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8
LAWS OF MANU.
I, 16.
16. But, joining minute particles even of those six, which possess measureless power, with particles of himself, he created all beings.
and he too believes that the particle ka at the end of verse 15 b shows that the organs of action have to be understood. The object of the two verses is, according to Nand., not to give an account of the actual order of creation, but to show that the material cause of all created beings consists of portions of the creator's body, of the Mahat, Ahamkâra, the Manas, the Tanmâtras, and the organs of sensation and action which belong to him; (anena slokadvayenaitad uktam bhavati | âtmîyânâm mahadahamkâramanastanmâtragñânakarmendriyânâm amsâh sarvabhûtopâdânam iti ") It would seem that Nand. and Nâr.'s view, as regards the explanation of Manas (verse 14), is correct, but it may be doubted whether, with respect to the terms in verse 15, mahân âtmâ and sarvâni trigunâni, they have been equally lucky. The explanation of the first four commentators seems altogether inadmissible. In conclusion, it may be stated that Nand. gives also the most acceptable explanation of the epithet of the Manas, sadasadâtmakam, which, he says, means 'partaking of the nature of an evolvent and of an evolute' (prakritivikrityâtmakam), and of îsvaram, 'lordly,' 'which causes all actions to be done' (sarvakarmapravartakam).
16. The translation follows Nand., Râgh., and Vigñânabhikshu (Sâmkhyasâra, p. 19, ed. Hall), who agree that the verse derives the subtile or rudimentary bodies of individual beings from the subtile body of the creator, and the individual souls from his soul. They explain âtmamâtrâsu by aparikkhinnasyaikasyâtmana upâdhivasâd avayavavatpratîyamâneshu âtmasu (Râgh.), svagîvâmseshu (Nand.), and svâmsaketaneshu (Vigñ.). But they differ with respect to the meaning of 'the particles of those six.' Those six' are, according to Râgh. and Vigñ., 'the six senses,' i.e. the five organs of sensation and the mind (which by implication indicate the whole subtile body, Vign.); according to Nand., the six classes of tattvas, which he believes to be mentioned in the preceding two verses, viz. (1) the great one, (2) egoism, (3) mind, (4) the subtile or rudimentary elements, (5, 6) the organs of sensation and action.
Medh., Gov., and Kull., on the other hand, take the verse as follows: 'Joining minute particles of those six (i.e. of egoism and of the five subtile elements) which possess immeasurable power to particles of the same (i.e. of evolutes from the same six [Gov., Kull.], i.e. of the gross elements produced from the Tanmâtras and the organs
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