Verses on Sāṃkhya 35.3

35.3

teṣām karaṇānāṃ madhye yeṣām ayam adhikāro vartate teṣāṃ yāni buddhīndriyāṇi śrotratvakcakṣurjihvāghrāṇāni pañca tāni saviśeṣaṃ gṛhṇanti aviśeṣam api viṣayaṃ gṛhṇanti | atrāha --- kasya saviśeṣaṃ viṣayaṃ gṛhṇanti kasya nirviśeṣam iti | atrocyate śabdasparśarasarūpagandhāḥ pajña devānāṃ tanmātrasaṃjñitā nirviśeṣāḥ kevalasukhalakṣaṇatvāt | yasmāt tatra duḥkhamohau na stas tasmān nirviśeṣās te iti | tathā hi | viśiṣyante śāntaghoramūḍhatvādineti viśeṣās taiḥ saha saviśeṣāḥ, kevalā nirviśeṣā iti tātparyam | evaṃ śabdādayo manuṣyāṇāṃ saviśeṣāḥ sukhaduḥkhamohayuktā ity arthaḥ | devānāṃ tu buddhīndriyāṇi nirviśeṣaṃ sukhātmakaṃ prakāśayanti | uktāni buddhīndriyāṇi devānāṃ mānuṣāṇāṃ ca | karmendriyāṇi vakṣyāmaḥ | vāg bhavati śabdaviṣayā śeṣāny api pañca viṣayāṇi | tatra devānāṃ vāk pādaṃ pādārdhaṃ ślokam uccārayati | asmākam api tathaiva | ato devānām asmākaṃ ca vāgindriyaṃ tulyam ity arthaḥ | kiṃ cānyat --- śeṣāṇy api pañca viṣayāṇi iti | teṣāṃ caturṇām ekaikaṃ pañcaviṣayam | pāṇis tāvat śabdasparśarasarūpagandhayuktaḥ | evaṃ pañcalakṣaṇam eva pāṇīndriyaṃ sannikṛṣṭaṃ pañcalakṣaṇaṃ ghaṭaṃ gṛhṇāti | (yasmāt pañcalakṣaṇaṃ hastaṃ hastendriyaṃ ca) evaṃ śabdādipañcalakṣaṇaḥ pādaḥ pañcātmikāyām eva bhuvi viharati | evaṃ pañcalakṣaṇe pāyūpasthe api pañcalakṣaṇāv utsargānandau kurutaḥ | tasmāt yuktam abhihitam --- "śeṣāṇy api pañca viṣayāṇi" iti //

Among these instruments, those which are the subject here—their five sensory faculties, namely ear, skin, eye, tongue, and nose—grasp specific objects and also non-specific objects. Here [an interlocutor] asks: For whom do they grasp specific objects, and for whom non-specific? In response, it is said: The five, namely sound, touch, taste, form, and smell, are termed subtle elements for the gods, non-specific because their nature is pure pleasure. Since suffering and delusion are not present there, they are therefore non-specific. For specific [objects] are differentiated by being calm, violent, or dull; [objects] accompanied by these are specific, while [those that are] pure are non-specific—this is the purport. Thus sound and the rest are specific for human beings, endowed with pleasure, suffering, and delusion; this is the meaning. But the sensory faculties of the gods illuminate what is non-specific, consisting of pleasure. The sensory faculties of gods and humans have been described. We shall describe the action faculties. "Voice has sound as its object, while the rest also have five objects." There, the voice of the gods pronounces a quarter-verse, a half-verse, or a verse. For us, it is just the same. Therefore, the faculty of speech is identical for gods and for us; this is the meaning. Moreover: "the rest also have five objects." Each one of those four has five objects. The hand, for its part, is endowed with sound, touch, taste, form, and smell. Thus the faculty of the hand, possessing five characteristics, grasps a pot possessing five characteristics when brought into contact with it. (Since the hand and the faculty of the hand possess five characteristics.) Likewise, the foot, possessing the five characteristics of sound and the rest, moves only on the earth, which consists of the five [elements]. Likewise, the anus and genitals, possessing five characteristics, perform excretion and sensual pleasure, which possess five characteristics. Therefore, it is aptly said: "the rest also have five objects."