhāvino 'pi
“Of the man who strives—who makes an effort—even though he is discerning and intelligent.”
gita [2]haranti prasabhaṃ prasahya prakāśam eva paśyato viveka-vijñāna-yuktaṃ manaḥ
“They forcibly carry away the mind, endowed with discriminative knowledge, of one who sees clearly.”
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1yatataḥ prayatnaṃ kurvataḥ hi yasmāt kaunteya puruṣasya vipaścitaḥ medhāvino 'pi iti vyavahitena saṃbandhaḥ |
2indriyāṇi pramāthīni pramathana-śīlāni viṣayābhimukhaṃ hi puruṣaṃ vikṣobhayanti ākulīkurvanti, ākulīkṛtya ca haranti prasabhaṃ prasahya prakāśam eva paśyato viveka-vijñāna-yuktaṃ manaḥ ||bhgs_2.60||
3yatas tasmāt--