न च शाम्यति नाऽप्यन्तर्नाऽपि बाह्येऽवतिष्ठति । न च नैष्कर्म्यमादत्ते न च कर्मणि मज्जति ॥ ३३ ॥
na ca śāmyati nā’pyantarnā’pi bāhyē’vatiṣṭhati | na ca naiṣkarmyamādattē na ca karmaṇi majjati || 33 ||
Translation
He is not stilled, he does not dwell within, nor does he dwell outside. He does not take up inaction, nor does he sink in action.
Word by word
- na
- not
- ca
- and
- śāmyati
- is stilled
- api
- nor
- antar
- within
- bāhyē
- outside
- avatiṣṭhati
- he dwells
- naiṣkarmyam
- inaction
- ādattē
- takes up
- karmaṇi
- in action
- majjati
- sinks
Meaning
The commentary reads the first line through the three states. He is not stilled as in deep sleep, where the mind's adjuncts merely subside. He is not held within, as in dream, by things made of the mind's tendencies. He is not caught outside, as the deluded are in waking, in the snare of objects. The second line refuses both escapes: he does not cling to inaction as a refuge, and he is not entangled in work. What remains is not a fourth mood but the witness of all three.