Verses on Sāṃkhya 24.3

24.3

adhyavasāyo buddhilakṣaṇam / adhyavasanamadhyavasāyaḥ yathā bīje bhaviṣyadvṛttiko 'ṅkurastadvadadhyavasāyo 'yaṃ ghaṭo 'yaṃ paṭa ityevaṃ syati yā sā buddhiriti lakṣyate sā ca buddhiraṣṭāṅgikā sāttvikatāmasarūpabhedāt tatra buddheḥ sāttvikaṃ rūpaṃ caturvidhaṃ bhavati dharmo jñānaṃ vairāgyamaiśvaryaṃ ceti tatra dharmo nāma dayādānayamaniyamalakṣaṇastatra yamā niyamāśca pātañjale 'bhihitā ahiṃsāsatyāsteyabrahmacaryāparigrahā yamāḥ śaucasaṃtoṣatapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhā niyamāḥ / jñānaṃ prakāśo 'vagamo bhānamiti paryāyāstacca dvividhaṃ bāhyamābhyantaraṃ ceti tatra bāhyaṃ nāma vedāḥ śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṃ niruktaṃ chandojyotiṣākhyaṣaḍaṅgasahitāḥ purāṇāni nyāyamīmāṃsādharmaśāstrāṇi ceti / ābhyantaraṃ prakṛtipuruṣajñānamiyaṃ prakṛtiḥ sattvarajastamasāṃ sāmyāvasthāyaṃ puruṣaḥ siddho nirguṇovyāpī cetana iti / tatra bāhyajñānena lokapaṃktirlokānurāga ityarthaḥ / ābhyantareṇa jñānena mokṣa ityarthaḥ vairāgyamapi dvividhaṃ bāhyamābhyantaraṃ ca bāhyaṃ dṛṣṭaviṣayavaitṛṣṇyamarjanarakṣaṇakṣayasaṃgahiṃsādoṣadarśanāt viraktasyābhyantaraṃ pradhānamapyatra svapnendrajālasadṛśamiti viraktasya gokṣepsoryadutpadyate tadābhyantaraṃ vairāgyam / aiśvaryamīśvarabhāvastaccāṣṭaguṇamaṇimā mahimā garimā laghimā prāptiḥ prākāmyamīśitvaṃ vaśitvaṃ yatrakāmāvasāyitvaṃ ceti / aṇorbhāvo 'ṇimā sūkṣmo bhūtvā jagati vicaratīti / mahimā mahān bhūtvā vicaratīti / laghimā mṛṇālītūlāvayavādapi laghutayā puṣpakesarāgreṣvapi tiṣṭhati / prāptirabhimataṃ vastu yatra tatrāvasthitaḥ prāpnoti / prākāmyaṃ prakāmato yadeveṣyati tadeva vidadhāti / īśitvaṃ prabhutayā trailokyamapīṣṭe / vaśitvaṃ sarvaṃ vaśībhavati / yatra kāmāvasāyitvaṃ brahmādistambaparyantaṃ yatra kāmastatraivāsya svecchayā sthānāsanavihārānācaratīti / catvāra etāni buddheḥ sāttvikāni rūpāṇi yadā sattvena rajastamasī abhibhūte tadā pumān buddhiguṇān dharmādīnāpnoti / kiṃcānyat tāmasamasmādviparyastamasmāddharmāderviparītaṃ tāmasaṃ buddhirūpaṃ dharmādviparīto 'dharma evamajñānamavairāgyamānaiśvaryamiti / evaṃ sāttvikaistāmasaiḥ svarūpairaṣṭāṃgā buddhistriguṇādavyaktādutpadyate // 23 //

Ascertainment is the defining characteristic of the intellect. Ascertainment means determining. Just as in a seed a sprout exists having its function in the future, just so is ascertainment: that which determines thus, “this is a pot, this is a cloth,” is characterized as the intellect. And that intellect has eight aspects, due to the distinction of sāttvika and tāmasa forms. In that regard, the sāttvika form of the intellect is of four kinds: virtue, knowledge, dispassion, and mastery. Among them, what is called virtue is characterized by compassion, generosity, restraints, and observances. There, the restraints and observances are stated in the treatise of Patañjali: non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, celibacy, and non-possessiveness are the restraints; purity, contentment, asceticism, study of sacred texts, and devotion to God are the observances. Knowledge: illumination, comprehension, shining are synonyms; and that is twofold, external and internal. There, the external consists of the Vedas together with the six auxiliary limbs called phonetics, ritual, grammar, etymology, metrics, and astronomy, the Purāṇas, Nyāya, Mīmāṃsā, and the law books. The internal is the knowledge of primordial nature and pure consciousness: “this is primordial nature, the state of equilibrium of sattva, rajas, and tamas; this is pure consciousness, established, devoid of the fundamental qualities, all-pervading, conscious.” There, by external knowledge, there is standing among worldly people, that is to say, affection from the world; by internal knowledge, release is the meaning. Dispassion also is twofold, external and internal. External is thirstlessness for perceived sensory objects from seeing the faults of acquisition, protection, decay, attachment, and injury. For one who is dispassionate, when there arises in one who desires liberation [the realization] that here even primary matter is like a dream and an illusion, that is internal dispassion. Mastery is the state of a lord, and that has eight qualities: atomicity, magnification, weightiness, levity, reach, unfettered will, lordship, control, and fulfillment of desire anywhere. Atomicity is the state of an atom: having become subtle, one wanders in the world. Magnification: having become great, one wanders. Levity: through lightness greater even than a filament of a lotus stalk or cotton, one rests even on the tips of flower filaments. Reach: staying anywhere, one reaches a desired object. Unfettered will: according to desire, whatever one wishes, that very thing one accomplishes. Lordship: through sovereign power, one rules even over the three worlds. Control: everything becomes subject to one's will. Fulfillment of desire anywhere: from Brahmā down to a tuft of grass, wherever one's desire is, there according to one's own will one undertakes standing, sitting, and moving about. These four are the sāttvika forms of the intellect. When rajas and tamas are overpowered by sattva, then the person obtains the qualities of the intellect: virtue and the rest. Moreover: “the tāmasa [form] is contrary to this.” Contrary to this [set] beginning with virtue is the tāmasa form of the intellect: contrary to virtue is non-virtue; likewise ignorance, non-dispassion, and lack of mastery. Thus, having eight limbs through its sāttvika and tāmasa forms, the intellect arises from the unmanifest, which consists of the three fundamental qualities. // 23