Verse 16

Niralamba

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

दुःखमिति अनात्मरूपः विषयसङ्कल्प एव दुःखम् ॥१६॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

दुःखम् इति । अनात्म-रूपः । विषय-सङ्कल्पः । एव । दुःखम् ॥१६॥

IAST Transliteration

duḥkham iti anātma-rūpaḥ viṣaya-saṅkalpa eva duḥkham ||16||

Translation

“دُکھ” یوں ہے: غیرِ خود (اَناتما) کی صورت رکھنے والے موضوعات کا محض ذہنی تصوّر و سنکلپ ہی دُکھ ہے۔

Academic Translation

“Suffering”—thus: the very mental construction (saṅkalpa) of objects, which has the form of the non-Self, is suffering.

Verse Context

• Anātman / saṅkalpa (object-construction) as the basis of duḥkha; avidyā
• Mahavakya: Supports the purport of ‘prajñānaṃ brahma’ by implying that when consciousness is known as non-objectified, duḥkha (object-saṅkalpa) ceases; also aligns with ‘tat tvam asi’ via negation of anātman-identification.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose