Verse 3.1.46

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.1.46:

ज्ञानं त्वस्मद्विशिष्टानां तासु सर्वेन्द्रियं विदुः ।
अभ्यासान्मणिरूप्यादिविशेषेष्विव तद्विदाम् ॥ ४६ ॥

jñānaṃ tvasmadviśiṣṭānāṃ tāsu sarvendriyaṃ viduḥ |
abhyāsānmaṇirūpyādiviśeṣeṣviva tadvidām || 46 ||

46. The knowledge regarding the universals of those who are different from us proceeds from all the senses, just as that relating to the characteristics of precious stones and coins comes through practice in the case of those who know them.

Commentary

The author now states how the omniscients acquire their knowledge of the universals.

[Read verse 46 above]

[All words denote universals which exist in the particulars that manifest them. But here a doubt arises. If the particulars manifest the universals, how is it that they do not do so for one who does not know the language. Such a person, after seeing a large number of cows and other animals, does not seem to see the ‘cowness’ which exists in all cows and does not exist in the other animals and give expression to it by the word ‘cow’. If the individual cows do manifest ‘cow-ness’, how is it that he does not perceive it? And if he ultimately comes to see it through others, how did the latter know it? Such reasoning will ultimately take us back to one who is naturally omniscient and knows all the universals and their words and teaches others. The assumption of the existence of such a person or persons becomes necessary for the knowledge of such universals as ‘brāhmana-hood’ which differs from such universals as ‘cow-ness’ in that the latter can be observed by all as existing in all cows and not existing in other animals, whereas the former cannot be so observed. These omniscient beings were the original teachers of mankind and they were taught by God (īśvara). As the Yogasūtras say: Sa pūrveṣām api guruḥ, Kālenānavacchedāt. (Y. Dar. I. 26). When, after the Great Dissolution, Brahmā and others are created again, it is Īśvara who teaches them and they pass on the knowledge to others. All the śāstras testify to the existence of omniscient Beings, Īśvara and the deities. They directly see the universals and the substrata which manifest them. They differ from us in tnat their senses are not restricted in their scope. They can hear with the nose, see what is behind them and do the work of all the senses with the tips of their fingers. For them, knowledge of Brāhmaṇa-hood is not merely visual, but proceeds from their other senses also. They can see subtle universals in words. Besides Tradition, there is another proof for the existence of omniscient beings. We do see in life that practice increases both knowledge and power in some individuals. Jewellers acquire great skill in detecting the genuineness of precious stones. Whatever has degree reaches its climax somewhere. That Being in whom knowledge and power reach their climax is Īśvara. From Him, some Yogis get their knowledge. These Yogis are superior to us. They can see what we cannot. They can see Brāhmana-hood directly, just as we can see ‘cow-ness’. It is they who teach us that such and such a word denotes such and such a universal. In doing so, they only make known what is already there. The relation between word and meaning is eternal.]

The author now considers whether, in words like jāti-gandhatva, ‘utpalagandhatva’ etc., the abstract suffix-tva expresses the wider universal, namely, the fact of being smell or the lower universal, namely, the fact of being the smell of jāti flower etc.