कोऽहं कथमयं दोषः संसाराख्य उपागतः । न्यायेनेति परामर्शो विचार इति कथ्यते ॥ ५० ॥
kō’haṁ kathamayaṁ dōṣaḥ saṁsārākhya upāgataḥ | nyāyēnēti parāmarśō vicāra iti kathyatē || 50 ||
Translation
'Who am I? How has this fault called saṁsāra come upon me?' Reflection on this by sound reasoning is called inquiry.
Word by word
- kō
- (kaḥ) who
- ahaṁ
- am I
- katham
- how
- ayaṁ
- this
- dōṣaḥ
- fault
- saṁsāra
- saṁsāra
- ākhya
- called
- upāgataḥ
- has come
- nyāyēna
- by sound reasoning
- iti
- thus
- parāmarśō
- (parāmarśaḥ) reflection
- vicāra
- inquiry
- kathyatē
- is called
Meaning
This is the definition, and the commentary reads it with care. 'Who am I?' asks whether I am the body and the rest, or other than them: the inquiry into the meaning of 'you' in the great saying. 'How has this fault come?' asks how saṁsāra came to appear in its ground, Brahman: the inquiry into the meaning of 'that'. The reasoning meant is the reasoning shown by the śruti, the sages, the teachers and the tradition. Inquiry, then, is not free speculation. It looks at oneself and at the world, guided by the teaching, until both are understood.