SVU 1.4-1.6: Images of the Cycle of the World

They beheld reality as a single cosmic wheel: it has one rim and a threefold tyre, sixteen ends, fifty spokes and twenty counter-spokes. It bears six groups of eight, one all-formed bond, three different paths and one delusion arising from two causes.

Den einen Radkranz<3>, dreifach<4>, sechzehnendig<5>, Mit fünfzig Speichen<6>, zwanzig Gegenspeichen<7>, Sechs Achtheiten<8>, die eine Schnur des Weltalls<9>, Dreipfadig<10>, zweibedingten<11>, einen Wahnes<12>,
<3: Das Bild von dem einen Radkranze (oder auch der einen Radnabe) mit den vielen Speichen (Kaush. 3,8. Brih. 2,5,15. Chānd. 7,15,1. Mund. 2,2,6. Praçna 2,6. 6,6) wird hier, mit Anlehnung an Sāṅkhyavorstellungen, näher ausgeführt.>
<4: Aus den drei Guna’s (Sattvam, Rajas, Tamas) bestehend.>
<5: Auslaufend in Manas, fünf Erkenntnissinne, fünf Tatsinne, fünf Elemente.>
<6: Die fünfzig Affekte (bhāva) der Sāṅkhyaphilosophie (Sāṅkhya-K. 46).>
<7: Die zehn Sinne und ihre Objekte.>
<8: 1) Fünf Elemente, Manas, Ahaṅkāra, Buddhi, 2) acht Bestandteile des Leibes, 3) acht Vollkommenheiten, 4) acht Grundaffekte (Sāṅkhya-K. 44–45), 5) acht Götter, 6) acht Tugenden.>
<9: Vgl. das sūtram Brih. 3,7.>
<10: Pitriyāna, Devayāna, Erlösung.>
<11: Durch gute und böse Werke.>
<12: Der Wahn des Ichbewußtseins.>

We understand him [as a wheel] with one felly, with a triple<2> tire, With sixteen end-parts,<3> fifty spokes,<4> twenty counter-spokes,<5> With six sets of eights,<1> whose one rope<2> is manifold, Which has three different paths,<3> whose one illusion (moha)<4> has two conditioning causes.<5>
<2: That is, consisting of the Three Qualities according to the Sāṅkhya philosophy (see Introduction, p. 8): sattvam, rajas, and tamas—pureness, passion, and darkness.>
<3: That is, the five elements (bhūta), the five organs of perception (buddhīndriya), the five organs of action (karmendriya), and the mind (manas).>
<4: The fifty conditions (bhāva) of the Sāṅkhya philosophy (cf. Sāṅkhya Kārikā 46).>
<5: The ten senses (indriya) and their ten corresponding objects.>
<1: That is, (1) eight producing causes of Prakṛti, namely the five elements, mind (manas), intellect (buddhi), and self-consciousness (ahaṁkāra); (2) eight constituents of the body (dhātu); (3) eight forms of superhuman power; (4) eight conditions (bhāva); (5) eight gods; (6) eight virtues.>
<2: That is, desire.>
<3: Namely religiousness (dharma), irreligiousness (a-dharma), and knowledge (jñāna).>
<4: That is, the illusion of self-consciousness.>
<5: Namely the consequences of good and of evil deeds.>

(They beheld) that (wheel of the world) having one circumference, covered with three (attributes, etc.), possessing sixteen ends, having fifty spokes with twenty nails, having six groups of eight each, with one bond of many forms, with three kinds of paths, and having delusion which is the one cause of two.

Den einen Radkranz<3>, dreifach<4>, sechzehnendig<5>, Mit fünfzig Speichen<6>, zwanzig Gegenspeichen<7>, Sechs Achtheiten<8>, die eine Schnur des Weltalls<9>, Dreipfadig<10>, zweibedingten<11>, einen Wahnes<12>,
<3: Das Bild von dem einen Radkranze (oder auch der einen Radnabe) mit den vielen Speichen (Kaush. 3,8. Brih. 2,5,15. Chānd. 7,15,1. Mund. 2,2,6. Praçna 2,6. 6,6) wird hier, mit Anlehnung an Sāṅkhyavorstellungen, näher ausgeführt.>
<4: Aus den drei Guna’s (Sattvam, Rajas, Tamas) bestehend.>
<5: Auslaufend in Manas, fünf Erkenntnissinne, fünf Tatsinne, fünf Elemente.>
<6: Die fünfzig Affekte (bhāva) der Sāṅkhyaphilosophie (Sāṅkhya-K. 46).>
<7: Die zehn Sinne und ihre Objekte.>
<8: 1) Fünf Elemente, Manas, Ahaṅkāra, Buddhi, 2) acht Bestandteile des Leibes, 3) acht Vollkommenheiten, 4) acht Grundaffekte (Sāṅkhya-K. 44–45), 5) acht Götter, 6) acht Tugenden.>
<9: Vgl. das sūtram Brih. 3,7.>
<10: Pitriyāna, Devayāna, Erlösung.>
<11: Durch gute und böse Werke.>
<12: Der Wahn des Ichbewußtseins.>

We meditate on him who (like a wheel) has one felly with three tires, sixteen ends, fifty spokes, with twenty counter-spokes, and six sets of eight; whose one rope is manifold, who proceeds on three different roads, and whose illusion arises from two causes.<3>
<3: It is difficult to say whether this verse was written as a summing up of certain technicalities recognised in systems of philosophy existing at the time, or whether it is a mere play of fancy. I prefer the former view, and subjoin the explanation given by Saṅkara, though it is quite possible that on certain points he may be mistaken. The Īsvara or deva is represented as a wheel with one felly, which would seem to be the phenomenal world. It is called trivrit, threefold, or rather having three tires, three bands or hoops to bind the felly, these tires being intended for the three gunas of the prakriti, the Sattva, Ragas, and Tamas. In the Brahmopanishad (Bibl. Ind. p. 233 p. 251) the trivrit sūtram is mentioned. Next follows shodasāntam, ending in the sixteen. These sixteen are differently explained. They may be meant for the five elements and the eleven indriyas or organs (the five receptive and the five active senses, together with manas, the common sensory); or for the sixteen kalās, mentioned in the Prasñopanishad, VI, 1, p. 283. Then follows a new interpretation. The one felly may be meant for the chaos, the undeveloped state of things, and the sixteen would then be the two products in a general form, the Virāg and the Sūtrātman, while the remaining fourteen would be the individual products, the bhuvanas or worlds beginning with Bhūh. Next follows satārdhāram, having fifty spokes. These fifty spokes are supposed to produce the motion of the mundane wheel, and are explained by Saṅkara as follows: 1. The five Viparyayas, misconceptions, different kinds of ignorance or doubt, viz. Tamas, Moha, Mahāmoha, Tāmisra, Andhatāmisra, or, according to Patañgali, ignorance, self-love, love, hatred, and fear (Yoga-sūtras I, 8; II, 2; Sāṅkhya-sūtras III, 37). 2. The twenty-eight Asaktis, disabilities, causes of misconception. (See Sāṅkhya-sūtras III, 38.) 3. The nine inversions of the Tushtis, satisfactions. (Sāṅkhya-sūtras III, 39.) 4. The eight inversions of the Siddhis, perfections. (Sāṅkhya-sūtras III, 40.) These are afterwards explained singly. There are 8 kinds of Tamas, 8 kinds of Moha, 10 kinds of Mahāmoha, 18 kinds of Tāmisra, and 18 kinds of Andhatāmisra, making 62 in all. More information on the Asaktis, the Tushtis, and Siddhis may be found in the Sāṅkhya-sūtras III, 37–45; Sāṅkhya-kārikā 47 seq.; Yoga-sūtras II, 2 seq. Then follow the 20 pratyaras, the counter-spokes, or wedges to strengthen the spokes, viz. the 10 senses and their 10 objects. The six ashtakas or ogdoads are explained as the ogdoads of Prakriti, of substances (dhātu), of powers (aisvarya), of states (bhāva), of gods (deva), of virtues (ātmaguna). The one, though manifold cord, is love or desire, Kāma, whether of food, children, heaven or anything else. The three paths are explained as righteousness, unrighteousness, and knowledge, and the one deception arising from two causes is ignorance of self, produced by good or bad works.>

Him<1> we consider as (a wheel) which has one circumference,<2> which is covered by three<3> (layers, of which the circumference is composed), which has sixteen end parts<4> (probably the several pieces of wood, of which the circumference consists), which has fifty spokes<5> and twenty counter-spokes,<6> which has six times eight nails (appendants),<7> which has one rope of various form,<8> whose road is three-fold divided,<9> and which has one revolution for two traces.<10>
<1: “Him,” who superintends all those causes, the universal soul.>
<2: The circumference (nemi) of the wheel represents nature in its cause, either as unmanifested ether, or as Māyā (delusion), or first nature (Prakriti), or as power (Śakti), or as ignorance, &c., that is to say, the cause upon which the whole creation depends.>
<3: The three layers are the three qualities of nature, goodness, activity and darkness.>
<4: These denote the sixteen productions of the Sānkhya, by which the creation is completed, because no other productions ensue from them (vid. Ballantyne’s Lecture on the Sānkhya Philosophy, p. 2), viz. the eleven organs (the 5 organs of intellect, the 5 organs of action, and mind, the internal organ) and the five gross elements (earth, water, light, air and ether), l. c. pp. 13–15. Śankara, or the author of the commentary under his name, evidently knows the Tattwa Samāsa, as he quotes passages from it almost literally. According to another explanation the sixteen parts are the Virāt and Sūtrātma, as representing the totality of the creation of the supreme spirit and the 14 worlds representing it in its parts.>
<5: These are the five classes of ignorance, viz. obscurity (tamas), illusion (moha), extreme illusion (mahāmoha), gloom (tāmisra), and utter darkness (andha-tāmisra),—28 disabilities, viz. the depravity of the 11 organs as deafness, insensibility, leprosy, blindness, loss of smell, dumbness, crippledness, lameness, constipation, impotence, insanity, and the seventeen defects of intellect (vid. B.’s L. on the S. P. pp. 35–40),—nine kinds of acquiescence (this is indifference to the investigation of truth.—l. c. p. 39),—and eight perfections (viz. tāra, sutāra, tārayantī, pramoda, pramodita, pramodamāna, ramyaka and satpramodita, the first of which, for instance, is the knowledge in regard to the principles, the conditions of intellect, and the elemental creation, which arises from hearing alone.—l. c. p. 42). Śankara states the 8 kinds of perfection differently, viz. three kinds, arising from perfection in the impressions of knowledge, with reference to nature, &c., which remain from a former birth, or from perfection in understanding a truth by hearing, or lastly from perfection in understanding a truth by study; three kinds, arising from our indifference to the three-fold pain (viz. pain, arising from our own nature, or from other living creatures, or from other external causes), and two kinds, arising from the acquisition of a friend and true liberality towards the teacher.>
<6: The 20 counterspokes (pieces of wooden bolts, firmly to secure the spokes), are, according to Śankara, the 10 senses and the 10 objects of them.>
<7: The first are the eight producers of the Sānkhya (nature, intellect, self-consciousness, and the five subtile elements of ether, air, light, water and earth); the second, the eight constituent parts of the body (the internal skin of sensation, the external skin, flesh, blood, fat, bones, marrow, and semen); the third, the eight kinds of superhuman power (viz. assumption of the smallest possible shape, of the greatest possible shape, of the heaviest form, of the lightest form, the power of obtaining every thing, irresistible will, ruling of all and independency of all); the fourth, the eight states of intellect of the Sānkhya (viz. virtue, knowledge, dispassion, super-human power, vice, ignorance, want of dispassion, and want of superhuman power); the fifth, the eight deities (Bramha, Prajāpati, Devas, Gandharvas, Yakshas, Rakshasas, Pitris and Pisāchas); and the sixth, the eight virtues of the soul (compassion with all beings, forbearance, freedom from calumny, purity of mind, freedom from fatigue, prosperity, and freedom from poverty).>
<8: The rope is desire in all its varieties.>
<9: The three roads are those of virtue, of vice, and of knowledge.>
<10: One revolution, delusion, which is the cause of two, viz. of holiness and sin.>