The Sānkhya Kārikā, with the Bhāshya of Gauḍapāda — trans. H. T. Colebrooke and H. H. Wilson (1837)

The organs of sense are said to act by mutual invitation or incitement. Their cooperation in the discharge of their respective functions is compared to that of different soldiers in an army, all engaged in a common

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assault, but of whom one agrees to take a spear, another a mace, another a bow. It is objected, that the organs being declared non-sentient, incapable of intelligence, cannot be supposed to feel, much less to know, any mutual design or wish, dkutu* or abhiprdyat; and the terms are explained to signify the insensible influence which the activity of one exerts upon that of another, if there be no impediment in the way; a sort of sympathetic or consentaneous action. ‘Akita here means incitement to activity; that is, at the time when one organ is in action, the activity of another, if no obstruction hinder it{.’ ‘With this view the several instruments are directed by a presiding power, which may be termed the adaptation of the mutual fitness of their natures||.’ The motive for this sympathetic action is the purpose of soul, fruition or liberation ; which purpose they of their own accord, but unconsciously, operate to fulfil, in the same way as the unconscious breast spontaneously secretes milk for the nourishment of the infant; according to the Sitra, ‘As the cow for the calf:’ that is, as the milk of the cow of its own accord exudes for the use of the calf, and awaits not the effort of another, so the organs of their own accord perform their office for the sake of their master, soul §. S. Pravachana Bh. They must act of their own nature ; it is not in the power of any one to compel them to act. Gavrapapa’s expression is,‘ Not by any sovereign man: perhaps some particle, such as vd, may have been omitted in the copy, making the sense, ‘ Neither by a deity nor a mortal;’ or the phrase may imply, that they are not compelled to action even by soul, as a divinity ; but fulfil soul's purposes through an innate property, undirected by any external agent.

‘erga! tafe lange aeayed weer
WMUHAAAAA Ba AUT Wala aAsTEMtY | | Sera
Rem atarat Geran afar) a
WTS | TT aT a Ua: equa eft wate areTAdeyA Ae
enfaa gers ga aaa ana watt eet: |S a Fa
fadiite yea | .

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XXXIL

Ixstrument is of thirteen sorts. It compasses, maintains, and manifests: what is to be done by it is tenfold, to be compassed, to be maintained, to be manifested.

BHASHYA.

Instrument.—Intellect and the rest are three; the intellectual organs are five; the organs of action are five: all together thirteen. What this performs is next declared : it compasses, maintains, and manifests; that is, the organs of action compass and maintain ; those of perception manifest. How many kinds of action there are is next specified. Its action, that which is to be done by it, is tenfold; of ten kinds, as hearing, touch, &c. by the instruments of perception ; speech and the rest by those of action : and thus by the former, manifestation, and by the latter, comprehension and support, are effected.

COMMENT.

The sense of the term karana, ‘instrument’ or ‘organ,’ is here explained, as a generic denomination for the external and internal organs.

The instruments or organs are thirteen; that is, three internal, intellect, egotism, and mind ; and ten external, or the organs of sensation and action. Their respective functions as organs have been explained : their effects as instruments are classed under three heads, ‘compassing,’ dharana*; ‘ maintaining,’ dhdraxa}; and ‘ manifesting, prakdsanu}. The first, which means, literally, ‘ taking, seizing,’ and rendered in the text *compassing,’ signifies ‘the application of an organ to the object to which it is adapted ||,’ and is the especial function of the organs or instruments of action. ‘ Maintaining,’ dhdrana, ‘ supporting, upholding,’ is, according

Sarecd ote) ob mardi |! gar erqureeat

Sarai aryaadifa araq |

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