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 3.7.56
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.56:
啶ㄠた啶掂啶む啶むお啷嵿ぐ啷囙し啶｀ 啶曕ぐ啷嵿ぎ 啶膏啶掂啷嵿ぐ啶苦く啶距さ啶さ啷� 啶膏啶ムた啶むぎ啷� 啷�
啶ㄠた啶掂ぐ啷嵿い啶ぞ啶ㄠ 啶曕ぐ啷嵿ぎ啶む啶掂 啶膏啶掂 啶曕ぐ啷嵿い啷冟い啷嵿さ啷囙そ啶掂い啶苦し啷嵿啶む 啷� 啷ガ 啷�niv峁泃tapre峁峁嘺峁� karma svakriy膩vayave sthitam |
nivartam膩ne karmatve sve kart峁泃ve'vati峁ａ弓hate || 56 ||56. When the object is free from any prompting, it is connected with its own action. When it is no longer the object, it becomes agent in regard to its own action.
Commentary
[A thing is said to be object (karma) in regard to the activity of the main agent and if that is not meant to be expressed, it cannot become object at all. But how can it be called agent for that reason? When the verbal suffix does not express the main agent, the root cannot do so. That is what happens in the sentence: pacyate odana岣� svayam eva = 鈥榯he rice cooks by itself鈥�. Here the verbal suffix expresses the activity, not of the main agent, but of the rice which has become agent now but which was 鈥�karma鈥� before. It has become agent as far as its own activity is concerned, but as it was 鈥�karma鈥� before, it is called 办补谤尘补办补谤迟腻 = object-agent. Thus two conditions have to be fulfilled before a 鈥�karma鈥� can become 鈥�办补谤尘补-办补谤迟腻鈥� (1) the activity of the main agent should not be meant to be expressed, (2) the object should be presented as independent and, therefore, the agent in regard to its own action. All this is made clear by P. 3.1.87 and the 痴腻谤迟迟颈办补蝉 thereon. In 鈥�bhidyate kus奴la岣� svayam eva鈥�, all the usual causes of the breakdown of a granary are excluded and its own susceptibility to breakdown is emphasised. In this way, instrument (办腻谤补峁嘺), location (补诲丑颈办补谤补峁嘺) can also become agent in a sentence, but not object-agent (办补谤尘补-办补谤迟腻). Only the object can become 办补谤尘补-办补谤迟腻 and the verb in the sentence would show signs of both the agent and the object.]