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 3.12.12
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.12.12:
अनुबन्धश्च सिद्धेऽर्थे स्मृत्यर्थमनुषज्यते ।
तुल्यार्थेष्वपि चावश्यं न सर्वेष्वेकधर्मता ॥ १२ ॥anubandhaśca siddhe'rthe smṛtyarthamanuṣajyate |
tulyārtheṣvapi cāvaśyaṃ na sarveṣvekadharmatā || 12 ||12. Indicatory letters (anubandhas) arc indicative of facts and they have been added only to aid memory. Even roots which have the same meaning have not the same properties.
Commentary
[If that is the case, why has P. 1.3.72 been declared to be unnecessary? The position is this. Even though all roots are generally speaking, expressive of action, still there is difference between them, because such is the nature of words. Two roots may be looked upon as synonyms and yet the meaning of one may be susceptible of saṃvidhāna while the meaning of the other may not be so. For example, yā and ṇīñ have both been declared to mean prāpaṇa in the Dhātupāṭha. But there is a difference between the two. Yā means ‘reaching’ whereas ṇīñ means ‘causing to reach’ and so the latter is susceptible to saṃvidhāna which fact is indicated by the letter ñ, attached to it. The addition of indicatory letters is only for those who cannot understand everything from usage. For those who can do so (prayogadarśin) no indicatory letter is needed and for them, P. 1. 3.72 has been declared to be unnecessary.]