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Yoga-sūtra with Vyāsa's bhāṣya · 1.39
38 yathābhimatadhyānād vā
Translation. Or, [steadiness is gained] through meditation (dhyāna) on whatever object one chooses.
Grammar check: 2 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 |
|---|
| yathābhimatadhyānāt | yathābhimatadhyāna | pass |
| vā | vā | 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.
The sequence yathābhimatadhyānāt is construed as one ablative compound, with dhyāna as its head and the preceding expression identifying meditation's object.→ An objective-genitive tatpuruṣa, analytically ‘meditation on whatever object is desired.’
ys [1]yad evābhimataṃ tad eva dhyāyet.
Whatever is desired, one should meditate on precisely that.
Abhimata denotes the chosen or desired object of meditation, rather than qualifying the manner or quality of meditation.→ The content may be any object selected by the practitioner.
ys [1]yad evābhimataṃ tad eva dhyāyet.
Whatever is desired, one should meditate on precisely that.
The ablative dhyānāt is causal or instrumental in sense: steadiness is gained through meditation on the chosen object.→ Causal-instrumental ‘through meditation,’ supplying the contextually omitted attainment of steadiness.
ys [2]tatra labdhasthitikam anyatrāpi sthitipadaṃ labhata iti.
Having acquired stability there, it obtains a state of stability elsewhere as well.
Vā is the disjunctive indeclinable ‘or,’ placing this method alongside the preceding alternatives.→ Disjunctive ‘or.’
ys []
The commentary is silent; the decision follows syntax and Vyākaraṇī's indeclinable analysis.
Vyāsa's commentary on this unit
1yad evābhimataṃ tad eva dhyāyet.
2tatra labdhasthitikam anyatrāpi sthitipadaṃ labhata iti.
31.39
4paramāṇuparamamahattvānto 'sya vaśīkāraḥ