सर्वाक्षसारमध्यक्षं वेदनं विदुरुत्तमाः । नूनं तत्प्रतिपत्सिद्धं तत्प्रत्यक्षमुदाहृतम् ॥ १७ ॥
sarvākṣasāramadhyakṣaṁ vēdanaṁ viduruttamāḥ | nūnaṁ tatpratipatsiddhaṁ tatpratyakṣamudāhṛtam || 17 ||
- Another reading: तत्प्रति यत्सिद्धं (tatprati yatsiddhaṁ) for तत्प्रतिपत्सिद्धं
Translation
The best say that knowing which presides over the senses, the essence of them all, is the direct; and surely what is established by that apprehension is called perception.
Word by word
- sarva
- of all
- akṣa
- the senses
- sāram
- the essence
- adhyakṣaṁ
- that presides over
- vēdanaṁ
- knowing
- vidur
- (viduḥ) say (know)
- uttamāḥ
- the best
- nūnaṁ
- surely
- tat
- that
- pratipat
- by apprehension
- siddhaṁ
- what is established
- pratyakṣam
- perception
- udāhṛtam
- is called
Meaning
The commentary: as the senses are the essence of the means of knowledge, so immediate knowledge (aparokṣa-jñāna) is the essence of all the senses, and the best say so; that immediate knowledge is perception in the chief sense. And in the threefold knowing "I know the pot", what is established, the knower who bounds it, the knowing that supports it, and the object, is also called perception. So the word reaches from the witness itself down to the ordinary seeing of things, and the first is the ground of the second.