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Yoga-sūtra with Vyāsa's bhāṣya · 1.43
smṛtipariśuddhau svarūpaśūnyevārthamātranirbhāsā nirvitarkā
Translation. Upon the purification of memory, [that absorption (samāpatti)]—as though empty of its own cognitive form and shining forth as the object alone—is without conceptual deliberation (nirvitarkā).
Grammar check: 5 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 |
|---|
| smṛtipariśuddhau | smṛtipariśuddhi | pass |
| svarūpaśūnyā | svarūpaśūnya | pass |
| iva | iva | pass |
| arthamātranirbhāsā | arthamātranirbhāsa | pass |
| nirvitarkā | nirvitarka | 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.
Interpret smṛtipariśuddhau as a genitive tatpuruṣa, ‘upon the purification of memory,’ with the locative marking the condition for nirvitarkā absorption.→ ‘Upon the purification of memory.’ The commentary expands the memory in question as memory of conceptual cognitions associated with verbal convention, testimony, and inference.
ys [1]śabdasaṃketaśrutānumānajñānavikalpasmṛtipariśuddhau
upon the purification of memory consisting in conceptual cognition from verbal convention, testimony, and inference
Take svarūpaśūnyā iva as ‘as though empty of its own cognitive form,’ not as an assertion that cognition literally has no nature.→ The cognition is only ‘as though’ empty of its own apprehending form, because it assumes the form of what is grasped.
ys [1]svam iva prajñāsvarūpaṃ grahaṇātmakaṃ tyaktvā padārthamātrasvarūpā grāhyasvarūpāpanneva bhavati sā tadā nirvitarkā samāpattiḥ.
Having as though relinquished its own cognitive nature, which consists in apprehending, it becomes of the form of the object alone, as if it had assumed the form of what is grasped; it is then nirvitarkā absorption.
Interpret artha in arthamātranirbhāsā as the grasped object, mātra as excluding the cognition's own and verbal-conceptual forms, and the whole compound as a feminine bahuvrīhi meaning ‘shining forth as the object alone.’→ The compound characterizes the absorption or its cognition: its manifestation is the grasped object alone. The subsequent argument specifically identifies a real whole (avayavin) as the object of nirvitarkā absorption.
ys [1]padārthamātrasvarūpā grāhyasvarūpāpanneva bhavati
It becomes of the form of the object alone, as if it had assumed the form of what is grasped.
ys [11]tasmād asty avayavī yo mahattvādivyavahārāpannaḥ samāpatter nirvitarkāyā viṣayī bhavati.
Therefore there exists a whole, which enters into usages such as ‘large’ and becomes the object of nirvitarkā absorption.
Supply ‘absorption (samāpatti)’ as the elliptical subject, while recognizing that the commentary describes it through its cognition (prajñā).→ Supply ‘that absorption (samāpatti),’ because the commentary explicitly identifies the feminine predicate nirvitarkā with samāpattiḥ, while its preceding explanation describes the associated prajñā.
ys [1]sā tadā nirvitarkā samāpattiḥ.
That is then nirvitarkā absorption.
Render nirvitarkā as ‘without conceptual deliberation,’ rather than merely ‘unreflecting’ or ‘inconsiderate.’→ ‘Without conceptual deliberation’: the relevant obstruction is memory of conceptual cognition connected with verbal convention, testimony, and inference, not consciousness itself.
ys [1]śabdasaṃketaśrutānumānajñānavikalpasmṛtipariśuddhau
upon purification of memory of conceptual cognition from verbal convention, testimony, and inference
ys [1]sā tadā nirvitarkā samāpattiḥ.
That is then nirvitarkā absorption.
Analyze nirvitarkā adjectivally as a bahuvrīhi, ‘that from which vitarka has departed,’ agreeing with samāpattiḥ.→ A bahuvrīhi adjective, because the commentary explicitly construes nirvitarkā with the feminine noun samāpattiḥ.
ys [1]sā tadā nirvitarkā samāpattiḥ.
That is then nirvitarkā absorption.
Vyāsa's commentary on this unit
1yā śabdasaṃketaśrutānumānajñānavikalpasmṛtipariśuddhau grāhyasvarūpa.uparaktā prajñā svam iva prajñāsvarūpaṃ grahaṇātmakaṃ tyaktvā padārthamātrasvarūpā grāhyasvarūpāpanneva bhavati sā tadā nirvitarkā samāpattiḥ.
2tathā ca vyākyātaṃ tasyā ekabuddhyupakramo hy arthātmāṇupracayaviśeṣātmā gavādir ghaṭādir vā lokaḥ.
3sa ca saṃsthānaviśeṣo bhūtasūkṣmāṇāṃ sādhāraṇo dharma ātmabhūtaḥ phalena vyaktenānumitaḥ svavyañjakāñjanaḥ prādurbhavati.
4dharmāntarasya kapālāder udaye ca tirobhavati.
5sa eṣa dharmo 'vayavīty ucyate.
6yo 'sāv ekaś ca mahāṃś cāṇīṃyaś ca sparśavāṃś ca kriyādharmakaś cānityaś ca tenāvayavinā vyavahārāḥ kriyante.
7yasya punar avastukaḥ sa pracayaviśeṣaḥ.
8sūkṣmaṃ ca kāraṇam anupalabhyam avikalpasya tasyāvayavyabhāvād atadrūpapratiṣṭhaṃ mithyājñānam iti prāyeṇa sarvam eva prāptaṃ mithyājñānam iti.
9tadā ca samyagjñānam api kiṃ syād viṣayābhāvāt.
10yad yad upalabhyate tat tad avayavitvenāmnātam.
11tasmād asty avayavī yo mahattvādivyavahārāpannaḥ samāpatter nirvitarkāyā viṣayī bhavati.
121.43
13etayaiva savicārā nirvicārā ca sūkṣmaviṣayā vyākhyātā