Vakyapadiya of Bhartrihari
by K. A. Subramania Iyer | 1965 | 391,768 words
The English translation of the Vakyapadiya by Bhartrihari including commentary extracts and notes. The Vakyapadiya is an ancient Sanskrit text dealing with the philosophy of language. Bhartrhari authored this book in three parts and propounds his theory of Sphotavada (sphota-vada) which understands language as consisting of bursts of sounds conveyi...
This book contains Sanskrit text which you should never take for granted as transcription mistakes are always possible. Always confer with the final source and/or manuscript.
Verse 1.48
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.48:
啶ㄠぞ啶︵じ啷嵿く 啶曕啶班ぎ啶溹え啷嵿ぎ啶む啶掂ぞ啶ㄠ啶� 啶啶班啶掂 啶� 啶ぐ啶多啶� 啶膏 啷�
啶呧啷嵿ぐ啶 啶曕啶班ぎ啶班啶啶� 啶啶︵さ啶距え啶苦さ 啶溹ぞ啶い啷� 啷� 啷ギ 啷�苍腻诲补sya kramajanmatv膩nna p奴rvo na para艣ca sa岣� |
akrama岣� kramar奴pe峁嘺 bhedav膩niva j膩yate || 48 ||48. Because the gross sound (苍腻诲补) is produced in a sequence, the word which is neither prior nor posterior nor has any sequence, is manifested as having sequence and parts.
Commentary
The gross sound (苍腻诲补) which is in the form of an accumulation on account of the sequential activity (of the articulatory organs) suggests the word (蝉辫丑辞峁璦) by means of the functions of prevention and permission.1 Though the word (蝉辫丑辞峁璦) is one, it appears to have different parts. It has neither sequence nor simultaneity, both being opposed to its one-ness and eternality. Therefore without giving up its oneness, it appears to have differentiation which is a property of the gross sound associated with it. Such is the nature of what is associated with it. It is like the whole (补惫补测补惫墨) which is an absolute unity appearing to be differentiated because of the differentiation of its parts.
Notes
1. Sapratibandh膩bhyanuj帽ay膩 v峁泃ty膩. Pratibandha (prevention) and 补产丑测补苍耻箩帽腻 (permission) are usually given as the two functions of time, by virtue of which everything happens at its proper time, neither before nor later. Growth, for instance, means that at any of its stages, the later stages cannot appear. Similarly, when a word is uttered, the manifesting sounds can only appear in a sequence. When one appears, the later ones cannot. This is 补产丑测补苍耻箩帽腻 for what appears and pratibandha for what does not.