Vaisheshika-sutra with Commentary
by Nandalal Sinha | 1923 | 149,770 words | ISBN-13: 9789332869165
The Vaisheshika-sutra 6.1.11, English translation, including commentaries such as the Upaskara of Shankara Mishra, the Vivriti of Jayanarayana-Tarkapanchanana and the Bhashya of Chandrakanta. The Vaisheshika Sutras teaches the science freedom (moksha-shastra) and the various aspects of the soul (eg., it's nature, suffering and rebirth under the law of karma). This is sutra 1 (‘equals or inferiors, if pure, should be accepted as guests or recipients’) contained in Chapter 1—Of Vedic Duties—of Book VI (of the investigation of dharma and a-dharma.).
Sūtra 6.1.11 (Equals or inferiors, if pure, should be accepted as guests or recipients)
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration, Word-for-word and English translation of Vaiśeṣika sūtra 6.1.11:
समे हीने वा प्रवृत्तिः ॥ ६.१.११ ॥
same hīne vā pravṛttiḥ || 6.1.11 ||
same—in or to an equal; hine—in or to an inferior; vā—or; pravṛttiḥ—inclination, attention, preference.
11. Preference (should be given) to an equal, or to an inferior, (if he is free from impurity or fault).
Commentary: The Upaskāra of Śaṅkara Miśra:
(English rendering of Śaṅkara Miśra’s commentary called Upaskāra from the 15th century)
He lays down the rule of conduct where, at a Śrāddha, distribution of gifts, etc., recipients superior to the agent himself, are not obtained:
[Read sūtra 6.1.11 above]
The meaning is that at Śrāddha, charity, etc., attention or preference should be given to a recipient, free from fault, who is equal, i.e., like oneself, or inferior, i.e., less than oneself, in point of merit, etc., because happiness accrues, to the departed ancestor, from blessings pronounced by them only. The import is that persons prohibited are by all means to be rejected, but not the pure, whether they be equals or inferiors.—11.