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 2.161
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.161:
啶︵啶班啶侧き啶� 啶曕ぎ啷嵿く啶氞た啶侧啶侧啶曕 啶膏ぐ啷嵿さ啶距さ啶さ啶︵ぐ啷嵿ざ啶ㄠぎ啷� 啷�
啶曕啶多啶氞た啶む啶む啶掂さ啶さ啷堗ぐ啷嵿う啷冟し啷嵿啷堗ぐ啶班啶ム 啶曕啶む啶膏啶ㄠ啶洁え啷佮ぎ啷�啶い啷� 啷� 啷оガ啷� 啷�durlabha峁� kamyacilloke sarv膩vayavadar艣anam |
kai艣cittvavayavaird峁涐梗峁璦irartha岣� k峁泃sno'num墨yate || 161 ||161. It is difficult for anybody to see all the parts of an object. From the few parts which are perceived, the whole object is inferred.
Commentary
[Here a kind of analogy is made between perceptive knowledge and knowledge obtained through words. It is well-known that the word expresses what is understood through the senses. It was said before that it expresses the universal and not the things which may accompany it. In other words, it does not denote the whole object. Similarly, perception also does not cover the whole object.
The 痴峁泃迟颈 points out that sometimes, after seeing a part of an object, one cannot infer the whole. A doubt may linger: kvacittu sandeho naiva nivartate. tadyath膩 dadhim膩tradar艣ane. The example, however, is not clear. The text may be wrong. Or it may mean that when we see curds only, we cannot decide from which milk (cow鈥檚 or buffalo鈥檚, for instance), it has been made. ]