प्राक्तनानि न सन्त्यस्य कर्माण्यद्य करोति नो । किञ्चिदप्येवमेषोऽत्र विज्ञानाकाशमात्रकः ॥ २४ ॥
prāktanāni na santyasya karmāṇyadya karōti nō | kiñcidapyēvamēṣō’tra vijñānākāśamātrakaḥ || 24 ||
Translation
He has no past actions, and now he does none at all; so he is here nothing but the space of knowing.
Word by word
- prāktanāni
- past (actions)
- na
- no
- santi
- has
- asya
- he
- karmāṇi
- actions
- adya
- now
- karōti
- does
- nō
- not
- kiñcid
- (kiñcit) any
- api
- at all
- ēvam
- so
- ēṣō
- (eṣaḥ) he
- atra
- here
- vijñāna
- of knowing
- ākāśa
- the space
- mātrakaḥ
- nothing but
Meaning
The verse sums up the argument so far: no past deeds, no present deeds, and therefore, in this world, only knowing, like space. The commentary: since past actions do not come into it, he is in this world awareness alone, in the form of space. The phrase vijñānākāśa, the space of knowing, will return (v. 42, cidākāśa): it is the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha's name for awareness that holds everything as space holds things, untouched by any of them.