Verse 1.10

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.10:

विधातुस्तस्य लोकानामङ्गोपाङ्गनिबन्धनाः ।
विद्याभेदाः प्रतायन्ते ज्ञानसंस्कारहेतवः ॥ १० ॥

vidhātustasya lokānāmaṅgopāṅganibandhanāḥ |
vidyābhedāḥ pratāyante jñānasaṃskārahetavaḥ || 10 ||

10. All the different sciences which impart knowledge and bring culture to man proceed from the major and minor limbs of that Veda, the creator and organiser of the worlds.

Commentary

The Veda, as the source and teacher of the world is the creator in regard to the appearances and organiser in regard to the organisations. Some say that Praṇava is the Veda. It is the source of all words and all things. According to this view, the different sciences, being essentially elaborations of the Praṇava, do not go beyond the Veda.

It has been said:—

“All the words are included in the Veda.

One who does not know the Veda cannot understand Brahman at all.”

It has also been said:

“The injunctions, what is enjoined and the reasoning constitute the Veda.”¹

From the major’ (aṅga) and the minor (upāṅga) limbs of the Praṇava from the Scripture, written Tradition and the final portion of the three-fold Veda are derived the different sciences which are the cause of right knowledge and the culture of man.² Or they may be looked upon as the cause of the culture of man because man consists essentially of knowledge (jñāna.)³ From the major auxiliary sciences like astronomy-astrology etc., of the well-known Brahman called Veda come the science of omens etc., and from the minor auxiliary sciences of the same Veda proceed dream-lore etc,

Notes

1. To the question: What is the Veda?, two answers are recorded in the Vṛtti: (1) Praṇava eva veda ityeke, (2) Vidhir vidheyas tarkaśca vedaḥ.

2. Praṇava, aṅga and upāṅga. The Vṛtti understands these terms as standing for śruti, smṛti and trayyanta, i.e. the explanatory comments (arthavāda), the auxiliary sciences, Grammar etc., and the Upaniṣads. According to another view, śruti is praṇava, smṛti, is either aṅga like Grammar or upāṅga like Ayurveda and trayyanta is the Upaniṣads. Usually, the word aṅga stands for the six auxiliary sciences of the Veda: Jyotiṣa, Śikṣā, Kalpa, Vyākaraṇa, Nirukta and Chandas. From them, the science of omens (śakunajñāna) etc., are derived. The word upāṅga stands for smṛtis, purāṇa, etc., from which are derived dreamlore, etc.

3. Jñānasaṃskārahetavaḥ in the verse is explained in two ways in the Vṛtti: (1) samyagjñānahetavaḥ puruṣasaṃskārahetavaśca; (2) jñānātmakatvād vā puruṣasyaiva saṃskārahetavaḥ. This is not the only place where the Vṛtti contains alternative explanations of the text of the verse. The questions which this raises will be discussed elsewhere.