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 1.117
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.117:
तस्य प्राणे च या शक्तिर्या च बुद्धौ व्यवस्थिता ।
विवर्तमाना स्थानेषु सैषा भेदं प्रपद्यते ॥ ११७ ॥tasya prāṇe ca yā śaktiryā ca buddhau vyavasthitā |
vivartamānā sthāneṣu saiṣā bhedaṃ prapadyate || 117 ||117. The power of it which is in the breath and in the understanding strikes at the different places of articulation and becomes differentiated.
Commentary
All these are different views. The sound mentioned in the previous verse having the attribute of accumulation is not referred to here. The word, already under discussion, is being explained according to different views. The word rests on the breath as well as on the mind.1 Being manifested by the powers of the two substrata, the breath and the mind, the word conveys the meaning. The breath is penetrated by the mind. Surging upwards like a flame, following the effort which set it in motion, it strikes against the points of articulation of the phonemes and assumes a form favourable to the comprehension of the eternal word. Having thus attained the state of the effect of the two powers which are within it, the breath assumes different forms, as the earth or the foetus or the banyan seed does2 and gives to the one essence of the word the mere colouring of difference.
Notes
1. The word has two substrata, the mind and the breath. While explaining this idea, Vṛṣabha adds a third one: the vocal organs. As he puts it—Sa cāyaṃ tṛtīyaśabdaḥ Karaṇādhiṣṭhānaḥ.
2. The earth, the foetus and the banyan seed go through certain stages before they attain their final form. Unfortunately, the text of the Paddhati here is corrupt, so that one does not get a clear idea of what Vṛṣabha considered to be the stages.