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 3.2.3
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.2.3:
啶呧ぇ啷嵿ぐ啷佮さ啷囙ぃ 啶ㄠた啶た啶む啶む啶� 啶︵啶掂う啶む啶む啷冟す啶� 啶ぅ啶� 啷�
啶椸啶灌啶む 啶椸啶灌ざ啶啶︵啶� 啶多啶︵啶оぎ啷囙さ啶距き啶苦ぇ啷�啶い啷� 啷� 啷� 啷�adhruve峁嘺 nimittena devadattag峁沨a峁� yath膩 |
g峁沨墨ta峁� g峁沨a艣abdena 艣uddhamev膩bhidh墨yate || 3 ||3. It is like the house of Devadatta being recognised (or differentiated from other houses) by means of an impermanent feature of it and yet the word 鈥榟ouse鈥� denoting only the bare house.
Commentary
The author now shows how, if the words go beyond the limiting factors, the latter can be so considered at,all.
[Read verse 3 above]
[Even though a crow sitting on Devadatta鈥檚 house may help one in recognising it or distinguishing it from others, yet when one speaks about Devadatta鈥檚 house, the crow is not included in it. It was just a temporary mark which served a particular purpose. When it flies away, one can still recognise the house with the help of some more permanent feature like a dais (惫别诲颈办腻) or white lotus (辫耻峁囜笉补谤墨办补) (See M. Bh膩 on P. 1.1.26.), observed when the crow was still there. In the same way, the past passive suffix ta鈥� is distinguished from any other ta by the 鈥�k鈥� which is attached to it at the beginning. But that disappears in actual usage. Then, it is distinguished from any other 鈥�ta鈥� by something more permanent like the accessory to action and the tense which it expresses. In the same way, words, while first expressing a mere impermanent limiting factor, can point to a permanent reality.]
As the crow is quite different from the house, it is natural that the house should not include it. The author, therefore, gives a better illustration.