Text 97

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Text 97:

उपरतेन्द्रियग्रामस्य प्रलीनमनस्कस्येन्द्रियद्वारेणैव यद् अनुभवनं मानसं तत् स्वप्नज्ञानम् । कथम् । यदा बुद्धिपूर्वाद् आत्मनः शरीरवापाराद् अहनि खिन्नानां प्राणिनां निशि विश्रमार्थम् आहारपरिणामार्थम्।वादृष्टकारितप्रयत्नापेक्षाद् आत्मान्तह्करणसम्बन्धान् मनसि क्रियाप्रबन्धाद् अन्तर्हृदये निरिन्द्रिये आत्मप्रदेशे निश्चलं मनस्तिष्ठति तदा प्रलीनमनस्क इत्याख्यायते। प्रलीने च तस्मिन्न् उपरतेन्द्रियग्रामो भवति तस्यामवस्थायां प्रबन्धेन प्राणापानसन्तानप्रवृत्तावात्ममनह्सम्योगविशेषात् स्वापाख्यात् संस्काराच्चेन्द्रियद्वारेणैवासत्सु विषयेषु प्रत्यक्षाकारं स्वप्नज्ञानम् उत्पद्यते। तत् तु त्रिविधम् । संस्कारपाटवाद्धातुदोषाद् अदृष्टाच्च । तत्र संस्कारपाटवात् तावत् कामी क्रुधो वा यदा यमर्थम् आदूतश्चिन्तयन् स्वपिति तदा सैव चिन्तासन्ततिः प्रत्यक्षाकारा संजायते । धातुदोषाद् वातप्रकृतिस्तद्दूषितो वा आकाशगमनादीन् पश्यति । पित्तप्रकृतिः पित्तदूषितो वाग्निप्रवेशकनकपर्वतादीन् पश्यति । श्लेष्मप्रकृतिः श्लेष्मदूषितो वा सरित्समुद्रप्रतरणहिमपर्वतादीन् पश्यति । यत् स्वयम् अनुभूतेष्वननुभूतेषु वा प्रसिद्धार्थेष्वप्रसिद्धार्थेषु वा यच्छुभावेदकम्।गजारोहणच्छत्त्रलाभादि तत् सर्वं सांस्काराधर्माभ्यां भवति विपरीतं च तैलाभ्यंजनखरोष्टारोहणादि तत् सर्वम् अधर्मसंस्काराभ्यां भवति । अत्यन्ताप्रसिद्धार्थेष्वदृष्टाद् एवेति । स्वप्नान्तिकम् यद्यप्युपरतेन्द्रियग्रामस्य भवति तथाप्यतीतस्य ज्ञानप्रबन्धस्य प्रत्यवेक्षणात् स्मृतिरेवेति भवत्येषा चतुरिविधाऽविद्येति ॥ ९७ ॥

uparatendriyagrāmasya pralīnamanaskasyendriyadvāreṇaiva yad anubhavanaṃ mānasaṃ tat svapnajñānam | katham | yadā buddhipūrvād ātmanaḥ śarīravāpārād ahani khinnānāṃ prāṇināṃ niśi viśramārtham āhārapariṇāmārtham.vādṛṣṭakāritaprayatnāpekṣād ātmāntahkaraṇasambandhān manasi kriyāprabandhād antarhṛdaye nirindriye ātmapradeśe niścalaṃ manastiṣṭhati tadā pralīnamanaska ityākhyāyate| pralīne ca tasminn uparatendriyagrāmo bhavati tasyāmavasthāyāṃ prabandhena prāṇāpānasantānapravṛttāvātmamanahsamyogaviśeṣāt svāpākhyāt saṃskārāccendriyadvāreṇaivāsatsu viṣayeṣu pratyakṣākāraṃ svapnajñānam utpadyate| tat tu trividham | saṃskārapāṭavāddhātudoṣād adṛṣṭācca | tatra saṃskārapāṭavāt tāvat kāmī krudho vā yadā yamartham ādūtaścintayan svapiti tadā saiva cintāsantatiḥ pratyakṣākārā saṃjāyate | dhātudoṣād vātaprakṛtistaddūṣito vā ākāśagamanādīn paśyati | pittaprakṛtiḥ pittadūṣito vāgnipraveśakanakaparvatādīn paśyati | śleṣmaprakṛtiḥ śleṣmadūṣito vā saritsamudraprataraṇahimaparvatādīn paśyati | yat svayam anubhūteṣvananubhūteṣu vā prasiddhārtheṣvaprasiddhārtheṣu vā yacchubhāvedakam.gajārohaṇacchattralābhādi tat sarvaṃ sāṃskārādharmābhyāṃ bhavati viparītaṃ ca tailābhyaṃjanakharoṣṭārohaṇādi tat sarvam adharmasaṃskārābhyāṃ bhavati | atyantāprasiddhārtheṣvadṛṣṭād eveti | svapnāntikam yadyapyuparatendriyagrāmasya bhavati tathāpyatītasya jñānaprabandhasya pratyavekṣaṇāt smṛtireveti bhavatyeṣā caturividhā'vidyeti || 97 ||

Text (97):—When the sense-organs have ceased to function, and the mind has retired, then there come about certain mental cognisings through the sense-organs; and it is these that constitute “Dream Cognition.”

Beings tired by their exertions during the day caused by their conscious bodily actions, retire at night with a view either to rest or to enable their food to be digested; and then the connection of the self and the internal organ, brought about by an effort due to the force of certain unseen agencies, causes certain functionings in the mind; and then the mind retires peacefully into the heart which is the organless region of the self; and then it is said to have “retired.” The mind having thus “retired,” the organs of the man cease to function. In this state the processes of inbreathings and out-breathings going on profusely, from, such causes as, (1) “sleep” which is the name of a particular state of contact of the self with the mind and (2) impressions of previous cognitions,—there appears, through the sense-organs, a dream-recognition, resembling direct sense-cognition, with regard to objects that have no real existence.

This dream cognition is of three kinds: (1) Due io the strength of impressions left by previous cognitions, (2) Due to the disorders of bodily humours, and (3) Due to unseen forces.

(1) As for that due to the strength of impressions, it often happens that when a man, having a strong desire for something and thinking constantly of that thing, goes off to sleep, that same series of thoughts and mental images appear again in the form of sense-cognition.

(2) As regards that due to the disorders of bodily humours, we find that a man in whose constitution, wind is the predominating humour, or in whose body wind has become disordered, he often sees (in a dream) that he is flying in the sky, and so forth. Similarly a man whose constitution abounds in bile, or whose bile is disordered feels as if he were entering into the fire, and sees mountains of gold and such other things. And one in whom phlegm predominates or is deranged, sees such things as crossing rivers and oceans, and mountains of snow and so forth.

(3) That due to unseen forces. Very often there appear in dreams certain cognitions—of objects previously perceived and also those never perceived before, those known as well as those that are not known; and among these there are some, such as the riding on an elephant, the obtaining of an umbrella and such other things—which betoken the coming of some thing desirable; and these proceed from previous impressions and Dharma. Of the opposite kinds are the rubbing of oil and the riding of asses and camels &c.; and these proceed from previous impressions and Adharma.

Those however that pertain to things absolutely unknown, proceed wholly from unseen forces. As for “dream-end” cognition, though this also appears in one whose sense-organs are inoperative, yet, in as much as in this we have the calling of a past cognition, it is only a form of “remembrance.”

These then are the four kinds of Avidyā.—(IX-ii-2-8.)

Commentary: The Nyāyakandalī of Śrīdhara.

(English rendering of Śrīdhara’s commentary called Nyāyakandalī or Nyāyakaṇḍalī from the 10th century)

The author proceeds to describe dream-cognition. The sense-organs are said to “cease to function” when they are not in contact with and apprehending their respective objects. “Pralīnamanaska.”—“the mind retired”—means that the mind has fully retired within itself. The man in this condition has through his senses, a certain cognition, which is independent of his previous cognitions (and hence not a mere remembrance) and of a definite character (hence not of the nature of nirvikalpaka cognition); and this is ‘mental,’ proceeding from the mind alone; and this cognition is what is called “dream.”

He proceeds to show how the mind of man retires, and how the sense-organs cease to function: The man during the day carries on many such bodily actions as going about from place to place; and being tired by these be retires at night with a view to rest from the fatigue, or for the purpose of the proper digestion of the foods and drinks he has taken, and the effort caused by unseen forces, effecting the contact of the mind and the self, brings about a series of actions in the mind; and on account of this, the mind rests unmoving within the heart, which is the region of the self devoid of the externa) organs of perception; and it is during this condition that the man is said to be “pralīnamanaska,” ‘with his mind retired.’ When the mind has thus retired, the sense organs cease to operate; for the simple reason that unless guided by the inner organ (mind,) these organs cannot appre-head their objects. During this ‘retired’ state of the mind the process of the inner and outer breathings going on,—from such causes as sleep, which is a particular state of contact of the mind and self, and impressions of things perceived before, there proceeds a dream cognition, which resembles direct sensecognition with reference to objects that do not exist:—that is to say, those that do not exist at that particular time and place.

He proceeds to show how Dream Cognition is of three kinds:—

(1) That which is clue to the strength of impressions. When a man who is in love with a woman, or when he is very angry with his enemy, thinks constantly of his beloved or his enemy, and while thus thinking goes to sleep, then the series of thoughts or mental images appear, by the strength of the impressions left on his mind, in the form of the direct sense-cognition of some thing directly in contact with his organs of perception.

(2) The ‘humours of the body’ are serum, flesh, fat, marrow bone and semen; and these are called ‘dhātu’ because they hold or support the body (dhāraṇāt); and when these are deranged by disorders of wind, bile and phlegm, then there appear certain misconceptions. To explain—a man in whose constitution wind is the predominating factor, or one in whom wind has been much disordered by some cause or ether, perceives as if he were floating in the sky or running about here and there. One who is of a bilious temperament, or one in whom bile has been developed abnormally, perceives as if he were entering into fire, and sees such things as mountains and orbs of gold, the solar-disc, and so forth. One of phlegmatic temperament, or with his phlegm disordered, feels as if he were crossing rivers and oceans, and seeing mountains of snow &c.

(3) Then, there are certain things which are not known to others; other things which the person himself has never perceived, and which are not known to others, of this kind are such things as the riding of the elephants, seeing of umbrella and the like, a vision of which presages something good; and the dream of these is brought about by impressions and dharma. That which is of the contrary character,—i.e. which forebodes evil—such f.i. as the rubbing of oil, the riding of asses and camels &c.—are produced by impressions and adharma. Whereas with regard to such things as are wholly unknown to the man himself as well as to others,—such f.i. as the eating of the sun and the moon and the like—these ideas are produced by unseen forces alone; as with regard to such things there can be no impressions.

Though all dream cognition, proceeding either from the strength of impressions, or from the disorders of humours, or] from unseen forces, consists of the false imposition of external form upon something that is wholly internal,—and as such, being the cognition of some thing as what it is not, it is only a particular kind of misconception,—yet as it occurs only during a particular condition of the body, it is classed separately.

It often happens that a man recalls in dream what he has been dreaming of,—in the form. ‘I have been dreaming of such and such a thing’;—and this being the ‘end’ of the preceding ‘dream,’ is called ‘dream-end’ cognition: and as this also appears in one whose sense-organs have ceased so function, people might take this also as ‘dream cognition j proper hence with a view to set aside this doubt, the author adds that though this cognition also appears when the sense-organs are not functioning, yet, being only the recalling of a previous cognition, it is of the nature of ‘remembrance.’

He sums up the whole by saying—These are the four kinds of Avidyā.