Verses on Sāṃkhya 23.4

23.4

prakṛtiḥ pradhānam adhikurute | brahma avyaktaṃ bahudhātmakaṃ māyeti paryāyāḥ | tasyāḥ prakṛter mahān utpadyate prathamaḥ kaścit | mahān, buddhiḥ, matiḥ, prajñā, saṃvittiḥ, khyātiḥ, citiḥ, smṛtir āsurī hariḥ, haraḥ, hiraṇyagarbha iti paryāyāḥ | tato 'haṅkāraḥ | tasmān mahato 'haṅkāra utpadyate | tasya ime paryāyāḥ --- vaikṛtas taijaso bhūtādir abhimāno 'smitā iti | catuḥṣaṣṭivarṇaiḥ parādivaikharīparyantābhidheyair yat kim apy abhidhīyate buddhyā samarthya tatsakalamādyantākārahakāravarṇadvayagrahaṇenoparisthitapiṇḍīkṛtānukāriṇā bindunā bhūṣitaḥ pratyāhāranyāyenāhaṅkāra ity abhidhīyate | tasmāt ahaṅkārāt ṣoḍaśako gaṇa utpadyate | tāmasād bhūtādināmnaḥ pañcatanmātrāṇi śabdādīni | ata eva tāni mūḍhāni | sāttvikād vaikṛtābhidhānād buddhikarmātmakāni manaḥsahitāni ekādaśendriyāṇi | ata eva tāni kiñcij jānanti | rājasāt taijasābhidhānād ubhayam | mūḍhatvād dhi tamaḥ | prakāśatvāt sattvam | ubhayaguṇayogāt ṣoḍaśako gaṇo 'haṅkārād utpadyate | tasmād api ṣoḍaśakāt madhye yāni pañca śabdāditanmātrāṇi tebhyaḥ pañca bhūtāny ākāśādīni | tatra śabdatanmātrād ākāśam, sparśatanmātrād vāyuḥ, rūpatanmātrāt tejaḥ, rasatanmātrād āpaḥ, gandhatanmātrāt pṛthivī ityādikrameṇa pūrvapūrvānupraveśenaikadvitricatuṣpañcaguṇāny ākāśādipṛthvīparyantāni mahābhūtānīti sṛṣṭikramaḥ | ata eva bhūtānām utpattilayāvabodhanāt bha iti | āgatigatiparijñānāt ga iti | vidan yogī iti va(va iti?) | anati calatīti an | sakalavarṇasampradāyād bhagavān ity abhimānasiddhiḥ | "apy akṣaravarṇasāmānyān nirbrūyān na saṃskāram ādriyeta"(nirukti 2 |4) iti nairuktaśrutiprāmāṇyāt | uktaṃ ca ---

'Nature' refers to primordial matter. 'Brahman,' 'the unmanifest,' 'the manifold,' and 'illusion' are synonyms. From that nature arises first a certain 'great [principle]'. 'The great,' 'intellect,' 'intelligence,' 'discernment,' 'consciousness,' 'revelation,' 'awareness,' 'memory,' 'Āsurī,' 'Hari,' 'Hara,' and 'Hiraṇyagarbha' are synonyms. 'From that, egoity': from that great [principle], egoity arises. Its synonyms are: 'the modified,' 'the luminous,' 'the origin of the elements,' 'self-assertion,' and 'I-am-ness.' Whatever is signified by the sixty-four phonemes, ranging from the supreme to the articulated speech, being grasped by the intellect, is called 'egoity' by the principle of abbreviation, through the comprehension of the two letters 'a' and 'ha'—the first and the last—adorned with the anusvāra resting above them in the form of a consolidated whole. From that egoity, the group of sixteen arises: from the dark [aspect], named 'the origin of the elements,' [arise] the five subtle elements, beginning with sound; for that very reason they are dull. From the bright [aspect], named 'the modified,' [arise] the eleven sense faculties composed of intellect and action, together with the mind; for that very reason they know something. From the passionate [aspect], named 'the luminous,' [arise] both, for darkness is due to dullness, and light is due to clarity; from the conjunction of both constituents, the group of sixteen arises from egoity. 'And from that group of sixteen,' from among those five subtle elements beginning with sound, arise the five elements, beginning with ether: there, from the sound subtle element arises ether; from the touch subtle element, air; from the form subtle element, fire; from the taste subtle element, water; from the smell subtle element, earth. In this order, by the sequential inclusion of each preceding one, the gross elements, from ether up to earth, have one, two, three, four, and five qualities; this is the order of creation. For this very reason, from the knowledge of the emergence and dissolution of the elements [arises the syllable] 'bha'; from the comprehension of the coming and going [arises the syllable] 'ga'; knowing, the yogin [is represented by 'va']; 'an' means it breathes or moves; by the combination of all these phonemes, the word 'bhagavān' is established as self-assertion, on the authority of the Nirukta scripture: 'Even on the basis of a common letter or phoneme, one should explain [the word] and not heed grammatical formation' (Nirukta 2.4). And it is said: