Verses on Sāṃkhya 3

Having bowed to the sage who attained the illumination of reality and taught what transcends the world, / the commentary on the Saptatikā named Jayamaṅgalā is composed.

Prudent persons do not undertake [anything] unless the purpose is stated; therefore, the purpose is stated: liberation comes from the knowledge of the principles, and the principles are twenty-five. And so it has been said:
“The knower of the twenty-five principles, in whatever stage of life he may dwell, / whether wearing matted hair, shaven, or with a topknot, is liberated—there is no doubt here.”

And regarding those [principles] set forth in the Ṣaṣṭitantra and elsewhere: because the Ṣaṣṭitantra is extensive, the Saptatikā is begun for the benefit of beings who desire brevity. And he will state later: “This was abridged by means of Āryā verses.” If it is asked: What is the fruit of liberation? [The answer is:] the cessation of suffering. One who is ignorant of the principles, continually struck down by sufferings, remains wandering in the cycle of rebirth. But from knowledge of the principles he attains isolation, and is not struck down by sufferings. By one who is being struck down, what cause ought to be investigated? To this he says:

From the assault of threefold suffering, there arises a desire to know the cause that eliminates it; / if [it is said that] it is useless since empirical [means exist, we reply:] no, because of the absence of certain and absolute [relief]. // 1

“From the assault of threefold suffering, there arises a desire to know,” and so on. The triad of sufferings is the threefold suffering: namely, internal, environmental, and supernatural. In the self is internal (adhyātma); what occurs there is internal (ādhyātmika): that is, bodily and mental. There, bodily is suffering such as fever due to the imbalance of wind, bile, and phlegm, because it occurs in the body. Mental is suffering that occurs in the mind through desire, anger, grief, and the like. Environmental is that which occurs in relation to humans, domestic animals, wild beasts, birds, reptiles, and immovable things. Supernatural is that which occurs in the body in relation to supernatural forces such as possession by planetary deities. This is the threefold suffering. Due to the assault, that is, the affliction caused by it, there is a desire to know, which means a wish to know.

Concerning what object? He says: “the cause that eliminates it.” An eliminator is that which strikes down, which removes. The eliminator of that threefold suffering is its eliminator. The prohibition of genitive compounding applies with [the suffixes] -tṛ and -aka; [thus] it does not mean “the cause that brings that about.” By what, indeed, are these sufferings produced? Thus the cause that eliminates them ought to be investigated. “I am full of suffering; I seek its remedy”—such is common parlance. And that [remedy] is none other than the knowledge of the twenty-five principles; this is what is in mind.

“If [it is said that] it is useless since empirical [means exist]”: This might be so if an empirical cause eliminating them did not exist. For instance, in the removal of internal bodily suffering, there is a remedy prescribed by the medical treatise alone; for mental [suffering] also, there is the power of philosophical discernment and charming sense objects such as sounds; for the environmental and supernatural also, an eliminating cause is seen being practiced in the ordinary world itself, because there are counteracting remedies for both of them. Among them, for the supernatural, there are undertakings accomplished by the means of conciliation, bribery, dissension, and force; for the environmental also, there are resorting to enclosed places, falling back, guarding, and the like.

And consequently, when an empirical cause exists, a desire to know in this matter is useless—having suspected this, he says: “no, because of the absence of certain and absolute [relief].” It is not useless; it is indeed purposeful. Why? “Because of the absence of certain and absolute [relief].” The meaning is: because of the nonexistence of the nonexistence of suffering in a certain and absolute manner. For even when the empirical remedy is applied, the threefold suffering still occurs for some people, so there is no certain alleviation. And even when there is somehow an alleviation, because it arises again, there is no absolute alleviation. Therefore, the desire to know for the sake of the certain and absolute alleviation of suffering is proper. // 1