Sūtra 2.12

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of Sūtra 2.12:

क्लेशमूलः कर्माशयो दृष्टादृष्टजन्मवेदनीयः ॥ २.१२ ॥

kleśamūlaḥ karmāśayo dṛṣṭādṛṣṭajanmavedanīyaḥ || 2.12 ||

kleśa—afflictions. mūla—origin, kleśamūlaḥ—Having its origin in afflictions. karma—of actions, āśayaḥ—the vehicle, dṛṣṭa—visible, adṛṣṭa—invisible. janma—in births, vedanīyaḥ—to be experienced.

12. The vehicle of actions has its origin in afflictions, and is experienced in visible and invisible births.—63.

The Sankhya-pravachana commentary of Vyasa

[English translation of the 7th century commentary by Vyāsa called the Sāṅkhya-pravacana, Vyāsabhāṣya or Yogabhāṣya]

[Sanskrit text for commentary available]

The vehicle of actions has its origin in afflictions, and is experienced in visible and invisible births.

Here the vehicle of good and bad actions is born of lust, avarice, forgetfulness and anger. Its operation is felt in the visible as well as in the invisible birth. Of these, the vehicle of good actions, which is supplemented by intense energy in the shape of purificatory action, trance and repetition of mantras, or, which is accompanied by devotion to the Lord, the devas, the great seers and other possessors of great power, ripens into fruit at once. This happens in the same way in which, in the event of repeated evil done to men who are suffering the extreme misery of fear, disease and helplessness, or to those who place confidence in the evil-doer, or to those who are high-minded and perform tapas, the vehicle of evil-actions also ripens into fruit at once. As for example, the youth Nandiśvara passed out of the human form and was transformed into a god. As also Nahuṣa, the ruler of the gods, passed out of his own form and was transformed into an animal. Of the vehicles of action, that which culminates into the life of hell, is said to be experienced in the invisible birth.

As to those whose afflictions have been destroyed, the vehicle of actions is not experienced in the invisible births.—63.

The Gloss of Vachaspati Mishra

[English translation of the 9th century Tattvavaiśāradī by Vācaspatimiśra]

Very well, what afflicts the Puruṣa by causing life-time, life-state and life-experience may be called an affliction. But it is the vehicle of actions that brings these about, not Nescience and the others. Why then are Nescience, &c., called afflictions? For this reason says ‘The vehicle of actions has its origin in afflictions, and is experienced in visible and invisible births.’ It is so called because the afflictions are the roots out of which it is born and which bring out its operation. The meaning is that inasmuch as the vehicle of action has its origin in Nescience, &c., and is for that reason the cause of life-state, life-time and life-experience, they are called afflictions. Explains The vehicle of good and bad actions, &c.’ That in which something lives is its vehicle. Here, the Puruṣas in evolution are to be understood as living in the vehicle of actions (which is for the reason called a vehicle). Virtue and vice are the vehicles of actions. Virtue becomes the cause of the enjoyment of heaven, &c., when desirable actions are performed with desire. Similarly, vice manifests when such actions as the taking away of other people’s property are performed through avarice. The vice for which forgetfulness is responsible is such as the taking of the life of others in the belief that it is a virtue.

The question arises that there is such a thing as virtue caused by forgetfulness and virtue caused by anger. An illustration may be taken from the fact of Dhruva having been given the highest position in the starry world on account of the pure vehicle of action, brought about by the desire to conquer his father, due to anger born of his ill-treatment. As to vice caused by anger, why that is well known, as it becomes the cause of people dealing death to Brāhmaṇas and others.

Says that it is of two descriptions:—‘It is experienced either in the visible, &c.’ Describes that which is experienced in the visible life:—‘That which is brought about by, &c.’ Gives illustrations, respectively:—‘As the youth Nandīśvara, &c.’

‘Of the vehicle of action which culminates in the life of hell’:—The makers of the vehicle of action which takes to the hells known as Kumbhīpāka, &c., are spoken of as ‘leading to the life of hell.’ The vehicle of action formed thereby is not experienced in the visible life. It is not possible that by means of the human body which is the consequent form thereof, residua like that should be lived out, even by the Constant suffering of thousands of years. The rest is easy.—12.