Verse 3.7.62

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.62:

केषांचिद्देवदत्तादेर्व्यापारो यः सकर्मके ।
स विना देवदत्तादेः कटादिषु विवक्ष्यते ॥ ६२ ॥

keṣāṃciddevadattādervyāpāro yaḥ sakarmake |
sa vinā devadattādeḥ kaṭādiṣu vivakṣyate || 62 ||

62. According to some, the function of an agent like Devadatta in regard to the action (of making a mat) denoted by a transitive verb, is, when without Devadatta etc. attributed to the object of action, mat etc.

Commentary

It is now stated that the object becomes agent when the initiative (preṣaṇa) of the latter is not meant.

[Read verse 62 above]

[It has been shown so far that when what was formerly the object now becomes the agent, there has been an abandonment of the idea of somebody making somebody else do something. Sometimes, the same result is attained when such a function is attributed to something. In ‘Devadattaḥ kaṭam karoti’, there is the idea that Devadatta gets something done by employing or setting in motion various accessories. Sometimes, however, we want to give expression to the idea that, due to the existence of special facilities, it is very easy to get the mat made. We, then, suppress the part that Devadatta normally plays, that of being the agent. We attribute it to the mat itself and say: kārayati kaṭaḥ devadattena = The mat gets itself made by Devadatta. In the next stage, when we completely suppress the idea of somebody getting somebody else to do something we get kārayate kaṭaḥ svayam eva.]