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 2.168
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.168:
सम्भवे वाभिधानस्य लक्षणं तु न कल्प्यते ।
आपेक्षिक्यो हि संसर्गे नियताः शब्दशक्तयः ॥ १६८ ॥sambhave vābhidhānasya lakṣaṇaṃ tu na kalpyate |
āpekṣikyo hi saṃsarge niyatāḥ śabdaśaktayaḥ || 168 ||168. Where there is a possibility (of the stem and the suffix) having each its own meaning, it is not right to include the meaning of one in that of the other. The powers of words, when in contact with one another, are fixed and dependent upon one another.
Commentary
[One does see that stem and suffixes can express a meaning when the other is absent. The word kim has no suffix and yet it denotes a meaning. In iyān, iyat, there is no stem and still they are expressive. In aleṭ, there is no suffix to see and yet it is expressive. Though ordinarily, stem and suffix come together in usage it is possible, by using the method of anvaya and vyatireka, to isolate the meaning of each and ascribe it to it. It would be wrong to include the meaning of each into that of the other.
The Vṛtti says something like this:—If the stem and the suffix have their own meaning, anybody would accept that the latter is expressed by the former. To consider it as included in something else would not be right because that would affect the natural power of words. That would lead to all meaning being considered as included in something else according to one’s fancy. Therefore whatever meaning is understood from a word in usage should be ascribed to that word. Even though when words are used, stems and suffixes are not used in isolation and so their meanings are found to be mixed up, still it is accepted that stems and suffixes are expressive of their meanings separately. Because the powers of words have been handed down in the śāstra as distinct on the basis of regulation arrived at by the method of anvaya and vyatireka. As the Vṛtti puts it—pratiniyamena kṛtapravibhāgā vyavasthitāḥ śabdānāṃ śaktayaḥ pratijñāyante].
Where analysis would not result in a distinct meaning for the different elements, it should not be resorted to.