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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.

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.71:

पदभेदेऽप� वर्णानामेकत्वं � निवर्तते �
वाक्येषु पदमेकं � भिन्नेष्वप्युपलभ्यते � ७१ �

padabhede'pi varṇānāmekatva� na nivartate |
vākyeṣu padameka� ca bhinneṣvapyupalabhyate || 71 ||

71. Even when the words where they occur are different, the identity of the phonemes is not affected. Similarly, a word occurring in different sentences is one and the same.

Commentary

In the different words ś, arka, artha, it is the same phoneme a that is used in the world; it is perceived after an interval of time or after the intervention of other phonemes1 or not perceived at all when the causes of manifestation (nimitta) are absent; it appears to be different when the different speakers are at different places and, hence, the manifesting agents (nimitta) are different, just as the reflection of the same thing in a shadow or mirror or water. Similarly, a word abstracted from sentences and having different meanings like the word go or ṣi is really the same word as long as the form is the same.2 Even though as expressive of two different meanings, a word may be a noun or a verb, still it is looked upon as the same word.

Notes

1. Vā 11 and 12 on the ūٰ--�� (M. Bhā., p. 18.)

2. V�. points out that the word ṣi, when taken as a verb can be derived from the root or as or ad. He derives ś as a verb from the root ś. Of course, ordinarily, these words are nouns.

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