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 2.219
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.219:
कश्च साधनमात्रार्थानध्यादीन् परिकल्पयेत् ।
अप्रयुक्तपदश्चार्थो बहुव्रीहौ कथं भवेत् ॥ २१९ ॥kaśca sādhanamātrārthānadhyādīn parikalpayet |
aprayuktapadaścārtho bahuvrīhau kathaṃ bhavet || 219 ||219. Who would think of adhi etc. as expressive of the means (to the accomplishment of the action)? In a bahuvrīhi compound, how could a
meaning belonging to no word actually used (that is, anyapadārtha) be expressed?
Commentary
[If the divisions are looked upon as real and not fictitious, they could become expressive instead of the whole. In adhibhuvi or adhistri the adhi would express location instead of the compound as a whole as it is generally believed. Secondly, if the parts are expressive, what would express the anyapadārtha in a bahuvrīhi?. The parts cannot do it and yet that is the real meaning of a bahuvrīhi according to P. 2.2.24.
The Vṛtti mentions the compounds antastīram and adhistri for discussion. One can infer that in adhistri, adhi merely conveys the power of location (ādhāraśakti) which is favourable to the action in question. In a bahuvrīhi compound, the whole conveys the meaning of a word the form of which is different from that of its parts:—bahuvrīhau ca rūpānvayayuktam avayavapadam antareṇa padāntaraṃ tadabhidheye vartamānaḥ samudāyo dṛśyate.