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.

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.131:

अशक्तेः सर्वशक्तेर्वा शब्दैरेव प्रकल्पिता ।
एकस्यार्थस्य नियता क्रियादिपरिकल्पना ॥ १३१ ॥

aśakteḥ sarvaśaktervā śabdaireva prakalpitā |
ekasyārthasya niyatā kriyādiparikalpanā || 131 ||

131. Either because it (the object) has no power or because it has all powers, it is through words that it is presented in a fixed form such as action.

Commentary

[An object is as the word presents it. A word can present it emphasising its action aspect or its universal aspect or its qualities. The object has no power of its own. It is as the word presents it.

The ninth view Another way of looking at it is that a thing has all powers, but the word emphasises one of them according to circumstances.]

The tenth view

[Read next verse]

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