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ईक्षतेर्नाशब्दम् ।

-1/1/5 Brahma Sutra

Can somebody please grammatically split this phrase into different Sanskrit words that it is composed of and give the meaning of each word either in Hindi or English separately, preferably in Hindi and also in English and then give as examples from scriptures such sentences that contain those split words, so that it helps in ascertaining the meaning of the words separately and the phrase as a whole.

I would like to arrive at the pure grammatical and literary meaning of the phrase with the help of examples of the use of the words (contained in the phrase) in different sentences from the scriptures. Kindly do not present any subjective explanations. I am not looking at this from the language POV either. Different people have interpreted the phrase in different ways. I do not want to get into that debate. I just would like to know what the Upanishads themselves want to say, by studying its meaning, through the use of the same words contained in the phrase, by the Upanishads themselves, in different instances, in different sentences. Please present those different instances, where the words used in this phrase have been used elsewhere, in the Upanishads.

I would greatly appreciate any effort made in this direction.

There is one caveat here. Please do not quote explanations of the phrase from any of the "Brahma Sutra Bhashyas".

Just limit the answer to the pure literary meaning of the phrase and the words it is composed of with examples of sentences containing those split words, from the scriptures.

Note: I don't want to get into the "जड़-चेतन", "सांख्य-वेदांत", debate.

Edit 1: Elaboration of the question.

The generally accepted meaning of the words in the phrase are as below;

ईक्षण = संकल्प, विचार, Perception, view. अशब्दम् = शब्द प्रमाण रहित, Not based on a Vedic text, soundless.

I am searching for other possible meanings of the words in the phrase as per scriptures and other possible meaning of the whole phrase according to those other possible meanings of the words.

I expect the answer to focus on other possibilities than the generally accepted meaning.

Let us for the time being hold that the meaning of the phrase is not what is generally accepted and means something else. What that possible meaning could be according to different meanings of the same words given in scriptures and different combinations of the meanings of those words in the phrase.

To put it in a different way, let us consider this.

Brahma Sutra has been interpreted differently by different Acharyas in their respective Bhashyas, some even contradicting or even negating one another. Let us keep them all aside and try to find the true meaning that the Brahma Sutra really wishes to present to us.

Let the focus be on the different meanings of the words in the phrase, given in different scriptures and not on the debate between different Bhashyas or interpretations.

Edit 2: Further elaboration.

For example in Chandogya Upanishad;

तदैक्षत बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति तत्तेजोऽसृजत तत्तेज ऐक्षत बहु स्यां प्रजायेयेति तदपोऽसृजत ।
तस्माद्यत्र क्वच शोचति स्वेदते वा पुरुषस्तेजस एव तदध्यापो जायन्ते ॥ ६.२.३ ॥

Here the word ईक्षत has been used to mean like 'resolved' or 'decided'.

In Aitareya upanishad,

आत्मा वा इदमेक एवाग्र आसीन्नान्यत्किंचन मिषत् । स ईक्षत लोकान्नु सृजा इति ॥ १.१॥

Here the meaning of the word 'ईक्षत' would be like 'contemplated' or 'thought'.

It would be useful if more such examples for all the words used in the phrase, are given.

Thanks & Regards

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    Your statement - I just want the pure grammatical and literary meaning of the phrase - may propel the members of the site, to opt for closing this question. It is not a Sanskrit Language site. Commented Sep 4, 2020 at 2:03
  • @SrimannarayanaKV thanks for the suggestion. I said so to differentiate between subjective meanings and scriptural evidences. I am editing the post to make it clear.
    – Anil Kagi
    Commented Sep 4, 2020 at 2:24

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As per your requirement just posting the meaning of it as has been explained here in a blog:

ईक्षतेर्नाशब्दम् |

As perceived and in conformity with the scriptures

ईक्षते: =  Seen or perceived

न = not

अशब्दम् = not mentioned in scriptures
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  • Thanks for your efforts @Just_Do_It. This is a generally presented translation work. Now I will edit my question to elaborate.
    – Anil Kagi
    Commented Sep 3, 2020 at 16:32

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