Verses on Sāṃkhya 41.3

41.3

'paṃgvandhavat'; iti / dṛṣṭāntaḥ / paṅguḥ sacakṣuḥ paśyati panthānaṃ na saṃcarati, andho 'pi saṃcarati na paśyati panthānam / tayoḥ svārthabhraṣṭayorgrāmaprāptyarthaḥ sambandho bhūtaḥ / tatra paṅgurandhaskandhamāruhya gatimān, andho 'pi draṣṭradhiṣṭhānāddṛṣṭimān jātaḥ / grāmaprāptayośca tayorviyogaḥ / evaṃ puruṣo niṣkriyaḥ pradhānena saṃyujya tadvibhūtidarśanāya devādiṣu saṃcarati / pradhānaṃ niścetanamapi puruṣādhiṣṭhānāccetanāvadiva dvayamapi sampādayati / tasmātpaṃgvandhavadubhayorapi saṃyogaḥ //

"Like that of the lame and the blind." This is an illustration. The lame person possesses eyes and sees the path, but cannot travel; the blind person can travel, but cannot see the path. A connection was formed between the two, who had lost their own purposes, for the sake of reaching the village. There, the lame person, mounting upon the shoulder of the blind person, obtained movement; the blind person also, guided by the seer, obtained vision. And when the two reached the village, there was separation. In this manner, conscious spirit, being inactive, unites with primordial matter and travels among gods and other [realms] to see her manifestation; primordial matter, though non-conscious, accomplishes both [purposes] as if conscious, through the superintendence of conscious spirit. Therefore, the connection of both is like that of the lame and the blind.