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 3.7.145
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.145:
धनुषा विध्यतीत्यत्र विनापायविवक्षया ।
करणत्वं यतो नास्ति तस्मात्तदुभयं सह ॥ १४५ ॥dhanuṣā vidhyatītyatra vināpāyavivakṣayā |
karaṇatvaṃ yato nāsti tasmāttadubhayaṃ saha || 145 ||145. In the expression dhanuṣā vidhyati = ‘he hits with the bow’, unless the idea of the arrow going off the bow is meant to be conveyed, the bow cannot be the instrument of the act of shooting. Therefore both the ideas apply at the same time.
Commentary
It is now going to be shown that the vārttika in question applies when both the powers are meant to be conveyed at the same time.
[Read verse 145 above]
[In dhanuṣā vidhyati, the name karaṇa supersedes that of apādāna. Nobody can shoot with a bow unless the bow is at the same time the starting point of the arrow. Or rather, the speaker has to mean that it is the starting point. Thus both the names karaṇa and apādāna are applicable but, according to the vārttika: apādānam uttarāṇi, the later name karaṇa supersedes the former name apādāna and the third case-affix comes after the word dhanus and not the fifth. Really speaking, there is no difficulty about two names being applicable at the same time to the same thing, but two suffixes cannot come after the same word at the same time. So one name has to be kept in abeyance.]
It is now stated that the two powers can be looked upon as one.