207. Yat karabhasya pṛṣṭhe na māti tat kaṇṭhe nibadhyate
The master fastens an unbearable load around the camel’s neck! Camels are known to bear huge loads. When there is already a humongous load on its back, if something is fastened around its neck, imagine the plight. When one goes through unbearable difficulties, this is used to describe their fate. This can also be applied when something which is unbearable to a strong man is thrust upon a weakling.
208. Yadaśvena hṛtaṃ purā tadgardabhaḥ prāptum kenopāyena śaknuyāt
What plan could a donkey use to bring back something which was taken away by the horse? It makes no sense when the competition is between a brave and a coward, or the wise and the fool. The coward and the fool have no chance is what this nyāya opines.
209. Yasya nāsti putro na tasya putrasya krīḍanakāni kriyante
None would create toys for someone’s son if that son doesn’t exist at all! This resembles the Kannada proverb whose import is, “stitch clothes for the baby which is still not born”. The nyāya warns that one should strive for something which exists already rather than striving for some future possibility.
210. Yācitakamaṇḍana-nyāya
The situation where one begs and gets the ornaments from the rich. There is this case where the poor get ornaments from the rich so that they can wear them for some occasion and return later. This only would announce the pomp and splendour of the rich more, it never enhances the status of the poor. Temporarily it might adorn the poor but it still enhances the status of its original master.
In other words, it's better to remain unadorned rather than wear loaned ornaments.
211. Yādṛśo yakṣastādṛśo baliḥ
Whatever the yakṣa wishes, the offering should be likewise. The yakṣa should be offered something, i.e. bali. If he is good the offering should be good, if he is bad then so should the offering be.
If the opponent is well-behaved and just, we should be likewise. If he is crooked then it’s not wrong to be crooked and deceiving. This nyāya resembles the already seen nyāya, “piśācānāṃ piśācabhāṣāyaiva uttaraṃ deyam.”
212. Yāvacchirastāvatī śirovyathā
Till our head rests on our shoulders, headaches are inevitable, as long as we have our noses, cold is inevitable! For some reason some problems occur repeatedly, if they are inevitable, this nyāya is used to describe it.
213. Yāvattailaṃ tāvadvyākhyānam
Till the oil in the lamp isn’t exhausted, the exposition will continue. Once it is over, the lamp extinguishes and the exposition would also get over.
All the pomp will remain till the money is flowing, the dance goes on till the food isn’t digested. The way one is treated depends on his wealth. Class continues till the bell. The lecture goes on till everything known is said. These are the intended imports of this nyāya.
214. Rajjusarpa-nyāya
Rajju means rope. When seen from afar and in dim light it might look like a snake. We might tremble in fear thinking of it as a snake. Once we see it up close, illuminated, the fear goes away.
This nyāya finds special usage in vedānta. The world which is the manifestation of the brahman is thought to be a different entity by us due to ignorance and this confusion is cleared by a capable and noble preceptor and we would realize the ultimate truth that everything is the brahman. This nyāya is used to explain this fundamental concept.
215. Rathakārādhikaraṇa-nyāya
Though this nyāya is famous in the science of mīmāṃsā, it has its uses elsewhere too. In the ādhāna-prakaraṇa of the vedas we find the following sentence, “वर्षासु रथकार अदधीत”, which means the chariot maker should perform the ‘ādhāna-homa’ during the rainy season. Who is the chariot maker is the question here. The premise is as follows: “during the ‘ādhāna-homa’ passages from the veda should be recited. The people who have the authority to recite vedas are the dvijas from the first three varṇas. So only the dvijas who make chariots are addressed here, is the inference which is derived.
The conclusion though differs: rathakāra is a śūdra born out of saṅkara (intermingling of the varṇas) yājñavalkya-smṛti says that, ‘māhiṣyeṇa karaṇyāṃ tu rathakāraḥ prajāyate’ i.e. rathakāra is born out of the union of a karaṇi woman and a māhiṣya man. A māhiṣya is born out of the union of a vaiśya woman and a kṣatriya man, a karaṇi is born out of a union of a śūdra woman and a vaiśya man. Here rathakāra doesn’t mean a chariot maker but someone belonging to this subset of śūdras. So the convention trumps the derivation. There is a maxim called ‘रूढिर्योगापहारिणी’. Now the answer to the question as to whether a śūdra has the authority to recite vedas, the answer is, he can learn and recite the mantras which are only required to perform the ‘‘ādhāna’. So “वर्षासु रथकार अदधीत” provides the exception to the rule.
We can see how this nyāya is used elsewhere.
There is the word ‘paṅkaja’. The meaning of this word is lotus. This is by convention. The etymological or the derivative meaning is , “something born in the marsh” we should always understand it as lotus in usages like ‘paṅkaja-netre’ i.e. lotus eyed. We shouldn’t think of someone's eyes to be ‘something born in the marsh’ This nyāya provides support. So the maxim ‘रूढिर्योगापहारिणी’ is of prime importance.
216. Rājaputravyādha-nyāya
A prince due to his fate gets separated from his parents and is looked after by a hunter. He believes that he is from that lineage and so is a hunter. An astrologer who knows his background tells him, “You are the son of the king. Due to reasons unknown, you have grown up under the care of this hunter. But you are a prince.” The prince realized his true self, returned to the capital and became the king. Due to ignorance if one thinks that he is the jīva, the vedānta provides him the knowledge saying, “You are indeed the brahman. Not the ever sorrowful jīva.”. The mumukṣu (the one who desires mukti) realizes his true self and attains ānanda. This example of the prince comes in the śāṅkarabhāṣya of the bṛhadāraṇyaka (2.1).
Here the confusion is cleared but the object is not at all modified. This nyāya is used in such situations.
This is the twenty-fourth part of the multi-part translation of the Kannada book "Sandarbha Sukti" by Mahamahopadhyaya Vidwan Dr. N Ranganatha Sharma. Thanks to Dr. Sharada Chaitra for granting us permission to translate this wonderful work. Thanks to Śatāvadhānī Dr. R Ganesh for his inputs. The original in Kannada can be read here
