Vakyapadiya 1.86

[Guest guest]

Having identified a single principle of knowing light that is seen

differently displayed, the Vakyapadiya goes on to examine how the

differences appear. Their differentiation is described as a floating

overlay of disturbed affectation (upaplavah), seen superimposed upon

the true nature of speech.

 

 

1.86

----

 

bhedA-'nukAro j~nAnasya vAcash co 'paplavo dhruvaH .

 

bheda(differences)-anukAraH(semblance, show)

j~nAnasya(of knowledge) vAcaH(of speech) ca(and)

upaplavaH(floating overlay, affliction, affectation)

dhruvaH(certainly) .

 

The show of seeming differences,

displayed in knowledge and in speech,

is always just an overlay

of affectation floating by.

 

kramo-'pasRShTa-rUpA vAg

 

krama(succession)-upasRShTa(poured upon, overlaid, affected by)-

rUpA(form) vAk(speech)

 

Thus speech is overlaid by forms

that are produced successively,

affected by successive change.

 

j~nAnaM j~neya-vyapAshrayam ..

 

j~nAnaM(knowledge) j~neya(to be known [objects])-

vyapAshrayam(dependent on) ..

 

And knowledge then seems to depend

on objects that are to be known.

 

 

From 1.86 vritti

---------------

 

In knowledge as it is itself,

there is no difference, no form.

All forms of things that may be known

are taken on, extraneously.

They are additional to it.

 

Hence it appears, with its own light

reflected back, by the formation

of apparent differences.

It's in this way that we can speak

of twenty cattle or five trees.

 

The self that speaks contains withdrawn –

assimilated at its depth

within – all seeds, all potencies.

That self appears through a successive

show of different sounds, each one

made manifest at its own time.

 

Through that, by taking on extraneous

differences of seeming form,

the truth of speech gets overlaid

by affectation passing by.

This is what we know as the speaking

of our minds. Though partless, it

it is taken to be otherwise.

 

Accordingly, it has been said:

 

" Without an object to be known,

pure knowledge does not enter use.

Unless succession is obtained,

speech cannot aim at anything

for anyone to think about. "

 

For original Sanskrit and translation method see:

http://www.advaitin.net/Ananda/VakyapadiyaExcerpts.pdf

 

 

Here, as knowledge (jnyana) appears to be shown in use (vyavahara),

there are three elements:

 

First and most superficially, there are differentiated objects. These

are called 'jnyeya', which means 'to be known'. Each object is a

particular something, which seems to be known in a particular

location. This differentiation is external -- in an outside world

where gross objects are seen co-existing alongside our gross bodies,

in various different parts of space.

 

Second and less obviously, there is a more subtle kind of

differentiation, in the process of experience in our minds. It's in

the course of this process that all objects seem known, through the

turning of the mind's attention to each object that appears. This

process is called 'krama' or 'succession'. In it, there is no

interaction of co-existing things. There's only a succession of

replacing states which never co-exist, as moments pass in course of

time.

 

Third and finally, there is a continued knowing, which stays present

through each passing state of mind. That knowing is called 'jnyana'

or 'knowledge'. That is 'shabda-tattva' or the 'essence of the word'.

It is knowledge in itself, completely unchanged and undifferentiated,

beneath all changing states of conception in the mind and all

different objects of perception in the world.

 

This threefold distinction corresponds to the Advaita Vedanta triputi

(triad) of see-er, seeing and the seen (or knower, knowing and the

known). A table is appended below, to show the correspondence.

 

Ananda

 

 

 

Comparison with triputi (triad) in Advaita Vedanta

(for table to show correctly, use fixed-width font like Courier)

 

 

Object Something Differentiated Seen

(jnyeya) to be in external (drishya)

known space

 

Process of Succession Changing Seeing

knowing of knowing in mental (darshana)

(krama) states time

 

Knowledge Objectless Undifferentiated See-er

in itself consciousness and unchanging (drashtri)

(shabda-

tattva)