Verse 1.71

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.71:

पदभेदेऽपि वर्णानामेकत्वं न निवर्तते ।
वाक्येषु पदमेकं च भिन्नेष्वप्युपलभ्यते ॥ ७१ ॥

padabhede'pi varṇānāmekatvaṃ na nivartate |
vākyeṣu padamekaṃ ca bhinneṣvapyupalabhyate || 71 ||

71. Even when the words where they occur are different, the identity of the phonemes is not affected. Similarly, a word occurring in different sentences is one and the same.

Commentary

In the different words aśva, arka, artha, it is the same phoneme a that is used in the world; it is perceived after an interval of time or after the intervention of other phonemes¹ or not perceived at all when the causes of manifestation (nimitta) are absent; it appears to be different when the different speakers are at different places and, hence, the manifesting agents (nimitta) are different, just as the reflection of the same thing in a shadow or mirror or water. Similarly, a word abstracted from sentences and having different meanings like the word go or akṣi is really the same word as long as the form is the same.² Even though as expressive of two different meanings, a word may be a noun or a verb, still it is looked upon as the same word.

Notes

1. Vā 11 and 12 on the Sūtra ‘a-i-uṇ’ (M. Bhā., p. 18.)

2. Vṛ. points out that the word akṣi, when taken as a verb can be derived from the root akṣ or as or ad. He derives aśva as a verb from the root śvi. Of course, ordinarily, these words are nouns.