Text 152

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Text 152:

प्राणाख्ये तु वायौ कर्म आत्मवायुसम्योगादिच्छाद्वेषपूर्वकप्रयत्नापेक्षाज्जाग्रत इच्छानुविधानदर्शनात् सुप्तस्य तु जीवनपूर्वकप्रयत्नापेक्षात् । आकाशकालदिगात्मनां सत्यपि द्रव्यभावे निष्क्रियत्वं सामान्यादिवद् अमूर्तत्वात् । मूर्तिरसर्वगतद्रव्यपरिमाणं तद् अनुविधायिनी च क्रिया सा चाकाशादिषु नास्ति तस्मान् न तेषां क्रियासम्बन्धोऽस्तीति ॥ १५२ ॥

prāṇākhye tu vāyau karma ātmavāyusamyogādicchādveṣapūrvakaprayatnāpekṣājjāgrata icchānuvidhānadarśanāt suptasya tu jīvanapūrvakaprayatnāpekṣāt | ākāśakāladigātmanāṃ satyapi dravyabhāve niṣkriyatvaṃ sāmānyādivad amūrtatvāt | mūrtirasarvagatadravyaparimāṇaṃ tad anuvidhāyinī ca kriyā sā cākāśādiṣu nāsti tasmān na teṣāṃ kriyāsambandho'stīti || 152 ||

Text (152):—Action is produced in the Air called ‘Breath’ by the Soul-air contact, by the instrumentality of efforts originating from desires and aversions; and this we learn from the fact of the ‘breathing’ of the waking man following the bent of his desire, and that in the sleeping man being due to the instrumentality of the effort involved in the mere act of ‘living’.—(V-ii-19).

Ākāśa, Time, Space and Soul—though having the character of ‘substance’—are devoid of action (motion;) because like Generality &c., these are incorporeal. ‘Corporeality’ implies a non-pervading (limited) dimension; and action is concomitant with corporeality; hence as corporeality is absent in Ākāśa &c.; they have no actions—(V-ii-21; II-i-21.)

Commentary: The Nyāyakandalī of Śrīdhara.

(English rendering of Śrīdhara’s commentary called Nyāyakandalī or Nyāyakaṇḍalī from the 10th century)

In the case of the different kinds of Breathing—Recaka &c.,—we find the action of breathing regulated by the will of the man; when dust gets into our nostrils, we breath out with a force in order to blow out the dust; this breathing follows from aversion; and from these facts we are led to the conclusion that breathing is produced by effort.

In the case of the sleeping man, the action of breathing must be regarded as following from the air-soul contact, by the instrumentality of the effort involved in the mere act of living; and in proof of this we have the following argument: The breathing of the sleeping man is a product of effort,—because it is an action of breathing,—like the breathing of the waking man. The breathing of the sleeping man could not be due to desire or aversion; as these are not present in the sleeping man; hence we conclude that it must be due to the mere act of ‘living’; as the act of holding life is due to that.

A question having been raised as to why nothing has been said with regard to action (motion) in Ākāśa, Time, Space and Soul, as in the four elements (Earth &c.),—the author says:—Action is always accompanied by corporeality; and as this latter is not present in Ākāśa &c., these could have no action.