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Triṃśikā (Vasubandhu) with Sthiramati's bhāṣya · 23
trividhasya svabhāvasya trividhāṃ niḥsvabhāvatām | sandhāya sarvadharmāṇāṃ deśitā niḥsvabhāvatā
Translation. With the threefold naturelessness (niḥsvabhāvatā)
of the three kinds of intrinsic nature (svabhāva) in view,
the naturelessness of all phenomena (dharma)
has been taught.
Grammar check: 8 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 |
|---|
| trividhasya | trividha | pass |
| svabhāvasya | svabhāva | pass |
| trividhām | trividha | pass |
| niḥsvabhāvatām | niḥsvabhāvatā | pass |
| sandhāya | dhā | pass |
| sarvadharmāṇām | sarvadharma | pass |
| deśitā | deśita | pass |
| niḥsvabhāvatā | niḥsvabhāvatā | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Sthiramati's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Both occurrences of trividha express possession of exactly three kinds and are analyzed as adjectival bahuvrīhis. In the first phrase the singular svabhāva is accordingly rendered collectively as ‘the three kinds of intrinsic nature’; the second occurrence qualifies the threefold niḥsvabhāvatā.→ An adjectival bahuvrīhi with the precise numerical sense ‘having three kinds.’
trbh [1391]traya eva svabhāvā na caturtho 'stīti jñāpanārthaṃ saṃkhyānirdeśaḥ
The numerical specification is for making known that there are precisely three intrinsic natures and no fourth.
trbh [1394, 1395]trividhā niḥsvabhāvatā lakṣaṇaniḥsvabhāvatā utpattiniḥsvabhāvatā
paramārthaniḥsvabhāvatā ca
Naturelessness is threefold: naturelessness with respect to characteristic, naturelessness with respect to arising, and naturelessness in the ultimate sense.
Translate svabhāva as the Yogācāra technical term ‘intrinsic nature,’ not as ordinary temperament or spontaneous disposition; analyze sva-bhāva as a karmadhāraya expressing one’s own mode of being.→ ‘Intrinsic nature (svabhāva),’ understood through existence or apparent existence by an entity’s own defining characteristic.
trbh [1393]svena lakṣaṇena vidyamānavad bhavatīti svbhāvaḥ
It appears as though existent by its own defining characteristic; hence it is called svabhāva.
Treat niḥsvabhāvatām and niḥsvabhāvatā as inflections of the single abstract stem niḥsvabhāvatā. The first is accusative as the object of sandhāya; the second is nominative as the subject of deśitā.→ Single abstract noun niḥsvabhāvatā, ‘naturelessness,’ in accusative and nominative singular respectively.
trbh [1394, 1395]trividhā niḥsvabhāvatā lakṣaṇaniḥsvabhāvatā utpattiniḥsvabhāvatā
paramārthaniḥsvabhāvatā ca
Naturelessness is threefold: naturelessness with respect to characteristic, naturelessness with respect to arising, and naturelessness in the ultimate sense.
Render sarvadharmāṇām as ‘of all phenomena,’ with sarvadharma analyzed as a karmadhāraya, rather than taking dharma in the senses ‘law,’ ‘duty,’ or ‘moral teaching.’→ ‘Of all phenomena (dharma),’ whose scope is specified by the three-nature taxonomy.
trbh [1396, 1397]sarvadharmāḥ
parikalpitaparatantrapariniṣpannātmakāḥ
All phenomena have the imagined, dependent, and perfected as their nature.
Construe sandhāya as an absolutive meaning ‘having in view’: its accusative object is trividhāṃ niḥsvabhāvatām, while sarvadharmāṇām modifies the final nominative niḥsvabhāvatā. The commentary corroborates this scope by first identifying the threefold niḥsvabhāvatā and then identifying the sarvadharmas.→ ‘With the threefold naturelessness … in view, the naturelessness of all phenomena has been taught.’
trbh [1394, 1395]trividhā niḥsvabhāvatā lakṣaṇaniḥsvabhāvatā utpattiniḥsvabhāvatā
paramārthaniḥsvabhāvatā ca
The commentary identifies the first phrase as the single concept ‘threefold naturelessness’ and enumerates its three kinds.
trbh [1396, 1397]sarvadharmāḥ
parikalpitaparatantrapariniṣpannātmakāḥ
It then identifies the referent of ‘all phenomena’ through the three intrinsic natures.