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 1.63
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.63:
सामान्यमाश्रितं यद् यदुपमानोपमेययोः ।
तस्य तस्योपमानेषु धर्मोऽन्यो व्यतिरिच्चते ॥ ६३ ॥sāmānyamāśritaṃ yad yadupamānopameyayoḥ |
tasya tasyopamāneṣu dharmo'nyo vyatiriccate || 63 ||63. When, whatever is considered as the common property between the standard and the object of comparison, itself figures in acts of comparison, some other common property, different from it, is adopted.
Commentary
The standard of comparison, the object of comparison and the common property, this triad is well-established. In the sentence “the kṣattriya studies like the brāhmana”, the common property is mentioned in regard to the standard of comparison also. When the statement is ‘the study of the kṣattriya is similar to that of the brāhmana, the two students are mentioned as connected with the standard and objects of comparison and then, excellence etc., are understood as common properties of the two ways of studying, different from each other, because they exist in different substrata. Completion (pariniṣpatti) etc. would be understood as common properties of excellence etc. connected with study. In this way, there is no limit to the process of difference (by abstraction).1.
Notes
1. There are different grades in the process of comparison, we can say: (1) Brāhmaṇavad adhīte kṣattriyaḥ (2) Brāhmaṇādhyayanena tulyaṃ kṣattriyādhyayanam (3) Brāhmaṇādhyayanasauṣṭhavena tulyaṃ kṣattriyādhyayanasauṣṭhavam.
In No. 1, the common point is that both the brāhmaṇa and the kṣattriya study; in No. 2, the common point is that their studies have excellence; in No. 3, the common point is that their studies lead to completion. What was a common point in the previous comparison becomes the standard and the object of comparison in the succeeding one. Study, excellence and completion are really one, but are looked upon as different by abstraction.