Verse 2.669

Sanskrit text and transliteration:

क्रियायां विधिसम्पातः कर्त्रादिषु न सिद्धितः ।
न चानेकार्थतैकस्य वाक्यस्य भवतेष्यते ॥ ६६९ ॥

kriyāyāṃ vidhisampātaḥ kartrādiṣu na siddhitaḥ |
na cānekārthataikasya vākyasya bhavateṣyate || 669 ||

English translation of verse 2.669:

An injunction has its purport in an action to be done but not in the agent, etc., because the latter are already existent. That one and the same sentence can convey many senses is also not admitted by you.

Notes:

The futility of injunction in respect of the Self and its knowledge can be vindicated in yet another way. Only an action which can be accomplished can be enjoined. The agent, etc., are existent objects, and so they do not fall within the scope of an injunction. There is also another difficulty. If it be said that knowledge falls within the scope of an injunction, then the injunctive text has its purport (tātparyam) in what is enjoined (vidheya) and not in revealing the nature of the object; and in order to reveal the nature of the object, a text other than the injunctive text is required (vidhivākyasya kāryaikaparatvād-vastubodhakaṃ vākyāntaramavaśyamanveṣṭavyamiti tātparyam). The Niyogavādin cannot argue that an injunctive text has its purport both in enjoining knowledge and in revealing the nature of the object, for a sentence has its purport only in one thing.