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Yoga-sūtra with Vyāsa's bhāṣya · 1.10
9 abhāvapratyayālambanā vṛttir nidrā
Translation. Sleep (nidrā) is the modification (vṛtti) that takes a cognition (pratyaya) of absence (abhāva) as its support (ālambana).
Grammar check: 3 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 |
|---|
| abhāvapratyayālambanā | abhāvapratyayālambana | pass |
| vṛttiḥ | vṛtti | pass |
| nidrā | nidrā | pass |
How the commentary settled it
Where the verse alone is ambiguous, the reading follows Vyāsa's commentary; the deciding lines are quoted below each decision.
Pratyaya is translated as ‘cognition,’ not as ordinary ‘belief’ or ‘conviction.’→ cognition (pratyaya)
ys [1]sā ca saṃprabodhe pratyavamarśāt pratyayaviśeṣaḥ.
And, because it is subsequently apprehended upon awakening, it is a special cognition.
ys [11]tasmāt pratyayaviśeṣo nidrā.
Therefore sleep is a special cognition.
The compound is parsed internally as abhāvasya pratyayaḥ, ‘a cognition of absence,’ and externally as a bahuvrīhi qualifying vṛttiḥ: ‘having that cognition as its support.’ The lexical senses ‘absence’ and ‘conception/idea’ are supported respectively by [MW s.v. abhāva, 60,3] and [MW s.v. pratyaya, 673,3].
→ abhāvasya pratyayaḥ; abhāvapratyaya ālambanaṃ yasyāḥ sā
Ālambana is rendered as ‘support’ or ‘basis,’ preserving the compound’s possessive construction rather than treating it as the main predicate. This follows the sense ‘depending on or resting upon’ in [MW s.v. ālambana, 153,2].
→ takes the cognition of absence as its support (ālambana)
The sūtra defines sleep as a positive kind of modification and cognition, not as the sheer nonexistence of all cognition. The bhāṣya argues that subsequent recollection requires a cognition to have been experienced and treats sleep like the other cognitions that must be restrained.→ sleep itself is the specified modification and a special cognition
ys [10]sa khalv ayaṃ prabuddhasya pratyavamarśo na syād asati pratyayānubhave
This subsequent apprehension by one who has awakened would not occur if there had been no experience of a cognition.
ys [11]tasmāt pratyayaviśeṣo nidrā.
Therefore sleep is a special cognition.
ys [12]sā ca samādhāv itarapratyayavan niroddhavyeti.
And in samādhi it is to be restrained like the other cognitions.
The translation leaves ‘absence’ generic: the supplied bhāṣya does not state precisely whether it means absence of waking and dream contents, absence of ordinary objects, or another specified absence.
→ the unexpanded phrase ‘absence (abhāva)’
Vyāsa's commentary on this unit
1sā ca saṃprabodhe pratyavamarśāt pratyayaviśeṣaḥ.
2katham, sukham aham asvāpsam.
3prasannaṃ me manaḥ.
4prajñāṃ me viśāradīkaroti.
5duḥkham aham asvāpsam.
6styānaṃ me mano bhramaty anavasthitam gāḍhaṃ mūḍho 'ham asvāpsam.
7gurūṇi me gātrāṇi.
8klāntaṃ me cittam.
9alasaṃ muṣitam iva tiṣṭhatīti.
10sa khalv ayaṃ prabuddhasya pratyavamarśo na syād asati pratyayānubhave tadāśritāḥ smṛtayś ca tadviṣayā na syuḥ.
11tasmāt pratyayaviśeṣo nidrā.
12sā ca samādhāv itarapratyayavan niroddhavyeti.
131.10
14anubhūtaviṣayāsaṃpramoṣaḥ smṛtiḥ