Verse 3.6.13

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.6.13:

परमाणोरभागस्य दिशा भागो विधीयते ।
भागप्रकल्पनाशक्तिं प्रथमां तां प्रचक्षते ॥ १३ ॥

paramāṇorabhāgasya diśā bhāgo vidhīyate |
bhāgaprakalpanāśaktiṃ prathamāṃ tāṃ pracakṣate || 13 ||

13. It is through Dik that division is made in the indivisible atom. That indeed has been declared to be the first power for effecting all division.

Commentary

[Division of parts in limited material objects is due to Direction (Dik). Even in atoms which are supposed to be indivisible, one can imagine four sides, a top and a bottom on the basis of Dik. Other atoms can come into contact with these six parts and produce such things as binaries etc. It is because of this division into parts from the very beginning, that it continues in all the later products. So division of all material objects into parts in the first service which Dik renders. Some explain this and the previous verse as follows:—“In all divisible objects, division into narts is due to light and shade. In all indivisible objects like the atom, division is imaginary and it is brought about bv Dik.” What they mean is this: Where there is some basis for the division of parts such as light and shade as in the case of divisible objects, that is the basis of the division. Where there is none as in the case of indivisible objects like atoms, there it is Dik which is the cause of such division. But all this is wrong. It is due to Dik that division in any object is possible, not merely in the indivisible atom.]