Verse 1.50

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.50:

आत्मरूपं यथा ज्ञाने ज्ञेयरूपं च दृश्यते ।
अर्थरूपं तथा शब्दे स्वरूपं च प्रकाशते ॥ ५० ॥

ātmarūpaṃ yathā jñāne jñeyarūpaṃ ca dṛśyate |
artharūpaṃ tathā śabde svarūpaṃ ca prakāśate || 50 ||

50. Just as, in knowledge, its own form and that of the known are cognised, in the same way, in verbal cognition, the form of the object and that of the word are cognised.

Commentary

Knowledge is dependent on the object because it is there to illuminate it. Though it is not meant to show its form also, still it does show it separately as another knowledge would.¹ That is how a previous knowledge, not cognised by another knowledge, becomes the object of remembrance. In the same way, the word, in so far as it is secondary to the meaning, is dependent upon it and assumes its form. It also conveys its own form, as a primary thing. Though it is present, it is not resorted to in the world, because it cannot have any relation with actions like eating. In Grammar, on the other hand, the external object is opposed to (grammatical) operations and the own form of the word appears as the meaning of a word and, therefore, there is no opposition between it and action,

Notes

1. Knowledge becomes known in two ways, according to the Vṛtti. It can become the object of another knowledge as in the anuvyavasāya of the Naiyāyikas which takes a form like: ghaṭam ahaṃ jānāmi = I have the knowledge of the pot. But even in ordinary forms of knowledge, when an outside object is illuminated, the knowledge itself is also revealed without its becoming the object of another knowledge. That is why we can remember a previous knowledge. Only that which had become the object of a previous knowledge can be remembered.