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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 3.6.5:

आकाशस्� प्रदेशेन भागैश्चान्यै� पृथक� पृथक� �
सा संयोगविभागानामुपाधित्वाय कल्पते � � �

śsya pradeśena bhāgaiścānyai� pṛthak pṛthak |
sā saṃyogavibhāgānāmܱtvāya kalpate || 5 ||

5. Direction becomes the basis (ܱ) for the contacts and separations of Space with its divisions and of parts of other objects with them.

Commentary

It is now pointed out that immaterial things can also have artificial distinctions of priority and posteriority.

[Read verse 5 above]

[Even all-pervasive entities can have artificial divisions such as ‘first� and ‘next� or ‘farther� and ‘nearer�. It has already been pointed out that space can have artificial divisions on the basis of objects which are in contact with it. This contact takes place in a particular region (ś). That region is an artificial division of space. There is contact between such regions and parts of the objects which are on them. These objects are also described as ‘first� or ‘next� and ‘farther� or ‘nearer� on the basis of such a description of the divisions of space. Direction becomes the basis for the contact between objects.]

Remarks. The words Āś, Dik and ٱś occur in the ⲹ貹īⲹ. It is, therefore, necessary to try to understand the three notions for which they stand. In ղśṣi첹, Āś and Dik come under the category of Substance. The former is defined as that Substance which is the substratum of the quality called sound. It is an all-pervading substance and is the medium for the propagation of sound. It is usually translated as ‘ether�. It fills the whole of Space and is, therefore, different from it. In the 貹Ծṣa, however, Āś often means Space itself and not a substance which fills space. In the ⲹ貹īⲹ Āś is looked upon as One without any real division of its own. In this sense, it is equal to space. That is why it is in contact with all the objects of the world to which it provides room or accommodation. Helārāja actually says that ś is so called because it provides room (ś) to everything: śdānāddhi tadśm. (Vāk. III. Jā. 15). Even though One, it can be looked upon as many in terms of the various objects of the world which occupy space. The space occupied by each object is a part or a a portion of the one Space. Each of these parts or portions is a region (ś) within Space. Moreover, these regions have a position in the scheme of things. We can say of a particular region that it is to the right of an object or to the left of it. There is something which is the cause of such notions as right and left and that is called Dik (Direction). According to the ⲹ貹īⲹ, it is not a separate entity. It is only a power or capacity of what is real. To say, therefore, that 󲹰ṛh does not make any distinction between Āś and Dik would not be correct. Āś is Space and Dik is position or Direction. In this translation, I have used the word Direction for Dik.

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