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 3.14.277
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.277:
किमर्थमतथाभूते सति मुख्यार्थसम्भवे ।
भेदे ब्राह्मणशब्दस्य वृत्तिरभ्युपगम्यते ॥ २७७ ॥kimarthamatathābhūte sati mukhyārthasambhave |
bhede brāhmaṇaśabdasya vṛttirabhyupagamyate || 277 ||277. If the main, meaning is possible why is the word brāhmaṇa considered to be expressive of something different from it.
Commentary
[If the main meaning of the word brāhmaṇa is not applicable to a kṣattriya, how is it said to be expressive of a kṣattriya? And why is the word used at all in the compound? And why hold the view that the negative particle reveals that the word is used in a secondary meaning?
As the M. bhā puts it:
yadi puṅar ayam nivṛttapadārthakaḥ kimarthaṃ brāhmaṇaśabdaḥ prayujyate?
= “If its own meaning has disappeared, why is the word brāhmaṇa used at all”? (M. Bhā. I. p. 411, 1, 12-13)]