नाऽमूर्तेस्तेन संगोऽस्ति नभसेव वपुष्मतः । मूर्तं च दृश्यते लग्नं तस्माद्दैवं न विद्यते ॥ १३ ॥
nā’mūrtēstēna saṁgō’sti nabhasēva vapuṣmataḥ | mūrtaṁ ca dṛśyatē lagnaṁ tasmāddaivaṁ na vidyatē || 13 ||
Translation
A formless thing can have no contact with him, as space has none with one who has a body. It is what has form that is seen to be in contact. So fate does not exist.
Word by word
- na
- not
- amūrtēs
- (amūrteḥ) a formless thing
- tēna
- with him
- saṁgō
- (saṅgaḥ) contact
- asti
- there is
- nabhasā
- space
- iva
- as
- vapuṣmataḥ
- with one who has a body
- mūrtaṁ
- what has form
- ca
- and
- dṛśyatē
- is seen
- lagnaṁ
- in contact
- tasmād
- (tasmāt) so
- daivaṁ
- fate
- vidyatē
- does exist
Meaning
The argument of verse 9 is given its rule. Contact (saṅga) takes two bodies. Space has no contact with us in the sense of touching; we pass through it. The commentary: as we who have bodies cannot be joined to formless space, so a formless fate cannot be connected to anything that acts, for only what has form is seen in contact. So the sentence of the previous verses, "fate is pointless", is raised here to "fate does not exist" (daivaṁ na vidyate). Vasiṣṭha knows that he is arguing for a purpose. The Yoga Vāsiṣṭha will later undo the solidity of bodies too. For now, on the level where we live and act, the reasoning holds.