andhaṁ karaṇa

The Devanagari equivalent of “andhaṁ karaṇa” is अन्धं करण when interpreted literally as “making blind / blindness-causing.”

✅ What the phrase means

• andhaṁ = “blind,” “dark,” or “ignorant” (accusative singular neuter in Sanskrit).
• karaṇa = “making,” “causing,” or “instrument,” depending on context.
  Together, the phrase is typically understood as “that which causes blindness” or “making blind.”

 The phrase andhaṁ karaṇa most naturally means “making blind” or “causing blindness,” formed from andha (“blind”) and karaṇa (“instrument, cause, or act”).

Literal components

• andha / andham — “blind,” “darkened,” or “ignorant” in Sanskrit.
• karaṇa — “instrument,” “cause,” or “that which produces an effect,” a meaning well attested in Sanskrit sources

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  2 Sources

Because karaṇa denotes an instrument or efficient cause in many philosophical and grammatical contexts

Wisdom Library+1

, the compound andhaṁ karaṇa is most straightforwardly read as “that which causes blindness” or “the act of making blind.”

Why this is the most likely meaning

The supplied sources give many definitions of karaṇa, including:

• “instrument,” “doer,” or “that which causes or produces”

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• “instrumental cause” in philosophical usage

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• “instrument” or “function” in psychological terms (e.g., in antaḥkaraṇa)

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  3 Sources

Given these meanings, the compound follows a common Sanskrit pattern where:

• X + karaṇa = “the act of making X,” “the cause of X,” or “that which produces X.”

Thus:

• andhaṁ karaṇa = “causing blindness,” “producing blindness,” or “instrument of blindness.”

Possible philosophical nuance

Although the exact phrase does not appear in the provided sources, Sanskrit often uses andha metaphorically to mean ignorance, delusion, or lack of insight. In that sense, andhaṁ karaṇa could also be interpreted as:

• “that which causes ignorance,”
• “an instrument of delusion,”
  depending on context.

This would parallel the way ahaṃkāra (“I‑maker”) and antaḥkaraṇa (“inner instrument”) are used in philosophical literature

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Distinguishing it from antaḥkaraṇa

One of the supplied results discusses antaḥkaraṇa, the “inner instrument” of mind

Wikipedia

. Because the words look similar, it is easy to confuse andhaṁ karaṇa with antaḥkaraṇa, but they are unrelated:

• antaḥkaraṇa = “inner instrument” (mind complex).
• andhaṁ karaṇa = “making blind / causing blindness.”

Summary

The phrase andhaṁ karaṇa is best translated as:

• “causing blindness,”
• “making blind,” or
• “instrument of blindness.”

This meaning follows directly from the standard definitions of andha and karaṇa found in the supplied sources.