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 3.7.91
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.91:
वस्तुतस्तदनिर्देश्यं न हि वस्तु व्यवस्थितम् ।
स्थाल्या पच्यत इत्येषा विवक्षा दृश्यते यतः ॥ ९१ ॥vastutastadanirdeśyaṃ na hi vastu vyavasthitam |
sthālyā pacyata ityeṣā vivakṣā dṛśyate yataḥ || 91 ||91. In reality, nothing can be indicated as the instrument, nothing is predetermined to be so. Because, one does see speakers wishing to say that the cooking is done with the pot (sthālyā pacati).
Commentary
[What is called instrument is not something having any particular characteristic such as a particular universal. Nothing is predetermined to be the instrument. The pot is known to be the receptacle of cooking, but a speaker may sometimes say that the cooking is done with the pot when he wants to emphasise its particular suitability for the purpose.]
It is now stated that agents pay special attention (saṃrambha) to the instrument as it is the most useful accessory.