Verse 3.14.280

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.280:

असम्यगुपदेशाद् वा निमित्तात् संशयस्य वा ।
शब्दप्रवृत्तिर्न त्वस्ति लोष्टादिषु विपर्ययम् ॥ २८० ॥

asamyagupadeśād vā nimittāt saṃśayasya vā |
śabdapravṛttirna tvasti loṣṭādiṣu viparyayam || 280 ||

280. Either through faulty instruction or through some cause of doubt, a word is applied to a wrong object. It is not applied to a clod of earth and the like because of the non-existence (of the above two circumstances).

Commentary

Something is now being said about a negative compound when the meaning of the second constituent is predominant.

[Read verse 280 above]

[Either through wrong instruction or through mistake due to resemblance, a word is wrongly applied to an object. But it is always applied to something which resembles the real thing. Seeing some common properties, the word brāhmaṇa may be applied to a kṣattriya but never to a clod of earth because there is no resemblance at all. From the negative compound abrāhmaṇa, one understands that the main meaning of the word brāhmaṇa does not exist in the person concerned who is the substratum of a superimposition. The compound does not stop at conveying the negation. As the negative particle negates the actuality of the superimposition expressed by the second term, the latter is supposed to be predominant in the compound.]

Another point is now being made in connection with the predominance of the second constituent.