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 3.1.55
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.1.55:
यजेत पशुनेत्यत्र संस्कारस्यापि सम्भवे ।
यथा जातिस्तथैकत्वं साधनत्वेन गम्यते ॥ ५५ ॥yajeta paśunetyatra saṃskārasyāpi sambhave |
yathā jātistathaikatvaṃ sādhanatvena gamyate || 55 ||55. In the sentence “one should sacrifice with an animal”, though there is a certain completeness (Saṃskāra), the number one must be considered to be as much a part of the action to be performed as the universal.
Commentary
It is now pointed out that the singular number, conveyed by the suffix, is also sometimes significant.
[Read verse 55 above]
[It was said before that the dual number is always seriously meant. It does not come in merely to lend a certain completeness or correctness to the word. A word which ends in a dual-suffix denotes primarily the individual and not the universal. But, sometimes, the singular number is also significant, as in the sentence: paśunā yajeta. Here the universal conveyed by the stem, namely, that of an animal is an important element in the action. Similarly, the singular number conveyed by the suffix is also an important element. The two elements are conveyed by the same word, appear as one in the mind and cannot be separated. The inner relation between the different elements of the same word is apauruṣeya, not made by man. The injunction to perform the sacrifice, expressed by the sentence paśunā yajeta applies to the singular number also, through upādāna or inclusion or implication which is different from the six authorities, śruti etc. The injunction cannot, relate to a bare animal without any number].
Remark: See Mi. Sū. 3.3.14.
The author now says that, even those who hold that the suffix expressive of the singular number is only for the sake of lending completeness to the word, consider it to be significant for other reasons.