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 3.14.79
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.79:
शास्त्रदृष्टिस्तु शास्त्रस्य प्राप्तिमात्रेऽप्यनिश्चिते ।
युज्यते प्रत्यवायेन शास्त्रं चक्षुरपश्यताम् ॥ ७९ ॥śāstradṛṣṭistu śāstrasya prāptimātre'pyaniścite |
yujyate pratyavāyena śāstraṃ cakṣurapaśyatām || 79 ||79. One who relies entirely on śāstra incurs sin when doubts arise in the understanding of sāstra. The sāstra is the eye of those who do not see the correct words used by the cultured.
Commentary
[The śāstra contains words like bahulam, anyatarasyām, ekeṣām etc. and so the exact scope of some rules is not clearly understood. In such cases, if one does not see bow the cultured use the correct words but relies entirely on śāstra one is likely to use incorrect words and incur sin. Merit and demerit depend upon use. One must, therefore, be guided by the usage of the cultured. One can infer who the cultured are by seeing them use correct words even without studying the śāstra. By watching their use of words, one can remove doubts which arise when one studies the śāstra.]
If śāstra is the eye of those who cannot see the usage of the cultured, why is it sometimes declared unnecessary?