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 1.74
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.74:
भिन्नं दर्शनमाश्रित्य व्यवहारोऽनुगम्यते ।
तत्र यन्मुख्यमेकेषां तत्रान्येषां विपर्ययः ॥ ७४ ॥bhinnaṃ darśanamāśritya vyavahāro'nugamyate |
tatra yanmukhyamekeṣāṃ tatrānyeṣāṃ viparyayaḥ || 74 ||74. The practice (of the Grammarians) has been based on these different views. What the main view is to some is, to others, the reverse.
Commentary
In regard to the supreme, sequenceless, inner principle of the word, scholars, on the basis of different traditions re-garding every topic (pratyadhikaraṇam) have resorted to different doctrines in following the usage of the Science of Grammar. It is as follows—If the audible form is the same, it is the same word, even when the meaning varies; if the meaning varies, even when the audible form is the same, it is a different word. For some, the difference is secondary and one-ness is primary. For others, difference is primary and one-ness is a matter of usage. It has been said—
“The same word has many meanings—For example, akṣāḥ, pādāḥ, māṣāḥ.”1
Similarly, after having said—
“The word ‘village’ (grāma) has many meanings.”2 he (the Bhāṣyakāra) concludes specifically by saying—“That word ‘village’ is taken which stands for the whole, including forests, boundaries and pasture-land.”3
Notes
1. M. Bhā on Vā. 9 on P. 1.2.45. (M. Bhā. I, p. 220).
.. Akṣa means, among other things, (1) an axle, axis (2) a gambling die (3) an organ of sense; pāda means (1) foot, (2) a quarter, (3) a weight; māṣa means (1) black gram, (2) a weight, (3) a spot on the skin.
2. M. Bhā. I, p. 59, 1. 20.
3. M. Bhā. I, p. 59, 1. 23.