svaviSayaasaMprayoge citta-svaruupaanukaara ivendriyaaNaaM pratyaahaaraH .. 54..
Sandhi-samaasa-vigraha: sva-viSaya+asaMprayoge; citta-svaruupa+anukaaraH; iva+indriyaaNaam; pratyaahaaraH Withdrawal of the senses is where objects are not allowed to stir the mind at all, and it follows, rather, after its own nature. Word-for-word, based on Taimni's vocabulary: own(sva)object(viSaya)[in]not-coming-into-contact(asaMprayoge: locative singular) mind (citta) own-form (sva-ruupa) functioning-according-to (anukaaraH) as it were(iva) of the senses (indriyaaNaam) [is] pratyaahaara. (Oh shucks!) PS. Taimni's translation goes like this: /Pratyaahaara/ or abstraction is , as it were, the imitation by the senses of the mind by withdrawing themselves from their objects. Just realised pondering on the differences between different translations that perhaps some translators take the genitive attribute /indriyaaNaam/ to modify the word /pratyaahaara/ (indriyaaNaam pratyaahaaraH: withdrawal of the senses). Taimni's translation suggests that he takes /indriyaaNaam/ to modify the compound word /citta-svaruupa-anukaara/. I tend to agree with Taimni because my gut feeling is that Sanskrit prefers genitive attribute *after* it's head word, like for instance /desha-bandhash cittasya/. OTOH, what the heck is "imitation by the senses of the mind"?
