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 1.115
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.115:
विभजन् स्वात्मनो ग्रन्थीन् श्रुतिरूपैः पृथग्विधैः ।
प्राणो वर्णानभिव्यज्य वर्णेष्वेवोपलीयते ॥ ११५ ॥vibhajan svātmano granthīn śrutirūpaiḥ pṛthagvidhaiḥ |
prāṇo varṇānabhivyajya varṇeṣvevopalīyate || 115 ||115. The inner air (prāṇa), after splitting into parts in the form of sounds and after suggesting the phonemes, is merged into them.
Commentary
All this and similar views have to be considered. What has been given is only an illustration. There is much diversity in the views of the authors of the Śikṣās and the Bhāṣyas.1 For example—
“Vital air, prompted upwards by the inner effort, aided by the inner heat, accumulates, through the sound-carrying interstices,2 fine particles of sound like masses of smoke. When thus accumulated in the places of articulation, it assumes the identical form of the inner word, because of its illuminating aspect”. All such views have to be considered. It is as follows3—
“The air, prompted by effort from the region of the navel, going upwards, strikes against one of the places like the chest and then sound is produced”.
Such diversity of views of the authors of the Śikṣās must be considered. It has been said by the teacher (Pāṇini).
“The Self sees things through the intellect and joins the mind with the desire to speak. The mind strikes at the heat of the body which, in its turn, prompts the vital air.”4
And so on. Another teacher says—
“The vital air reaches the stomach where the resonance takes place. Reaching the throat, it becomes either breath or sonority”.
And so on. Another teacher says—
“The heat of the body, struck by the mind, prompts the vital air. It rises from the navel and strikes against the head and when it comes into contact with another rising wave of air, becomes sounds such as ‘k’ or ‘kh’.”
Such different views are found in the treatises called Śikṣā attached to each branch of the Veda and they must be understood in detail.
Notes
1. Vṛṣabha says that by Bhāṣyakāra, the commentators of the Śikṣās are meant.
2. Vṛ. says that the veins (nāḍīs) are filled with fine parts of the word and when they are set in motion along the veins by the inner air, they accumulate in the places of articulation, like masses of smoke.
3. Vṛ says—Tathetyāpiśalīyaśikṣādarśanam.
4. Pāṇinīyaśikṣā, 6.