The Qualities of the Elements, the Mind and the Intellect

Verse 1 (12.261.1)

भूतानां गुणसङ्ख्यानं भूयः पुत्र निशामय । द्वैपायनमुखाद्भ्रष्टं श्लाघया परयाऽनघ ॥

bhūtānāṃ guṇasaṅkhyānaṃ bhūyaḥ putra niśāmaya | dvaipāyanamukhādbhraṣṭaṃ ślāghayā parayā'nagha

Hear again, my son, the enumeration of the qualities of the elements, which came from the mouth of Dvaipayana with the highest praise, O sinless one.

Note on the text: Corrected द्वैपायनमुखाद्धष्टं → द्वैपायनमुखाद्भ्रष्टं (misprint in Wikisource; द्ध for द्भ्र, the critical edition reads dvaipāyanamukhād bhraṣṭam).

Verse 2 (12.261.2)

दीप्तानलनिभः प्राह भगवान्धूमवत्सलः । ततोऽहमपि वक्ष्यामि भूयः पुत्र निदर्शनम् ॥

dīptānalanibhaḥ prāha bhagavāndhūmavatsalaḥ | tato'hamapi vakṣyāmi bhūyaḥ putra nidarśanam

The blessed one, who was like a blazing fire and fond of smoke, spoke it; so I too, my son, shall give you an illustration of it again.

Note on the text: Line 1 भगवान्धूमवत्सलः is kept as printed (a valid recension reading); the critical edition reads bhagavān dhūmravarcase, and the page's note records धर्मवत्सल as a manuscript variant.

Verse 3 (12.261.3)

भूमेः स्थैर्यं गुरुत्वं च काठिन्यं प्रसवात्मता । गन्धो भारश्च शक्तिश्च संघातः स्थापना धृतिः ॥

bhūmeḥ sthairyaṃ gurutvaṃ ca kāṭhinyaṃ prasavātmatā | gandho bhāraśca śaktiśca saṃghātaḥ sthāpanā dhṛtiḥ

Of earth: steadiness, heaviness, hardness, the power to bring forth, smell, weight, strength, compactness, support, and firmness.

Verse 4 (12.261.4)

अपां शैत्यं रसः क्लेदो द्रवत्वं स्नेहसौम्यता । जिह्वाविस्यन्दनं चापि भौमानां श्रपणं तथा ॥

apāṃ śaityaṃ rasaḥ kledo dravatvaṃ snehasaumyatā | jihvāvisyandanaṃ cāpi bhaumānāṃ śrapaṇaṃ tathā

Of water: coldness, taste, moisture, fluidity, oiliness and gentleness; the tongue, flowing, and likewise the cooking of earthy things.

Verse 5 (12.261.5)

अग्नेर्दुर्धर्षता ज्योतिस्तापः पाकः प्रकाशनम् । शौचं रागो लघुस्तैक्ष्ण्यं सततं चोर्ध्वभागिता ॥

agnerdurdharṣatā jyotistāpaḥ pākaḥ prakāśanam | śaucaṃ rāgo laghustaikṣṇyaṃ satataṃ cordhvabhāgitā

Of fire: irresistibility, light, heat, ripening, illumination, purity, redness, lightness, sharpness, and the constant upward course.

Verse 6 (12.261.6)

वायोरनियमस्पर्शो वादस्थानं स्वतन्त्रता । बलं शैघ्र्यं च मोक्षं च कर्म चेष्टात्मता भवः ॥

vāyoraniyamasparśo vādasthānaṃ svatantratā | balaṃ śaighryaṃ ca mokṣaṃ ca karma ceṣṭātmatā bhavaḥ

Of wind: unrestrained touch, the seat of speech, independence, strength, swiftness, release, action, the nature of effort, and origination.

Note on the text: Corrected शैध्यं → शैघ्र्यं (misprint in Wikisource; ध for घ and the र lost, the critical edition reads śaighryam; the page's note glosses it as swiftness). Line 2 मोक्षं and the other readings are recension variants (CE mohaś ca ceṣṭā karmakṛtā bhavaḥ), kept as printed.

Verse 7 (12.261.7)

आकाशस्य गुणः शब्दो व्यापित्वं छिद्रताऽपि च । अनाश्रयमनालम्बमव्यक्तमविकारिता ॥

ākāśasya guṇaḥ śabdo vyāpitvaṃ chidratā'pi ca | anāśrayamanālambamavyaktamavikāritā

Of space: sound as its quality, all-pervasiveness, hollowness, being without support, without foundation, unmanifest, and unchanging.

Verse 8 (12.261.8)

अप्रतीघातिता चैव श्रोतत्वं विवराणि च । गुणाः पञ्चाशतं प्रोक्ताः पञ्चभूतविभाविताः ॥

apratīghātitā caiva śrotatvaṃ vivarāṇi ca | guṇāḥ pañcāśataṃ proktāḥ pañcabhūtavibhāvitāḥ

Non-obstruction, the nature of the ear, and the openings: fifty qualities in all are declared, made manifest by the five elements.

Verse 9 (12.261.9)

फलोपपत्तिर्व्यक्तिश्च विसर्गः कल्पना क्षमा । सदसच्चाशुता चैव मनसो नव वै गुणाः ॥

phalopapattirvyaktiśca visargaḥ kalpanā kṣamā | sadasaccāśutā caiva manaso nava vai guṇāḥ

The attainment of results, manifestation, dispersal, imagination, patience, the existent and the non-existent, and quickness: these are the nine qualities of the mind.

Verse 10 (12.261.10)

इष्टानिष्टविपत्तिश्च व्यवसायः समाधिता । संशयः प्रतिपत्तिश्च बुद्धेः पञ्च गुणान्विदुः ॥

iṣṭāniṣṭavipattiśca vyavasāyaḥ samādhitā | saṃśayaḥ pratipattiśca buddheḥ pañca guṇānviduḥ

The loss of wished-for and unwished-for states, determination, concentration, doubt, and apprehension: these they know as the five qualities of the intellect.

Verse 11 (12.261.11)

कथं पञ्चगुणा बुद्धिः कथं पञ्चेन्द्रिया गुणाः । एतन्मे सर्वमाचक्ष्व सूक्ष्मज्ञानं पितामह ॥

kathaṃ pañcaguṇā buddhiḥ kathaṃ pañcendriyā guṇāḥ | etanme sarvamācakṣva sūkṣmajñānaṃ pitāmaha

How is the intellect fivefold in its qualities? How are the qualities of the five senses? Tell me all this, grandfather, this subtle knowledge.

Note on the text: The critical edition has a star line after line 1 (12.247.11b*0697_01: etebhya ete nirvṛttāḥ svaguṇāyātmanopi vā) that the page does not print.

Verse 12 (12.261.12)

आहुः षष्टिं भूतगुणान्वै भूतविषक्तान्प्रकृतिविसृष्टान् । नित्यविषक्तांश्चाक्षरसृष्टान्पुत्र न नित्यं तदिह वदन्ति ॥

āhuḥ ṣaṣṭiṃ bhūtaguṇānvai bhūtaviṣaktānprakṛtivisṛṣṭān | nityaviṣaktāṃścākṣarasṛṣṭānputra na nityaṃ tadiha vadanti

They say there are sixty qualities of the elements, clinging to the elements and sent forth by Nature, clinging to the eternal and created by the Imperishable; yet, my son, they do not call these eternal here.

Note on the text: Wikisource prints this verse as four pādas on four lines (labelled 12a–12d) with the sandhi cut across them (चाक्षरसृष्टा / न्पुत्र); rejoined here as two half-verse lines, with चाक्षरसृष्टा न्पुत्र written चाक्षरसृष्टान्पुत्र. The wording is that of CE 12.247.12a and 12c, except that the CE's second pāda reads bhūtaviśiṣṭā nityaviṣaktāḥ.

Verse 13 (12.261.13)

तत्पुत्रचिन्ताकलिलं तदुक्तमनागतं वै तव संप्रतीह । भूतार्थवत्त्वं तदवाप्य सर्वं भूतप्रभावाद्भव शान्तबुद्धिः ॥

tatputracintākalilaṃ taduktamanāgataṃ vai tava saṃpratīha | bhūtārthavattvaṃ tadavāpya sarvaṃ bhūtaprabhāvādbhava śāntabuddhiḥ

What I have said, my son, is tangled in thought and lies still ahead of you now; having grasped all of it in its bearing on the elements, become tranquil of mind through the power of the elements.

Note on the text: Wikisource prints this verse as four pādas on four lines (labelled 13a–13d) with the sandhi cut across them (तदुक्त / मनागतं); rejoined here as two half-verse lines, with तदुक्त मनागतं written तदुक्तमनागतं. Compare CE 12.247.13a and 13c (tat putra cintākalitaṃ yad uktam anāgataṃ…; bhūtārthatattvaṃ…).