ऊतयः कर्म्मवासनाः ।
ūtayaḥ karma-vāsanāḥ |
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 2.10.4)
“Ūtis (wishes) are vāsanās (inclinations) produced from actions.”
Commentary
karmaṇāṁ vāsanāḥ, veñ tantu-santāne | ūyante karmabhiḥ santanyanta ity ūtayaḥ | yad vā, vṛddhy-arthāt saṁśleṣārthād vāvater dhātor idaṁ rūpam | ūyante karmabhir vardhyante saṁśliṣyanta iti vā ūtaya ity arthaḥ |
(Bhāvārtha-dīpikā)
“[Ūtis (wishes) are] Vāsanās (inclinations) from karma, with the u [i.e., the verbal root of the word ūti, viz., u] in the sense of weaving thread. [Thus,] Those which are sew, that is, woven, by actions are [called] ūtis (wishes). Alternately, as per the sense of increase or the sense of contact, this [i.e., the word ūti] is a form of the av root. [Thus, the sense can also be] Those which are increased, or, are connected, by actions are [called] ūtis (wishes). This is the meaning.”
tatraiva sthitau nānā-karma-vāsanā ūtayaḥ |
(Krama-sandarbha-ṭikā; Tattva Sandarbha: 57)
“Ūtis are vāsanās (inclinations) from various karmas when [one is] situated there alone [i.e., in the world].”
ūyante karmabhiḥ santanyanta ity ūtayaḥ, karma-vāsanāḥ | prākṛtāprākṛta-karmotthā vāsanāḥ | śubhā aśubhāś ca bhāvināṁ sukṛta-duṣkṛtānāṁ kāraṇa-bhūtā iti sthitāv evotkṛṣṭāpakṛṣṭa-jīvānāṁ svabhāva uktaḥ |
(Sārārtha-darśinī-ṭīkā)
“Those which are sew, that is, woven, by actions—ūtis (wishes)—are vāsanās (inclinations) from karma, that is, the vāsanās produced by mundane (prākṛta) and supramundane (aprākṛta) karma. They are auspicious (śubhā) or inauspicious (aśubhā) and are the existent causes of further good deeds and bad deeds and thus are called the disposition (svabhāva) of jīvas [who are] superior and inferior [to one another] only in regard to [their] situation [within the world].”
Note: The phrase karma-vāsanā is often understood to mean vāsanās for karma, meaning, inclinations to perform certain types of karma. The etymological explanation of the term ūti given by Śrī Śrīdhara Svāmīpāda in the aforecited commentary is thus especially valuable because it demonstrates that the intended sense of the phrase karma-vāsanā in Śrīmad Bhāgavatam is not this commonly understood sense but rather that a karma-vāsanā is a vāsanā that cause of which is past karma. Ācārya Śrī Rādhāgovinda Nātha addresses the point in his commentary on Śrīmad Bhāgavatam by summarizing the commentary of Śrī Svāmīpāda by saying that ūtis are (1) that which are woven, meaning, fastened in an interwoven manner, by actions (karmas), or, are (2) that which produce entanglement in action (karma). The underlying point here is that vāsanās are the effects of saṁskāras, that is, the subconscious impressions lodged in the citta as a result of the performance of past actions, and vāsanās predispose and impel one to perform future actions colored either by attachment or aversion to one’s past experiences.