Verse 3.6.11

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.6.11:

दिक्शक्तेरभिधाने तु नियतं दिशि दर्शनम् ।
पूर्वादीनां यथा षष्टेर्जीवितस्यावधारणे ॥ ११ ॥

dikśakterabhidhāne tu niyataṃ diśi darśanam |
pūrvādīnāṃ yathā ṣaṣṭerjīvitasyāvadhāraṇe || 11 ||

11. Words like pūrva are invariably used in the sense of Direction (Dik). It is like the word ṣaṣṭi (in

the word ṣāṣṭika) which denotes time when duration of life is measured.

Commentary

[The words East (Pūrva), etc., are applied to the direction (Dik) irrespective of any other implication. But when they are applied to the Regions or to the divisions of Time, they are based on ‘vyavasthā’ (mutual requirement). When applied to Directions, these words are really proper names. The notion of limit or mutual requirement may be there in a completely hidden form. In the expression ‘pūrvo ghaṭaḥ’ the word ‘ghaṭa’, conveys its own meaning and the word ‘pūrva’ provokes the question: in relation to what? Thus there is a clear difference between pūrva, etc. as applied to Direction and as applied to the Regions and the Divisions of Time. Because of resemblance, they appear to be the same. But they cannot be the same. What is based on mere immemorial usage cannot be the same as something based on a cause. In the case of Regions and Time, the words only look like dikśabda but are really not so. Such words are used in a fixed meaning. It is like the word ṣaṣṭi in ṣāṣṭika. Though a numeral, it denotes time here without the help of any other word, by mere usage. Similarly, pūrva, etc., denote Directions (Dik) by long usage, even though they may denote vyavasthā elsewhere. That is why they are not ‘bhāṣitapuṃska’.]