Samkhya Karika 32

करणं त्रयोदशविधं तदाहरणधारणप्रकाशकरम् ।
कार्यं च तस्य दशधाऽऽहार्यं धार्यं प्रकाश्यं च ॥ ३२ ॥

karaṇaṁ trayodaśavidhaṁ tadāharaṇadhāraṇaprakāśakaram ।
kāryaṁ ca tasya daśadhā”hāryaṁ dhāryaṁ prakāśyaṁ ca ॥ 32 ॥

karaṇaṁ=organs; trayodaśavidhaṁ=of thirteen kind; tat=that; āharaṇa=seize/grasp; dhāraṇa=holding; prakāśakaram=illuminating; kāryaṁ=the objects, functions; ca=and; tasya=its; daśadhā=tenfold; āhāryaṁ=seized; dhāryaṁ=held; prakāśyaṁ=illuminated; ca=and

The organs are of thirteen kinds; their functions are seizing, holding and illuminating. Their objects are tenfold, and their nature is seized, held and illuminated.

The word karaṇaṁ (organs) refers to the thirteen organs – 5 organs of sense perception (eyes etc.), five organs of action (hands etc.), mind, ego and intellect.

There is no consensus among the commentators as to which of the organs are doing what specific functions. Below is a summary of what the various commentators have to say:

Gaudapada: āharaṇa (seizing) and dhāraṇa (holding) are done by the organs of action and prakāśakaram (illuminating) is done by the buddhi (intellect).

The actions done by these are tenfold – sound, touch, form, taste and smell (sense perception); speaking, walking, taking (holding), excretion, and procreation.

Mishra: The organs of action such as speech etc. perform the function of āharaṇa (seizing); The intellect, ego and the mind perform dhāraṇa (holding) in conjunction with the five vital airs (pranas); and the organs of perception illumine their respective objects. He takes the word kāryaṁ to mean the respective objects, not the functions. So, the objects for these thirteen-fold organs are tenfold. He brings in the concept of the organs of action being celestial or non-celestial, adding up to ten. Similarly, the object to be sustained (dhāraṇa) is the body which is composed of the five gross elements of earth, water, fire, air and ether. These are also celestial and non-celestial. In the same manner, the organs of knowledge work on their objects – sound, touch, form, taste and smell which are also celestial and non-celestial. Thus, they are also ten in number.

Mishra gives no explanation as to why or how he brought in the concept of the celestial and non-celestial objects.

Mathara: āharaṇa (seizing) belongs to the eleven sense organs (five organs of perception, five of action and the mind), dhāraṇa (holding) is the function of ego and prakāśakaram (illuminating) is the function of the intellect. Just like Gaudapada, he also believes that the tenfold function is the combination of five organs of action and five of perception.

Yuktidipika: Seizing is done by the organs of action, holding is done by the intellect and illumination is done by all the three internal organs – mind, ego and intellect.

My take: To the best of my understanding, āharaṇa (seizing) is the function of the five organs of perception as they seize information from the outside world; dhāraṇa (holding) is the collective function of mind, ego and the intellect as the knowledge gathered is stored in the memory; and the intellect does the illumination as it makes the final decision as to what the object perceived is and what action needs to be taken.

I believe the word karya in the second line refers to objects. Five objects related to the organs of perception and five related to the organs of action comprise the tenfold objects that are seized, held and illuminated.

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