Verse 3.7.78

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.78:

यथैवैकमपादानं शास्त्रे भेदेन दर्शतम् ।
तथैकमेव कर्मापि भेदेन प्रतिपादितम् ॥ ७८ ॥

yathaivaikamapādānaṃ śāstre bhedena darśatam |
tathaikameva karmāpi bhedena pratipāditam || 78 ||

78. Just as the starting point (apādāna) which is one is shown in the Science of Grammar as many, in the same way, the object (karma) also, which is one, is expounded as many.

Commentary

[Just as all that can he called apādāna comes under the sūtra: dhruvam apāye'pādānam (P. 1.4.24), similarly, all that can be called the object (karma) comes under the very first sūtra (P. 1.4.49). The other sūtras in both cases, are only meant for elaboration, for making things easier for the uninitiated. Where the same root denotes two actions, the objects of both are so called by P. 1.4.49. In the sentence, taṇḍulān odanaṃ pacati = ‘he cooks the rice grains into rice’, the root ‘√pac’ means to make something soft. Becoming soft is included in it. Rice-grains (taṇḍula) are the object of malting soft, through becoming soft, whereas rice (odana) becomes so directly. Thus both are karma, each in regard to one of the two actions expressed by the same verb and stands towards each other as primary (pradhāna) and secondary (guṇa). The meaning of ‘dogdhi’ can be analysed in the same way and both the cow and the milk would then become the karma in regard to one of the two actions expressed by ‘duh’. In this way, there is no harm in holdins the view that the meaning of the causative affix is included in the meaning of ‘duh’. Even in a verb actually having the causative affix, the agent who is prompted loses his independence and becomes somewhat inactive (niṣkriya). In ‘dogdhi’, there is no causative affix at all. What is expessed by sādhayati is expressed by the plain root in ‘pacati’.

In P. 1.4.49, the suffix ‘tamap’ is not to be taken seriously. So whatever is desired to be attained (īpsita) becomes karma by that sūtra. If, in dadhnā bhuñjīya = with curds, I might eat. (M. Bhā. I, p. 322, 1 22) ‘dadhi’ is not karma, it is because it is not desired to be attained (īpsita).]

As different kinds of objects such as ‘that which is to be made’ (nirvartya) are mentioned in the science, how is it that it is here declared to be one? This question is now answered.