Verse 1.1

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.1:

अनादिनिधनं ब्रह्म शब्दतत्त्वं यदक्षरम् ।
विवर्ततेऽर्थभावेन प्रक्रिया जगतो यतः ॥ १ ॥

anādinidhanaṃ brahma śabdatattvaṃ yadakṣaram |
vivartate'rthabhāvena prakriyā jagato yataḥ || 1 ||

1. The Brahman who is without beginning or end, whose very essence is the Word, who is the cause of the manifested phonemes, who appears as the objects, from whom the creation of the world proceeds,

Commentary

It¹ is solemnly declared here that Brahman is beyond all representation;² it is endowed with all powers which are neither identical with it nor different from it; it has two aspects, that of unity (vidyā) and that of diversity (avidyā); (even in its aspect of avidyā), it is really free from all diversity; it is, in all states, unaffected by beginning and end, even though the manifestations appear in wordly transactions³ in a temporal and spatial sequence. The Brahman is both effect and cause, it is many and one and in all the different systems, the manifestations are not conceived as having nothing before them and nothing after them. Nor is any limit admitted, above below, or sideways, to its spatial differentiation. All its manifestations, though they appear to be distinct from one another, are in the nature of the word (śabda), because in all of them, the original material persists. Because, in our cognitions, we identify objects with their words (śabdopagrāhi) and our cognitions are intertwined with the words (śabdopagrāhya), they are essentially of the nature of the word.⁴ All divisions such as the beginning, the sustenance and the end of things can be determined only through words. The Brahman is called phoneme (akṣara) because it is the cause of the phonemes.⁵ The manifestation of the word which is in everybody as one with the spirit is for the purpose of communicating what is within. It has been said:

“Some declare that the Word which is really subtle identical with the meaning, One and identical with the Self when not manifest, appears as something else and differentiated.”

What is meant by ‘it appears as the objects’ is this—what is called appearance (vivarta) is the assumption by the One, without losing its one-ness, through apparent diversity, of the unreal forms of others.⁶ It is like the appearances in a dream. It has been said—“The spatial and temporal manifestations are no more than the functioning of the powers of Nescience, they are neither identical nor different from the one which is the Truth. The fact of being Nescience consists just in that. What is meant by “from whom the creation of the world proceeds” is this:—The transformations, that is, the Universe proceeds out of Brahman which is the Word, devoid of all inner sequence; from that involution (saṃvarta) in which all diversity has merged and is undifferentiated and is inexpressible, all transformations being in a latent stage.⁷

(a)⁸ The Self which, though all representations are of it, does not come within their range and which, on the basis of guess, authority and inference, appears in different ways.

(b) The all-embracing, beyond all differentiation and unification, existence and non-existence, sequence and absence of it, truth and falsehood, shines as distinct from everything.

(c) He, the inner Controller of Beings, is seen near and far. He is utterly free and is sought by those who desire liberation.

(d) He is the creator of those objects which are looked upon as ultimate causes, just as the lustre of the seasons is the creator of the masses of clouds at the end of summer.

(e) That one spirit is differentiated in many ways, like the waters of the ocean, which are impregnated with heat at the time of dissolution.

(f) From that spirit which is like a universal and liable to be differentiated, legions of particulars are produced, like rain-laden clouds from special winds.

(g) That supreme light appears first as the three Vedas and is the cause of different views among the followers of different systems.

(h) That aspect of it which is really the truth, full of peace, is, however, always accompanied by Nescience, which is indefinable.⁹

(i) There is no limit to the number of transformations of it (Nescience). When the soul has realised it, it does not exist for him any more.

(j) Just as one having a defect in the eye sees the clear sky as being clouded with many forms, in the same way, the immortal Brahman, free from all change, is soiled by Nescience and appears to have many forms.

(k) This Brahman creates everything as having the nature of the word; it is the source of the illumination power of the word. This universe emerges out of the word aspect of Brahman and merges, into it.

Notes

1. Sometimes, where the text consists of a long sentence, the translation is in the form of short phrases. It is hoped that it will be clear to the reader of which part of the long sentence each short phrase is a translation.

2. The word so translated is parikālpa. An attempt will be made to use the same English word for translating a Sanskrit word occurring in different contexts; but in some cases, other more suitable English words will be found to have been used.

3. Vyavahāra. This word occurs frequently. Here it has been translated as ‘worldly transactions’. Often it means the use of words to communicate one’s thoughts, verbal usage, or exchange of ideas. As Helārāja puts it—pratipādyapratipādakayor hi parasparābhiprāyasaṅkrāntir vyavahāraḥ (He. on Vāk. III. Sain. 32). On another occasion, he says—Jñānasyawa parasparasaṅkrāntir vyavahāraḥ (He. on Vāk. III. Saṃ. 2), prakhyopākhyātmakatvācca vyavahārasya... (He. on Vāk. III. Dra. 14).

4. vikārāṇāṃ prakṛtyanvayitvāc chabdopagrāhyatayā śabdopagrāhitayā ca śabdatattvam. This is one of the important arguments in the chain of reasoning meant to prove śabdādvaita, the doctrine that the ultimate reality from which everything comes is in the nature of word. The argument is used in the different systems of philosophy also.

5. akṣara ordinarily means ‘imperishable’, but the Vṛtti gives a special meaning to the word.

6. The Vṛtti gives here a definition of the important word vivarta, in connection with the explanation of the word vivartate. According to the Vṛtti, the word, though a verb, also conveys the same idea.

7. pūrvaṃ vikāragranthirūpatvenāvyapadeśyāt (Vṛ). Even with the help of the Paddhati, the meaning is not clear. The word granthi occurs several times in the text, both in the Kārikā and in the Vṛtti:—Vāk. I. 115; Vṛtti on Vāk. I, 4, 5, 142; 145. Usually it has the meaning of transformation (vikāra) but here it comes in the same compound with the word vikāra and so it must have a different meaning. As Vṛṣabha puts It—grantḥiśabdo'nyatra yadyapi vikāravacanaḥ tathāpi vikāraśabdena saha pryujyamāno'pekṣitapravṛttinimitto draṣṭavyaḥ (Vṛ. on Vāk. I. 1. (p. 10, 1.14). Here the whole expression in question qualifies brahmaṇaḥ. The translation is very tentative.

8. This and the following verses are called āgama by Vṛṣabha and, according to him, they elaborate the idea of the Kārikā which is being explained. As he puts it—idānīṃ sarvasyaiva kārikārthasyāgamenānugamaṃ darśayati. (Vṛ. on Vāk. 1.1. (p. 10, 1.17).

9. śāntavidyātmakam etc. The construction of this verse is defective. In view of aṃśaḥ, one would expect ātmakaḥ and grastaḥ, but all the mss. of the Vṛtti and the Paddhati have the neuter form.