Verse 20

Niralamba

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

कर्तृत्वाद्यहङ्कारसङ्कल्पो बन्धः ॥२०॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

कर्तृत्व-आदि-अहङ्कार-सङ्कल्पः । बन्धः ॥२०॥

IAST Transliteration

kartṛtvādy-ahaṅkāra-saṅkalpo bandhaḥ ||20||

Translation

La servitude est le saṅkalpa de l’egoïté (ahaṅkāra), commençant par le sentiment d’être l’agent, le faiseur (kartṛtva), et autres semblables.

Academic Translation

Bondage is the volitional construction (saṅkalpa) of egoity (ahaṅkāra), beginning with the sense of doership (kartṛtva) and the like.

Verse Context

• Ahaṅkāra and kartṛtva as the root of bandha; saṅkalpa as cognitive construction sustaining avidyā
• Mahavakya: Indirectly prepares for ‘तत्त्वमसि’ (tat tvam asi) and ‘अहं ब्रह्मास्मि’ (ahaṃ brahmāsmi) by negating the doer-ego; emphasizes akartṛtva (non-doership) as a prerequisite insight.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose