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Īśopaniṣad with Śaṅkara's bhāṣya · 13
anyad evāhuḥ saṃbhavād anyad āhur asaṃbhavāt | iti śuśruma dhīrāṇāṃ ye nas tad vicacakṣire
Translation. A distinct result indeed, they say, comes from worship (upāsanā) of the manifest effect-Brahman (saṃbhava);
another, they say, from worship of the unmanifest, the unevolved (asaṃbhava).
Thus have we heard from the wise
who explained that to us.
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 |
|---|
| anyat | anya | pass |
| eva | eva | pass |
| āhuḥ | ah | pass |
| saṃbhavāt | saṃbhava | pass |
| anyat | anya | pass |
| āhuḥ | ah | pass |
| asaṃbhavāt | asaṃbhava | pass |
| iti | iti | pass |
| śuśruma | śru | pass |
| dhīrāṇām | dhīra | pass |
| ye | yad | pass |
| naḥ | mad | pass |
| tat | tad | pass |
| vicacakṣire | cakṣ | 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.
Both occurrences of anyat are neuter accusative singular and qualify an understood phalam, “result.” Eva marks the first result as specifically distinct, rather than making anyat a vague substantive “something else.”→ “A distinct result indeed, they say …; another, they say …”
isup [1]anyadeva pṛthagevāhuḥ phalaṃ
“Anyat eva” means “quite separately/distinctly”; they speak of a result.
isup [2]tathā cānyadāhuḥ
Likewise, they say another [result].
Saṃbhavāt is an ablative of source or cause whose technical referent is sambhūti, interpreted as worship of the effect-Brahman. Śaṅkara identifies its result as lordly powers such as aṇimā.→ “from worship of the manifest effect-Brahman (saṃbhava)”
isup [1]sambhavātsambhūteḥ kāryabrahmopāsanādaṇimādyaiśvaryalakṣaṇaṃ
From saṃbhava—that is, from sambhūti, from worship of the effect-Brahman—the result is characterized by lordly powers such as aṇimā.
Asaṃbhavāt denotes the corresponding unmanifest or unevolved principle and, by metonymy, its worship—not ordinary “impossibility” or sheer nonexistence. The unproofread sequence asambhūtekhyākṛtād in line 2 is visibly corrupt or badly segmented; the explicit avyākṛtopāsanāt there and the paired vyākṛta/avyākṛta gloss in line 3 secure the interpretation.→ “from worship of the unmanifest, the unevolved (asaṃbhava)”
isup [2]tathā cānyadāhuḥ asambhavādasambhūtekhyākṛtād avyākṛtopāsanāt /
Likewise, they say another [result] from asaṃbhava … from worship of the unevolved.
isup [3]vyākṛtāvyākṛtopāsanaphalaṃ
The result of worship of the manifest and the unmanifest.
Iti closes the preceding report and means “thus.” Dhīrāṇām is construed with the commentary’s supplied vacanam, so “we have heard the statement of the wise” is rendered idiomatically “we have heard from the wise.” The commentary’s dhīraṇāṃ is an apparent unproofread vowel error for the mūla’s dhīrāṇām.→ “Thus have we heard from the wise”
isup [3]ityevaṃ śuśruma dhīraṇāṃ vacanaṃ
Iti means “thus”: we have heard the statement of the wise.
Ye is the relative subject referring to the wise; naḥ is dative, “to us”; tat is the accusative content explained, namely the results of worship of the manifest and unmanifest; and vicacakṣire means “explained,” not “saw distinctly.”→ “who explained that to us”
isup [3]ye nastadvicacakṣire vyākṛtāvyākṛtopāsanaphalaṃ vyākhyātavanta ityarthaḥ
Those who vicacakṣire that to us—meaning, those who explained the result of worship of the manifest and unmanifest.
Formally, asaṃbhava is analyzed as a privative nañ-tatpuruṣa, a- + saṃbhava, with the vigraha na saṃbhavaḥ. Its context-specific denotation is established separately by the commentary.
→ nañ-tatpuruṣa: na saṃbhavaḥ
Śaṅkara's commentary on this unit
1anyadeva pṛthagevāhuḥ phalaṃ sambhavātsambhūteḥ kāryabrahmopāsanādaṇimādyaiśvaryalakṣaṇaṃ vyākhyātavanta ityarthaḥ /
2tathā cānyadāhuḥ asambhavādasambhūtekhyākṛtād avyākṛtopāsanāt /
3yaduktamandhantamaḥ praviśantīti prakṛtilaya iti ca paurāṇikairucyata ityevaṃ śuśruma dhīraṇāṃ vacanaṃ ye nastadvicacakṣire vyākṛtāvyākṛtopāsanaphalaṃ vyākhyātavanta ityarthaḥ