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 1.11
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.11:
आसन्नं ब्रह्मणस्तस्य तपसामुत्तमं तपः ।
प्रथमं छन्दसामङ्गमाहुर्व्याकरणं बुधाः ॥ ११ ॥āsannaṃ brahmaṇastasya tapasāmuttamaṃ tapaḥ |
prathamaṃ chandasāmaṅgamāhurvyākaraṇaṃ budhāḥ || 11 ||11. The best of all the austerities, the one that is nearest to that Brahman is the discipline called ‘Grammar’, the first among the auxiliary sciences of the Vedas, so have the sages declared.
Commentary
That auxiliary science through which the form of the Word—Brahman1 is determined in order that correctness may be understood is the nearest (to the Vedas) because it helps directly. Proximity is known to depend upon special service rendered. There is also the Scripture to be restored.2 Once it has been settled by the reasoning (of the Mīmāṃsā) what is to be restored and what not, the science of Grammar is the basis for the correct modification of gender, number etc. It is said to be near because it is through it that the other scripture (which is not available) is understood. What is meant by ‘the best of all austerities’ is this: Compared to what are considered to be austerities in the world like continence, sleeping on the ground, standing in water and progressive reduction and increase of nourishment according to the course of the moon3 and compared to what are considered to be the holiest forms of study, the study of the science of Grammar is the best form of austerity, because it leads to special results, visible and invisible. Concerning which the tradition has declared that a mere knowledge of whose enumeration of phonemes (akṣarasamāmnāya) leads to the same holy fruit as the knowledge of the whole of the Veda,4 that, indeed, is the first auxiliary science of the Vedas, because it is the most important one. It has been said:—
“Of the six auxiliary sciences, the most important one is the Science of Grammar. Effort made in regard to the most important one surely yields fruit.”5
Notes
1. Vṛ explains śabdabrahmanaḥ as: śabdarūpeṇa vivṛttasya brahmaṇaḥ.
2. Ūhyaṃ cāmnāyāntaram asti. See Mī. Sū. 2.1.34.
3. Cf. Brahmacaryaṃ satyavacanam savaneṣūdakopasparśanamārdravastratā-dhaḥśāyitānāśaka iti tapāṃsi, G.Dh.S. 3.1.15, 4. M.Bhā. I. p. 36.
5. M.Bhā. I. p. 1.