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 2.330
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.330:
तानि शब्दान्तराण्येव पर्याया इव लौकिकाः ।
अर्थप्रकरणाभ्यां तु तेषां स्वार्थो नियम्यते ॥ ३३० ॥tāni śabdāntarāṇyeva paryāyā iva laukikāḥ |
arthaprakaraṇābhyāṃ tu teṣāṃ svārtho niyamyate || 330 ||330. They are separate expressions and are like synonyms. The meaning of sentences consisting of single words is determined by purpose and the context.
Commentary
If half a sentence can express the meaning of the full sentence and both are sentences, what is the use of ever using the full sentence?
[Read verse 330 above]
[When the sentence consists of a single word only, noun or verb, how to complete it mentally would depend upon purpose and context.
The Vṛtti points out that Vṛkṣaḥ and Vṛkṣas tiṣṭhati are both complete sentences and not that the former is the latter devoid of the word tiṣṭhati. Both convey a meaning. They are like the pair Vṛṣa and Vṛṣabha, or Yāva and Yāvaka or praparṇa and prapatitaparṇa in which each of the two is complete and not that the former is an incomplete form of the latter:—tāni tvaprayujyamānapadaikadeśasarūpāṇi samudāyāntarāṇi vṛsavṛṣabha—yāvayāvaka—praparṇa prapatitaparṇavad]...
If only the sentence is real, what is the use of analysing it into words?