…so a few weeks back I took a different approach to learning the language. Learn the language through the reading of a text. Geeta is a treasure trove of spiritual learning and I combined my interest of reading the Geeta in original with that of learning Sanskrit.
This blog is all about that journey. Hopefully, with the blessings of friends and well wishers, this time I will be able to conclude the journey.
Let me be honest about my fascination with Sanskrit. When the opportunity of learning Sanskrit was available at school, I have to admit I had no interest whatsoever then – and as is expected of any student of that age group – I learnt it in the worst possible fashion. Back-bencher, constant giggling and general disinterest in all that was taught in the class. Students are merciless when they are not interested and I still feel bad for the trouble we gave our Sanskrit teacher back then.
However later, the sheer harmony in the syntax of the language coupled with my interest in spiritual matters and the wealth of information available on this subject in Sanskrit – which is only available to me now in contrived translations – has repeatedly inspired me to start learning this language in all earnest.
And as is expected with all endeavours started in adult life, my efforts have almost always been more of non starters. My understanding of Sanskrit grammar is still quite rudimentary. And the fatigue of learning various shabd and dhatu roop at this stage in life always made this look like some distant unattainable goal.
So a few weeks back I took a different approach to learning the language. Learn the language through the reading of a text. Geeta is a treasure trove of spiritual learning and I combined my interest of reading the Geeta in original with that of learning Sanskrit.
This blog is all about that journey. Hopefully, with the blessings of friends and well wishers, this time I will be able to conclude the journey. I invite you to my blog and if you happen to be a Sanskrit scholar, do offer your valuable inputs and correct the errors that may creep in through my incomplete understanding of the language. Lastly I have to acknowledge the help rendered by my dear father without whose able guidance I would not have been able understand the language at all.
If you have come so far I think you have reasonable interest in Sanskrit. So henceforth my posts will be in Sanskrit language. This helps me to write better Sanskrit and also helps you to understand written Sanskrit as well.
Simplifying the Shloka by splitting the compound words (shown in colored fonts).
यः सर्वत्र अनभिस्नेहः तत् तत् प्राप्यशुभ-अशुभम् । न अभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥
The following sandhis are seen in this Shloka.
त्र + अ = त्रा
हः + त=हस्त
भ + अ = भा
न + अ =ना
There are four Sandhis in three words of the Shloka which are shown above.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has a verb like Avyaya ‘प्राप्य’ having ‘यः’ as a subject.
The second line has ‘अभिनन्दति’ and ‘द्वेष्टि’ as verbs having an implied ‘सः’ as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
यः – Pronoun in 1st Vibhakti, singular form of masculine gender root word ‘यद्’ meaning ‘the one who’ in English and ‘जो’ in Hindi.
The 1st Vibhakti indicates a sense of being a subject and so the word in this Vibhakti becomes the subject to the verb ‘प्राप्य’.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
यः
यौ
ये
सर्वत्र – An Avyaya meaning ‘everywhere’ in English.
अनभिस्नेहः – 1st Vibhakti, singular form of masculine gender root word ‘अनभिस्नेह‘ meaning ‘without attachment’ in English and ‘आसक्तिरहित’ in Hindi.
The word is an adjective of the pronoun ‘यः’ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, gender and number as the noun.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and are as follows:
बालः
बालौ
बालाः
तत् तत् – 2nd Vibhakti, singular form of neuter gender pronoun ‘तद्’ meaning ‘that’ in English and ‘वह’ in Hindi. The pronoun is pointing to शुभ-अशुभम् and hence takes the same Vibhakti, gender and number.
Literally this will translate as ‘that that’, which looks like an idiomatic usage which could loosely be translated as ‘this and that’ in English and ‘यह और वह’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will as follows:
तत्
ते
तानि
प्राप्य – An Avyaya playing the role of verb in this case. The meaning of the word is ‘having gained’ in English and ‘प्राप्त करके’ in Hindi.
This is a case of ल्यप प्रत्यय and like the त्वा प्रत्यय, the ल्यप प्रत्यय also conveys the sense of having completed the action of the verb.
शुभ-अशुभम् – 2nd Vibhakti, singular form in neuter gender meaning ‘good & bad’ in English and ‘अच्छा बुरा’ in Hindi.
The 2nd Vibhakti indicates the word is an object of the verb प्राप्य.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’ and are as follows:
फलम्
फले
फलानि
न – An Avyaya meaning ‘no’ in English.
अभिनन्दति – Root word is the verb ‘नन्द्’ with अभि as a prefix, meaning ‘rejoice’ in English or ‘हर्षित’ in Hindi, and it is in the लट् लकार, 3rd Person, singular case.
The Dhatu Roop will be like ‘पठ्’ are as follows:
पठति
पठतः
पठन्ति
द्वेष्टि – Root word is the verb ‘द्विष्’, meaning ‘hate’ in English or ‘घृणा’ in Hindi, and it is a Class 2 verb in the लट् लकार, 3rd Person, singular case.
The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
द्वेष्टि
द्विष्टः
द्विषन्ति
तस्य – 6th Vibhakti, singular form of masculine gender pronoun ‘तद्’ meaning ‘he’ in English and ‘उस’ in Hindi.
The 6th Vibhakti indicates a sense of adding an apostophe ‘s’ to a noun, but since we have pronoun here, the word in this Vibhakti means ‘his’ in English and ‘उसका’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
तस्य
तयोः
तेषाम्
प्रज्ञा – 1st Vibhakti, singular form of feminine gender root word ‘ प्रज्ञा‘ meaning ‘knowledge’ in English and ‘ज्ञान’ in Hindi.
The 1st Vibhakti indicates the word is a subject of a verb and in this case the verb is an implied ”.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘लता’ and are as follows:
लता
लते
लताः
प्रतिष्ठिता – The word is an adjective of the noun ‘प्रज्ञा‘ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, gender and number as the noun. The meaning of the word is ‘स्थिर‘ in Hindi and ‘stable’ in English.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘लता’ and are not reproduced again
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
यः तत् तत् शुभ-अशुभम् प्राप्य सर्वत्र अनभिस्नेहः
न अभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥
जो यह, वह, शुभ, अशुभ प्राप्त करके (भी) सब तरह से आसक्तिरहित (होता है)
न हर्ष न घृणा (करता है) उसका ज्ञान स्थिर (है)
Notice तत् तत् is not translated literally as it would not make sense in Hindi. Like the previous Shloka, here also a verb ‘होता है’ has been added in Hindi, such a construct is not necessary in Sanskrit as the adjective अनभिस्नेहः is already linked to the pronoun यः through the same Vibhakti, gender and number.
In English the translations will be as follows:
प्राप्य तत् तत् शुभ-अशुभम् यः सर्वत्र अनभिस्नेहः
न अभिनन्दति न द्वेष्टि तस्य प्रज्ञा प्रतिष्ठिता ॥
Having gained this and that, pleasant and unpleasant the one who (is) in all ways unattached,
neither rejoicing, nor hating – his knowledge is stable
In the English translations also, तत् तत् is not translated literally as it would not make sense. As in Hindi, here also a verb ‘is’ has been added in first line, such a construct is not necessary in Sanskrit as the adjective अनभिस्नेहः is already linked to the pronoun यः through the same Vibhakti, gender and number.
There are three Sandhis in two words of the Shloka which are shown above.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has two verb like krudantas ‘अनुद्विग्न-मनाः’ and ‘ विगत-स्पृहः’, both having an implied ‘यः’ as a subject. Remember a krudanta is a verb-like adjective which can be associated with the noun through an equivalent Vibhakti.
The second line has ‘उच्यते’ as a verb having ‘मुनिः’ as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
दुःखेषु – 7th Vibhakti plural form of neuter gendered ‘दुःख‘. The 7th Vibhakti indicates a sense of preposition and hence the word means ‘in sorrows’ in English and ‘दुःखो में’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’
फले
फलयोः
फलेषु
अनुद्विग्न-मनाः – Adjective of an implied noun ‘यः’ (meaning ‘the one who’ in English and ‘जो’ in Hindi) in maculine gender 1st Vibhakti, singular form. As it is an adjective, the word takes the same Vibhakti, gender and case. The meaning of the word is ‘unaffected’ in English and ‘अविचलित’ in Hindi. Remember that the adjective is a krudanta and plays the role of a verb.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
बालः
बालौ
बालाः
सुखेषु – 7th Vibhakti plural form of neuter gendered ‘सुख‘. The 7th Vibhakti indicates a sense of preposition and hence the word means ‘in happiness’ in English and ‘सुखो में’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’ which is not being reproduced again.
विगत-स्पृहः– Adjective of an implied noun ‘यः’ in maculine gender 1st Vibhakti, singular form. As it is an adjective, the word takes the same Vibhakti, gender and case. The meaning of the word is ‘without yearning’ in English and ‘कामना लालसा रहित’ in Hindi. Remember that the adjective is a krudanta and plays the role of a verb.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ which is not being reproduced again.
वीत-राग-भय-क्रोधः– Adjective of the noun ‘ मुनिः‘ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, gender and case as the noun. Meaning of the word is ‘Free of attachment, fear and anger’ in English and ‘राग, भय और क्रोध से रहित‘ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ which is not being reproduced again.
स्थितधीः – Adjective of the noun ‘ मुनिः‘ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, gender and case as the noun. Meaning of the word is ‘of stable mind’ in English and ‘स्थिर बुद्धि वाला‘ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be like masculine gendered ‘सुधी’ and will be as follows. The 1st Vibhakti will apply.
सुधीः
सुधियौ
सुधियः
मुनिः The verb उच्यते is in कर्मणि form and hence, though the verb ‘मुनि’ is a ‘कर्म’, it will still appear in 1st Vibhakti. This concept was explained in the previous shloka also.
Root word is ‘ मुनि‘ meaning a ‘wise person’ in English. The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
मुनिः
मुनी
मुनयः
उच्यते – Root word is the verb ‘वच्’, meaning “to say” in English or ‘कहना’ in Hindi, and it is in the लट् लकार, 3rd Person, singular case. The verb as mentioned earlier is in कर्मणि form.
The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
उच्यते
उच्येते
उच्यन्ते
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
(जो) दुःखो में अविचलित (और) सुखो में कामना रहित (होता है)
राग भय (और) क्रोध से रहित मुनि को स्थिर बुद्धि वाला कहते हैं
Notice in the first line we have to compulsarily create a verb होता है in Hindi to complete the sentence. Such a construct is unnecessary in Sanskrit when a krudanta is used. The krudant itself lends the sense of verb to the sentence.
Also as explained in the previous Shloka, we are using मुनि को in Hindi, which should ordinarily have translated into 2nd Vibhakti, but in the Sanskrit form the 1st Vibhakti is applied as the verb is in the कर्मणि form .
The one who (is) unaffected in sorrows and free of yearning in pleasures
(and is) free from attachment, sorrow and anger, (such a) wise person is called of stable mind.
In the English translations to represent उच्यते correctly, passive voice has been used. The English translations are tougher to match with Sanskrit when Krudantas are used and hence you will see many brackets with verbs inserted to make the sentence complete.
There are two Sandhis each in two words of the Shloka. Totally four Sandhis are present in the Shloka.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has the verb ‘प्रजहाति’ having an implied 3rd person as a subject. The second line has the verb ‘उच्यते’ having ‘स्थितप्रज्ञः’ as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
प्रजहाति – The root word is the verb ‘हा’ prefixed by प्र – the meaning of the verb is ‘to give up’ in English and ‘त्याग करना’ in Hindi.
The verb is a Class-3 verb and is in the ‘लट् लकार’ or present tense. The 3rd Person, singular form is applied. The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
जहाति
जहीतः जहितः
जहति
यदा – An Avyaya meaning ‘when’ in English and ‘जब’ in Hindi.
कामान् – Object of the verb ‘प्रजहाति’ and hence the 2nd Vibhakti is applied. The meaning of the word is ‘desires’ in English and ‘कामनाएं’ in Hindi. The root word is the masculine gender word ‘काम’ and hence the Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ in the plural form.
बालम्
बालौ
बालान्
सर्वान् – Root word is ‘सर्व’ meaning ‘all’ in English and ‘सब’ in Hindi. Since the word is an adjective of ‘कामान्’ the same Vibhakti, gender and vachan shall apply. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’, which are already provided earlier.
पार्थ – Another name of Arjuna, used as Sambodhan form to address Arjuna.
मनोगतान् – Root word is ‘मनोगत’ meaning ‘which comes to mind’ in English and ‘मन में आई ‘ in Hindi. Since the word is an adjective of ‘कामान्’ the same Vibhakti, gender and vachan shall apply. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’, which are already provided earlier.
Along with the related adjectives and noun, the complete phrase कामान् सर्वान् मनोगतान् means ‘all the desires that come to mind’.
आत्मनि – Root word is the masculine gender word ‘आत्मन्’, meaning ‘soul’ or ‘one’s own self’ in English. The 7th Vibhakti, in Singular form is applied here indicating the use of preposition. Hence the word means ‘in one’s own self’ in English and ‘अपने आप में’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop are as follows:
आत्मनि
आत्मनोः
आत्मसु
एव – An Avyaya meaning ‘ही’ in Hindi and ‘only’ in English.
आत्मना – Again the root word is the masculine gender word ‘आत्मन्’, meaning ‘soul’ or ‘one’s own self’ in English. The 3rd Vibhakti, in Singular form is applied here indicating the use of the word ‘by’. Hence the word means ‘by one’s own self’ in English and ‘अपने आप से’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop are as follows:
आत्मना
आत्मभ्याम्
आत्मभिः
तुष्टः – Masculine gender noun in 1st Vibhakti, singular form meaning ‘satisfied’ in English and ‘संतुष्ट’ in Hindi. The root word is तुष्ट and the Shand Roop will be similar to ‘बाल’. The 1st Vibhakti, singular form is applicable as the word is a subject of an implied verb ‘भवति’.
This shloka is describing what a ‘स्थितप्रज्ञ’ person is, and the Shloka is implicitly talking of such a person. The word तुष्टः in that case becomes an adjective to the स्थितप्रज्ञ person in the Shloka.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
बालः
बालौ
बालाः
स्थितप्रज्ञः – Again the word is in 1st Vibhakti, singular form. The root word is ‘स्थितप्रज्ञ’ meaning ‘a person settled in mind and meditation’. The word is an adjective of an implicit ‘सः’ (meaning in this sense उसको in Hindi and “him” in English.)
Strictly speaking this word is a कर्म and not a कर्ता, but still the 1st Vibhakti form applies as the verb ‘उच्यते’ is in कर्मणि form. कर्मणि forms are like passive voice, and while in English we say the object becomes a subject in passive voice, a similar concept is applicable in Sanskrit by letting the कर्म take the 1st Vibhakti instead of the usual 2nd Vibhakti.
The Shabd roop will be same as ‘बाल’ and as the same has been reproduced above, it is not being repeated again.
तदा – An Avyaya meaning ‘then’ in English and ‘तब’ in Hindi. Generally always accompanies the word ‘यदा’
उच्यते – Root word is the verb ‘वच्’, meaning “to say” in English or ‘कहना’ in Hindi, and it is in the लट् लकार, 3rd Person, singular case. The verb as mentioned earlier is in कर्मणि form.
The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
उच्यते
उच्येते
उच्यन्ते
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
पार्थ यदा सर्वान् मनोगतान् कामान् प्रजहाति
आत्मनि आत्मना एव तुष्टः (भवति)
तदा (सः) स्थितप्रज्ञः उच्यते ॥
हे पार्थ ! जब (कोई) सभी मन में आती कामनाओं को त्याग देता है
(और) अपने आप में ही संतुष्ट (होता है)
तब (उसको) स्थितप्रज्ञ कहते हैं
Notice in the Hindi translation we are using उसको which should ordinarily have traslated into 2nd Vibhakti, but in the Sanskrit form the 1st Vibhakti is applied as the verb is in the कर्मणि form .
Apart from this, the Hindi translations are quite easy to follow for this Shloka.
In English the translations will be as follows:
पार्थ यदा प्रजहाति सर्वान् कामान् मनोगतान्
(भवति) तुष्टः आत्मनि आत्मना एव
तदा (सः) उच्यते स्थितप्रज्ञः
Oh Parth! When (someone) lets go off all wishes coming in the mind (and)
(is) satisfied with oneself only
then (he) is called steady of mind!
The English translations are also simple to follow. To represent उच्यते correctly, passive voice has been used.
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव । स्थितधीः किं प्रभाषेत किमासीत व्रजेत किम् ॥
Step 1: संधि विच्छेद
Simplifying the Shloka by splitting the compound words (shown in colored fonts).
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा समाधिस्थस्य केशव । स्थितधीः किम् प्रभाषेत किम् आसीत व्रजेत किम् ॥
The following sandhis are seen in this Shloka.
म् + आ = मा
Only one Sandhi is present in the Shloka.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has an implied verb ‘अस्ति’ having ‘भाषा’ as its subject. The second line has three verbs ‘प्रभाषेत’, ‘आसीत’ and ‘व्रजेत’, all three having ‘स्थितधीः’ as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
स्थितप्रज्ञस्य – Root word is the masculine gender word ‘स्थितप्रज्ञ’, meaning ‘one having firm mind’ in English and ‘स्थिर बुद्धि वाला’ in Hindi. The singular form of 6th Vibhakti is applied – the 6th Vibhakti indicates the sense of ‘की’ being applied to the word in Hindi and hence the word means ‘स्थिर बुद्धि वाले की’ in Hindi.
In English 6th Vibhakti means ‘of’ and hence the word means ‘of the one having firm mind’.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
बालस्य
बालयोः
बालानाम्
का – Root word is the question related pronoun ‘किम्’ and since the pronoun points to ‘भाषा’ it takes the same gender, Vibhakti and vachan. Hence the feminine gender, 1st Vibhakti and singular form is applied. In this Vibhakti the word means ‘what’.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
का
के
काः
भाषा – The meaning of the word is ‘description’. This word is the subject of the verb and hence takes the 1st Vibhakti. The word is in feminine gender and the Shabd Roop will be like ‘लता’, and the Shabd Roop are as follows:
लता
लते
लताः
समाधिस्थस्य – The root word is ‘समाधिस्थ’ meaning ‘settled in meditation (or samadhi)’ in English and in Hindi the meaning is ‘समाधि में स्थिर’. The word is an adjective of ‘स्थितप्रज्ञस्य’ and hence the same Vibhakti, vachan and gender are applicable. Shabd Roop are like ‘बाल’ and the same is already provided earlier.
केशव – Name of Krishna used for addressing Krishna
स्थितधीः – Root word is ‘स्थितधी’ and the word is the subject of all the three verbs that will follow. Hence the 1st Vibhakti, singular form is applicable. Additionally, the word is in masculine gender. The meaning of the word is Hindi is ‘दृढ बुद्धि वाला’ and in English the word means ‘the one with firm mind’.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘सुधी’ and are as follows:
सुधीः
सुधियौ
सुधियः
किम् – An Avyaya meaning ‘how’. Note ‘किम्’ also has Shabd Roop but in this case, it is used as an Avyaya.
प्रभाषेत – A verb with root word as ‘भाष्’ – and the विधिलिङ् लकार is used here, which adds the sense of ‘would / should’. The Atmanepade form of the verb is used here in the 3rd Person and singular form.
The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
भाषेत
भाषेयाताम्
भाषेरन्
किम् – An Avyaya meaning ‘how’.
आसीत – A class 2 verb having root word as ‘आस्’ – and again the विधिलिङ् लकार is used here, which adds the sense of ‘would / should’. The Atmanepade form of the verb is used here in the 3rd Person and singular form.
The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
आसीत
आसीयाताम्
आसीरन्
व्रजेत – A verb with root word as ‘व्रज्’ – and once again the विधिलिङ् लकार is used here, which adds the sense of ‘would / should’. The Atmanepade form of the verb is used here in the 3rd Person and singular form.
The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
व्रजेत्
व्रजेताम्
व्रजेयुः
किम् – An Avyaya meaning ‘how’.
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
केशव समाधिस्थस्य स्थितप्रज्ञस्य का भाषा (अस्ति)
स्थितधीः किम् प्रभाषेत किम् आसीत किम् व्रजेत
हे केशव ! समाधि में स्थिर स्थितप्रज्ञ पुरुष की क्या परिभाषा है
दृढ बुद्धि वाला कैसे बोलता है, कैसे बैठता है, कैसे चलता है ?
The Hindi translations are quite easy to follow for this Shloka.
In English the translations will be as follows:
केशव का (अस्ति) भाषा समाधिस्थस्य स्थितप्रज्ञस्य
किम् स्थितधीः प्रभाषेत किम् आसीत किम् व्रजेत
Oh Krishna! What is the description of the one settled in meditation and of firm mind?
How would a firm minded person speak, how would he sit, how would he walk?
In the second line, ‘How would a firm minded person speak’ is not in exact syntactic order, as ‘would’ is applicable to the verb ‘speak’ and so the order words is slighly modified to fit the syntactic sequence required in English.
All the Sandhis are trivial Sandhis in this Shloka, therefore no further explanation is given.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has a verb ‘स्थास्यति’ having ‘बुद्धिः’ as its subject. The second line has the verb ‘अवाप्स्यसि’ having ‘त्वं’ as its implicit subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना – Adjective of बुद्धि and hence the same Vibhakti, gender and vachan are applicable. The meaning of the word is ‘distracted by Vedas’ in English and ‘वेद से विचलित’ in Hindi.
The word ‘श्रुति’ is used for Vedas here – श्रुति generally means that which has been heard directly – or revealed, and Vedas come under that category. Traditionally it is believed Vedas have no author, they were revealed directly. Why should the mind be distracted by Vedas? My guess is that Lord Krishna in this Shloka refers to the ‘कर्म काण्ड’ or the ritualistic aspect of Vedas which prescribe various sacrifices to gain specific results.
The 1st Vibhakti, feminine gender, singular form is applicable as the word is an adjective of ‘बुद्धिः’. Shabd Roop will be like ‘लता’
लता
लते
लताः
ते – 6th Vibhakti, singular form of the 2nd person pronoun ‘युष्मद्’ – in the 6th Vibhakti the word would mean ‘your’ in English and ‘तुम्हारा / तुम्हारी’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
तव, ते
युवयोः, वाम्
युष्माकम्, वः
यदा – An Avyaya meaning ‘when’ in English and ‘जब’ in Hindi. We encountered the same word is previous Shloka also.
स्थास्यति – The root word is the Dhatu ‘स्था’ meaning ‘stay’ in English. The 3rd Person, singular form of future tense (‘लृट् लकार’) is used. The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
स्थास्यति
स्थास्यतः
स्थास्यन्ति
निश्चला – An adjective of ‘बुद्धिः’ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, Vachan and gender as the noun. The meaning of the word is ‘stable’ in English. Hindi translation is not required as the same word exists in Hindi as well. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘लता’ and the 1st Vibhakti, singular form is applicable.
लता
लते
लताः
समाधौ – The root word is ‘समाधि’ and this is the 7th Vibhakti of the feminine gender word. The 7th Vibhakti lends the sense of preposition to the noun and hence the word means ‘in samadhi’ or ‘in meditation’ in English. In Hindi the word means ‘समाधि में’.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘मति’
मतौ, मत्याम्
मत्योः
मतिषु
अचला – Again an adjective of ‘बुद्धिः’ and hence the same Vibhakti, vachan and gender applies to the word. Shabd Roop are identical to निश्चला. The meaning of the word is ‘firm’ in English. The Hindi meaning is not required as the word exists in Hindi as well.
बुद्धिः – Subject of the verb ‘स्थास्यति’ and hence 1st Vibhakti is applicable. Additionally, the feminine gender and singular form is used. The meaning of the word is ‘intelligence’ in English. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘मति’
मतिः
मती
मतयः
तदा – An Avyaya meaning ‘then’ in English and ‘तब’ in Hindi. We encountered the same word is previous Shloka also. This word generally accompanies ‘यदा’.
योगम् – Object of the verb ‘अवाप्स्यसि’ and hence the 2nd Vibhakti is applied. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’.
बालम्
बालौ
बालान्
अवाप्स्यसि – The root word is the verb ‘आप्’ with the prefix ‘अव’, the meaning of the verb is ‘to gain’. The future tense (‘लृट् लकार’) 2nd person, singular form is used. As the 2nd person singular form is used, the subject is known to be ‘त्वम्’ even though it is not explicitly mentioned.
The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
आप्स्यसि
आप्स्यथः
आप्स्यथ
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
यदा श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना ते बुद्धिः समाधौ निश्चला अचला स्थास्यति
तदा (त्वम्) योगम् अवाप्स्यसि ॥
जब शास्त्र से विचलित तुम्हारी बुद्धि निश्चल और अचल हो जायगी
तब (तुम) योग को प्राप्त करोगे
The phrase ‘हो जायगी’ is used for ‘स्थास्यति ‘ which is not very accurate. The exact meaning of the verb is ‘स्थित हो जायगी’, but in this usage it doesn’t fit well in the Hindi translation.
In English the translations will be as follows:
यदा ते बुद्धिः श्रुतिविप्रतिपन्ना समाधौ स्थास्यति निश्चला अचला (बुद्धिः)
तदा (त्वम्) अवाप्स्यसि (ज्ञानम्) योगम्
When your intellect confused by scriptures will, in meditation, settle at a steady and firm (intellect)
Then (you) will gain (knowledge of) Yoga.
The future tense ‘will settle’ is interspersed with the phrase ‘in meditation’ to account for the preposition kind of usage of समाधौ. Otherwise, the translation is quite accurate syntactically.
Simplifying the Shloka by splitting the compound words (shown in colored fonts).
यदा ते मोहकलिलम् बुद्धिः व्यतितरिष्यति । तदा गन्तासि निर्वेदम् श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य च ॥
The following sandhis are seen in this Shloka.
द्धिः + व्य = द्धिर्व्य
Only one Sandhi in this Shloka.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has a verb ‘व्यतितरिष्यति’ having ‘बुद्धिः’ as its subject. The second line has the verb ‘गन्तासि’ having ‘त्वं’ as its implicit subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
यदा – An Avyaya meaning ‘when’ in English and ‘जब’ in Hindi.
ते – 6th Vibhakti, singular form of the 2nd person pronoun ‘युष्मद्’ – in the 6th Vibhakti the word would mean ‘your’ in English and ‘तुम्हारा / तुम्हारी’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
तव, ते
युवयोः, वाम्
युष्माकम्, वः
मोहकलिलम् – 2nd Vibhakti, singular form in the neuter gender. Object of the verb ‘व्यतितरिष्यति’ and hence the 2nd Vibhakti is applicable. The meaning of the word is ‘the mire of delusion’ – there is no clear equivalent noun for the same in English. In Hindi the same word means ‘मोह के दलदल को’
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
फलम्
फले
फलानि
बुद्धिः – Subject of the verb ‘व्यतितरिष्यति’ and hence the 1st Vibhakti is applicable. The word is in the feminine gender and singular form is applied. We already now its meaning to be ‘intelligence’. The Shabd Roop will be like मति and are given as follows:
मतिः
मती
मतयः
व्यतितरिष्यति – Verb in the लृट् लकार which is used for the future tense. The root verb is ‘तॄ’ which has the prefix व्यति attached to it. The meaning of the word in future tense is ‘will cross’ in English and ‘तर जाएगी’ in Hindi.
The 3rd Person, singular form is additionally applied and the Dhatu Roop will be as follows. Note the Dhatu Roop are similar to that of ‘पठ्’ Dhatu.
तरीष्यति
तरीष्यतः
तरीष्यन्ति
तदा – An Avyaya meaning ‘then’ in English and ‘तब’ in Hindi. यदा and तदा are used as a corollary to each other.
गन्तासि – This is ‘लुट् लकार’ of गम् Dhatu – the लुट् लकार is अनद्यतन future tense, which is used for events of an indefinite future (not within fixed time). The meaning of the गम् Dhatu is ‘to go’ and the word is in 2nd Person and singular form. Hence the word ‘त्वं’ is an implicit subject of the verb.
The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
गन्तासि
गन्तास्थः
गन्तास्थ
निर्वेदम् – Object of the verb ‘गन्तासि’ and hence the 2nd Vibhakti is applied. Singular form and masculine gender are additionally applicable. The meaning of the word is ‘renunciation’ in English and ‘वैराग्य को’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
बालम्
बालौ
बालान्
श्रोतव्यस्य – 6th Vibhakti, singular form of the neuter gender ‘श्रोतव्य’ meaning ‘that which is yet to be heard’ and ‘सुनने में आने वाली’ in Hindi. There is no single word for this term both in English and Hindi and hence we shall have to do with some poor translations in this case.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘ फल’
फलस्य
फलयोः
फलानाम्
श्रुतस्य – Again the word is in 6th Vibhakti, singular form of the neuter gender ‘श्रुत’ -meaning ‘that which is heard’ and ‘सुनी हुई’ in Hindi.
Incidentally the context continues from the previous Shlokas and both श्रोतव्यस्य and श्रुतस्य are pointing towards fruits of actions or ‘कर्म फल’ and hence the phrase श्रोतव्यस्य श्रुतस्य would mean ‘of fruits of action that are heard and not yet heard of’.
The Shabd Roop will be exactly like the previous word and hence is not reproduced again.
च – Avyaya meaning ‘and’ in English.
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
यदा ते बुद्धिः मोहकलिलम् व्यतितरिष्यति
तदा (त्वं) श्रुतस्य श्रोतव्यस्य च (फलस्य) निर्वेदम् गन्तासि
जब तुम्हारी बुद्धि मोह के दलदल को तर जाएगी
तब (तुम) सुने और सुने जाने वाले (फलों) की ओर वैराग्य प्राप्त करोगे
The phrase ‘की ओर’ is used to give nearest possible equivalence to the 6th Vibhakti usage – syntactically this may not be very accurate.
In English the translations will be as follows:
यदा ते बुद्धिः व्यतितरिष्यति मोहकलिलम्
तदा (त्वं) गन्तासि निर्वेदम् श्रुतस्य श्रोतव्यस्य च (फलस्य)
When your intellect will cross over the mire of delusion
Then (you) will go towards renunciation for heard and yet to be heard (fruits of action)
The ‘गम्’ dhatu which is generally used for the verb ‘go’ does not translate very well in this sense of the Shloka. The phrase ‘go towards’ is not very accurate in meaning and to get the actual meaning ‘gain renunication’ is a better substitute.
The first line of the Shloka has a verb like construct ‘त्यक्त्वा’ having ‘मनीषिणः’ as its subject. The second line has the verb गच्छन्ति having ‘जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः’ as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
कर्मजम् – Adjective to फलम् and hence takes the same Vibhakti, Vachan and gender as the word it describes.
The meaning of the word is ‘born of action’ in English and ‘कर्म से जन्मा’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be like the neuter gender ‘फल’ and the 2nd Vibhakti, singular form is applicable.
फलम्
फले
फलानि
बुद्धियुक्ताः – We have already encountered this word multiple times meaning literally ‘endowed with Yogic intelligence’ or ‘equanimity’ in English, the word ‘yogic’ getting a context from previous Shlokas. In Hindi the word means ‘योग बुद्धि से युक्त’
The word is an adjective of मनीषिणः and hence the first Vibhaklti, plural form applies to the masculine gender word. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
बालः
बालौ
बालाः
हि – An Avyaya meaning ‘ही’ in Hindi.
फलम् – Object of the verb like word ‘त्यक्त्वा’ and hence the word is in 2nd Vibhakti. The singular form in neuter gender is used. The meaning of the word is ‘result’ in English.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
फलम्
फले
फलानि
त्यक्त्वा – This is a case of ‘त्वा’ Pratyaya being used, which indicates ‘having done the action’. In this case, the word means ‘having renounced’ in English and ‘त्याग कर’ in Hindi. The word plays the role of a verb.
मनीषिणः – The word is the subject of the verb like word त्यक्त्वा and hence the 1st Vibhakti, plural form is applicable. The root word is the masculine gender word ‘मनीषिन्’ and the meaning of the word is ‘wise men’ in English and ‘पंडितों’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
मनीषी
मनीषिणौ
मनीषिणः
जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः – Subject of the verb ‘गच्छन्ति’ and hence the 1st Vibhakt is applicable. The meaning of the word is ‘one who is free from shackles of birth’ in English and ‘जन्म के बंधन से मुक्त मनुष्य’. Additionally, plural form and masculine gender are also applied. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and since the Shabd Roop in the same Vibhakti for the same word is already provided in this Shloka, it is not being reproduced here again.
पदम् – Root word is पद and since the word is an object of ‘गच्छन्ति’, 2nd Vibhakti is applicable. The meaning of the word is ‘end’ in English. The Shabd Roop will be like the neuter gendered word ‘फल’ and since the Shabd Roop in the same Vibhakti for the same word is already provided in this Shloka, it is not being reproduced here again.
गच्छन्ति – 3rd Person, plural form of the ‘गम्’ Dhatu in लट् लकार or present tense. The meaning of the word is ‘go’ in English and ‘जाओ’ in Hindi. The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
गच्छति
गच्छतः
गच्छन्ति
अनामयम् – Adjective of the neuter gender word पदम् and hence the same Vibhakti, gender and vachan shall be applicable. The root word is ‘अनामय’ and the Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and since the Shabd Roop in the same Vibhakti for the same word is already provided in this Shloka, it is not being reproduced here again. The meaning of the word is ‘free of sufferings’.
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
बुद्धियुक्ताः मनीषिणः हि कर्मजम् फलम् त्यक्त्वा
जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः अनामयम् पदम् गच्छन्ति
(योग) बुद्धि युक्त पंडितों ने ही कर्म से जन्मे फल को त्याग कर
जन्म बंधन से मुक्त पीड़ा से रहित पद को जाते हैं
In English the translations will be as follows:
बुद्धियुक्ताः मनीषिणः हि त्यक्त्वा फलम् कर्मजम्
जन्मबन्धविनिर्मुक्ताः गच्छन्ति पदम् अनामयम्
Endowed with equanimity wise men after renouncing fruit borne of action
Free from the shackles of birth (they) go towards an end free of suffering.
Hindi translation could be done better but for the sake syntactic equivalence, the meaning looks contrived.
These are trivial Sandhis and no further explanation is being given.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has a verb ‘जहाति’ having ‘बुद्धियुक्तः’ as its subject. The second line has two verbs, the first one being युज्यस्व having an implicit त्वम् as its subject. The second verb is an implicit अस्ति having योगः as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
बुद्धियुक्तः – The word means ‘endowed with (Yogic) intelligence’ – though only the word बुद्धि is used which means ‘intelligence’, the context is continuing from the previous Shloka and hence this can be termed as ‘Yogic intelligence’ or ‘equanimity’. In Hindi it means ‘योग बुद्धि से युक्त’
The word is in 1st Vibhakti, being the subject of the verb ‘जहाति’ and the Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
बालः
बालौ
बालाः
जहाति – The root word is the Class 3 verb ‘हा’ meaning ‘to give up’ in English and ‘त्याग करना’ in Hindi. The word is in ‘लट् लकार’, 3rd person, singular form. The Dhatu Roop are as follows:
जहाति
जहीतःजहितः
जहति
इह – An Avyaya meaning ‘here’ in English and ‘यहाँ’ in Hindi
उभे – Adjective to सुकृतदुष्कृते and hence it takes the same form as the word it describes. The meaning of the word is ‘both’ and hence the dual form of 2nd Vibhakti applies. The Shabd Roop are like the neuter gender word ‘फल’
फलम्
फले
फलानि
सुकृतदुष्कृते – A conjugate formed of two words सुकृत and दुष्कृत meaning ‘good deeds’ and ‘bad deeds’ in English. Since it is a composite of two words, the dual form of 2nd Vibhakti shall apply and the Shabd Roop will be like the neuter gender word ‘फल’ – the Shabd Roop are already given above.
तस्मात् – 5th Vibhakti of the neuter gender word ‘तद्’ literally meaning ‘from that’ in English and ‘उस से’ in Hindi but a better translation in this sense is ‘therefore’ in English and ‘इस लिए’ in Hindi.
योगाय – 4th Vibhakti of the masculine gender word ‘योग’ meaning ‘for Yoga’ or ‘towards Yoga’ in this particular usage of the word in the Shloka. In Hindi this will mean ‘योग के लिए’. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and are as follows:
बालाय
बालाभ्याम्
बालेभ्यः
युज्यस्व – The word is a 2nd Person singular form of the root verb ‘युज्’ – meaning ‘ to become committed’ – note that the verb is in the 2nd Person form and hence the subject ‘त्वं’ is implicit in this Shloka. The लोट् लकार is used for the verb which is generally used for ‘instruction or permission’. Moreover the Atmanepade forms are applied here.
The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
यूज्यस्व
यूज्येथाम्
यूज्यध्वम्
योगः – 1st Vibhakti of the root word ‘योग’ – the word is a subject of the implicit verb ‘अस्ति’. Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and as this form is already given in this Shloka, we are not reproducing the same again.
कर्मसु – 7th Vibhakti plural form of the neuter gendered root word ‘कर्मन्’ meaning ‘karma’. and in the specific context means ‘in karma’ in English and ‘कर्मो में’ in Hindi.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
कर्मणि
कर्मणोः
कर्मसु
कौशलम् – The word looks to be an adjective of योगः – but the gender is not matching. This seems to very similar to the example we encountered in the 48th Shloka where we encountered the phrase समत्वं योगः उच्यते and both समत्वं and योगः belonged to different gender. The same seems to be the case here, and if we understand this correctly, this kind of anomaly is permitted when the adjective does not exist in the exact gender as the noun it describes.
The meaning of the word is ‘excellence’ and its Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’ in the 1st Vibhakti.
फलम्
फले
फलानि
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
(योग) बुद्धियुक्तः इह सुकृतदुष्कृते उभे जहाति
तस्मात् (त्वम्) योगाय युज्यस्व
कर्मसु कौशलम् (एव) योगः (अस्ति)
(योग) बुद्धि युक्त (मनुष्य) यहाँ सुकर्म और दुष्कर्म दोनों को त्याग देता हैं
इसलिए (तुम) योग के लिए समर्पित हो जाओ
कर्मो में कुशलता (ही) योग (है)
In English the translations will be as follows:
इह (योग) बुद्धियुक्तः जहाति उभे सुकृतदुष्कृते
तस्मात् युज्यस्व योगाय
कौशलम् कर्मसु (अस्ति) योगः
Here a man endowed with equanimity renounces both good & bad deeds
Therefore commit yourself to Yoga
Excellence in actions (is) Yoga.
Both translations are fairly simple and there shouldn’t be much doubt.
These are trivial Sandhis and no further explanation is being given.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has an implicit verb ‘अस्ति’ having ‘कर्म’ as its subject. The second line has two verbs, the first one being अन्विच्छ having an implicit त्वम् as its subject. The second verb is an implicit भवन्ति having कृपणाः as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
दूरेण – 3rd Vibhakti, singular form of the neuter gender word ‘दूर’ meaning ‘far’ in English. In the 3rd Vibhakti the word means ‘by far’ in English and in Hindi the literal meaning is ‘दूर से’ but in this sense ‘दूर दूर तक’ gives a better feel of the usage.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’ and are as follows:
फलेन
फलाभ्याम्
फलैः
हि – An avyaya meaning ‘ही’ in Hindi.
अवरं – Adjective of the word ‘कर्म’ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, vachan and gender as the word it describes. Meaning of the word is ‘inferior’ in English and ‘नीचा’ in Hindi.
The word is neuter gender, 1st Vibhakti, singular form and shall take the Shabd Roop like ‘फल’
फलम्
फले
फलानि
कर्म – Root word is the neuter gender word ‘कर्मन्’, meaning ‘activity’ in English and it is in the 1st Vibhakti, singular form. The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
कर्म
कर्म्णीकर्मणी
कर्माणि
बुद्धियोगात् – The root word is ‘बुद्धियोग’ and means the ‘yogic intelligence’ or equanimity as we discussed in the last Shloka. The word is in the masculine gender, singular form and 5th Vibhakti. The 5th Vibhakti is indicative of separation or comparison. In this case, the 5th Vibhakti is used for comparison.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and are as follows:
बालात्
बालाभ्याम्
बालेभ्यः
धनञ्जय – Sambodhan form for addressing Arjuna
बुद्धौ – Root word is the feminine gender ‘बुद्धि’ meaning ‘intelligence’ and in context of the Shloka refers to the ‘yogic intelligence’ of the first line. The word is in 7th Vibhakti, singular form. In the 7th Vibhakti, the word shall mean ‘in (yogic) intelligence’ in English. In Hindi the same shall translate as ‘बुद्धि में’.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
मतौ, मत्याम्
मत्योः
मतिषु
शरणम् – Neuter gender word meaning ‘refuge’. The word is an object of the verb ‘अन्विच्छ’ and hence it is in the 2nd Vibhakti in the singular form. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’
फलम्
फले
फलानि
अन्विच्छ – The word is composite of ‘अनु’ and ‘इच्छ’ – ‘इच्छ’ having the root word ‘ईष्’, which is a verb of class 6, meaning ‘to seek’ or ‘to wish’ in English and in this context ‘खोजना’ in Hindi. The word is in ‘लोट् लकार’ which is used for request/instruction. The 2nd person singular form is used, which gives us an indication that the subject of the verb is the implicit pronoun ‘युष्मद्’ meaning ‘you’ in English.
The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
इच्छ
इच्छतम्
इच्छत
कृपणाः – Root word is ‘कृपण’ – meaning ‘wretched’ in English and ‘दीन’ in Hindi. The word is a subject of an implicit verb ‘भवन्ति’ and hence it is in the 1st Vibhakti. The masculine and plural form shall apply. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
बालः
बालौ
बालाः
फलहेतवः – An adjective of कृपणाः and hence the same Vibhakti, gender and number shall apply. The root word is ‘फलहेतु’ meaning ‘for the sake of results’ in English and ‘केवल फल के लिए’ in Hindi. There are no equivalent adjectives in English and Hindi so expect some approximations in translations.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘गुरु’
गुरुः
गुरू
गुरवः
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
बुद्धियोगात् कर्म दूरेण अवरं (अस्ति)
धनञ्जय (त्वं) बुद्धौ शरणम् अन्विच्छ
हि फलहेतवः कृपणाः (भवन्ति)
बुद्धियोग से कर्म दूर दूर तक नीचा (है)
हे अर्जुन! तुम (योग)बुद्धि में शरण को खोजो
(क्योंकि) फल हेतु (जीनेवाले लोग) दीन (होते है)
Not a very accurate translation. ‘शरण को खोजो’, though okay as a literal translation, shall make more sense as ‘शरण लो’. Also, there’s no adjective equivalent for फलहेतवः and hence an artificial construct is used.
In English the translations will be as follows:
कर्म (अस्ति) दूरेण अवरं बुद्धियोगात्
धनञ्जय (त्वं) अन्विच्छ शरणम् बुद्धौ
हि कृपणाः (भवन्ति) फलहेतवः
Action is far inferior to Yogic intelligence
Oh Arjuna! You should seek refuge in (yogic) intelligence.
(As) wretched are the (people living) for the sake of fruit (of action)
English translation seems to be coming out better. ‘seek refuge’ matches more closely with the Sanskrit verse. In English translation also there’s no adjective equivalent for फलहेतवः and hence an artificial construct is used.
Learning Sanskrit through Geeta 