न चास्ति शब्दादिरनन्यवेदनः परस्परेणापि न चैव दृश्यते । परेण दृश्यास्तु यथा रसादयस्तथैव दृश्यत्वत एव दैहिकाः ॥
na cāsti śabdādirananyavedanaḥ paraspareṇāpi na caiva dṛśyate | pareṇa dṛśyāstu yathā rasādayastathaiva dṛśyatvata eva daihikāḥ ||
There is no sound or other [sense object] that is known by itself, nor are they seen by one another. Just as tastes and the like are seen by something other [than themselves], so too the bodily things, simply because they are objects of seeing.
शब्द आदि कोई भी विषय स्वयं को नहीं जानता, न वे एक-दूसरे को देखते हैं। जैसे रस आदि किसी अन्य द्वारा देखे जाते हैं, वैसे ही शरीर से जुड़ी वस्तुएँ भी, दृश्य होने के कारण ही, किसी अन्य द्वारा देखी जाती हैं।
Meaning today and contextआज के लिए अर्थ और संदर्भ
Whatever can be observed, including your body and its states, is seen by something other than itself. That 'other' is the witness you are.
जो कुछ देखा जा सकता है, शरीर और उसकी दशाएँ भी, वह अपने से भिन्न किसी के द्वारा देखा जाता है। वह 'भिन्न' ही साक्षी है जो आप हैं।
Shankaracharya, in the fourteenth chapter of the Upadeshasahasri (on dream and memory), turns to an argument (in a longer metre) that objects cannot know themselves or each other, so a seer distinct from them is needed.