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Yoga-sūtra with Vyāsa's bhāṣya · 1.25
tatra niratiśayaṃ sarvajñabījam
Translation. In him [the special puruṣa], the seed of omniscience (sarvajñabīja) is unsurpassed.
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 |
| tatra | tatra | pass |
| niratiśayam | niratiśaya | pass |
| sarvajñabījam | sarvajñabīja | 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.
Construe tatra personally as “in him,” referring to the omniscient special puruṣa, rather than as an impersonal “there.”→ in him [the special puruṣa]
ys [3, 4]yatra kāṣṭhāprāptir jñānasya sa sarvajñaḥ.
sa ca puruṣaviśeṣa iti.
The one in whom knowledge reaches its utmost limit is omniscient. And he is the special puruṣa.
Analyze niratiśayam and sarvajñabījam as neuter nominative singular forms in an equational clause with an understood copula: the seed “is unsurpassed.” Do not take niratiśayam as an accusative adverb.→ nominative predicate adjective with an understood “is”
ys [1]yad idam atītānāgatapratyutpannapratyekasamuccayātīndriyagrahaṇam alpaṃ bahv iti sarvajñabījam etad vivardhamānaṃ yatra niratiśayaṃ sa sarvajñaḥ.
This supersensory apprehension of the past, future, and present, severally and collectively, spoken of as small or great, is the seed of omniscience; the one in whom this, as it increases, is unsurpassed is omniscient.
Render niratiśaya as “unsurpassed,” specifically denoting the upper culmination of a gradable series, not vaguely as “excellent” or metaphysically as “infinite.”→ unsurpassed
ys [2]asti kāṣṭhāprāptiḥ sarvajñabījasya sātiśayatvāt parimāṇavad iti.
The seed of omniscience does attain an utmost limit, because it admits of degrees, like magnitude.
ys [3]yatra kāṣṭhāprāptir jñānasya sa sarvajñaḥ.
The one in whom knowledge reaches its utmost limit is omniscient.
Interpret sarvajñabīja as a genitival tatpuruṣa, “seed of omniscience” (sarvajñatāyāḥ bījam), rather than a karmadhāraya “omniscient seed” or merely “the seed belonging to an omniscient person.”→ the seed or basis of omniscience
ys [1]yad idam atītānāgatapratyutpannapratyekasamuccayātīndriyagrahaṇam alpaṃ bahv iti sarvajñabījam etad vivardhamānaṃ yatra niratiśayaṃ sa sarvajñaḥ.
This supersensory apprehension of the past, future, and present, severally and collectively, spoken of as small or great, is the seed of omniscience; the one in whom this, as it increases, is unsurpassed is omniscient.
ys [2, 3]asti kāṣṭhāprāptiḥ sarvajñabījasya sātiśayatvāt parimāṇavad iti.
yatra kāṣṭhāprāptir jñānasya sa sarvajñaḥ.
The seed of omniscience does attain an utmost limit, because it admits of degrees, like magnitude. The one in whom knowledge reaches its utmost limit is omniscient.
Vyāsa's commentary on this unit
1yad idam atītānāgatapratyutpannapratyekasamuccayātīndriyagrahaṇam alpaṃ bahv iti sarvajñabījam etad vivardhamānaṃ yatra niratiśayaṃ sa sarvajñaḥ.
2asti kāṣṭhāprāptiḥ sarvajñabījasya sātiśayatvāt parimāṇavad iti.
3yatra kāṣṭhāprāptir jñānasya sa sarvajñaḥ.
4sa ca puruṣaviśeṣa iti.
5sāmānyamātropasaṃhāre ca kṛtopakṣayam anumānaṃ na viśeṣapratipattau samartham iti.
6tasya saṃjñādiviśeṣapratipattir āgamataḥ paryanveṣyā.
7tasyātmānugrahābhāve 'pi bhūtānugrahaḥ prayojanam.
8jñānadharmopadeśena kalpapralayamahāpralayeṣu saṃsāriṇaḥ puruṣān uddhariṣyāmīti.
9tathā coktam