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 2.358
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.358:
एकदेशात् स्मृतिर्भिन्ने सङ्घाते जायते कथम् ।
कथं प्रतीयमानः स्याच्छब्दोऽर्थस्याभिधायकः ॥ ३५८ ॥ekadeśāt smṛtirbhinne saṅghāte jāyate katham |
kathaṃ pratīyamānaḥ syācchabdo'rthasyābhidhāyakaḥ || 358 ||358. How can there be remembrance from the part of the whole which, is different from it? How can a word which is only understood (and not heard) be expressive of its meanings;
Commentary
[The whole is different from the part. So, on seeing the part, one cannot remember the whole. Even if one does remember it, it cannot convey the meaning because the whole has not been uttered or heard. To believe that what has not been heard can convey a meaning would result in undesirable conclusions.
The Vṛtti points out that what looks like a part can be a part of many wholes having different meanings. Which whole would one remember on seeing the part?:—sādhāraṇo'asāv ekadeśas tulyena rūpeṇā nekasaṃghātānupātī. Tatra bhinneṣu saṃghāteṣu niyamāt kathaṃ smṛtiḥ?]
Now the siddhānta is set forth.