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 3.13.18
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.13.18:
啶椸啶｀ぞ 啶囙い啷嵿く啷囙さ 啶啶︵啶о啶班啶掂ぞ 啶ㄠた啶た啶む啶むい啷嵿さ啶� 啶膏啶ムた啶むた啶班啶い啶� 啷�
啶膏啶ムた啶む啶多啶� 啶膏ぐ啷嵿さ啶侧た啶權啶椸ぞ啶ㄠぞ啶� 啶膏ぐ啷嵿さ啶ㄠぞ啶い啷嵿さ啶啶氞啶い啷� 啷� 啷оギ 啷�gu峁嚹� ityeva buddherv膩 nimittatva峁� sthitirmat膩 |
sthite艣ca sarvali峁単膩n膩峁� sarvan膩matvamucyate || 18 ||18. Or what is called sthiti is that thing by virtue of which the 驳耻峁嘺蝉 are recognised as 驳耻峁嘺蝉 and it is the common name of the other two genders.
Commentary
[Here a fourth way of looking at sthiti or the neuter is mentioned. It is that thing by virtue of which we perceive the 驳耻峁嘺蝉, even when they are constantly changing in their identity. The cause of this perception of identity is sthiti, the neuter gender. It is the universal of which the other two genders are the variations. Looked at in this way, the neuter is a common gender which includes the other two within itself. That is why one can use it when one is not sure about the gender in a certain situation or when one docs not want to convey either of the other two.]
If the properties of the 驳耻峁嘺蝉 constitute gender, how to choose a particular one considering that all the three arc everywhere?