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...
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Verse 2.220
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.220:
प्रज्ञसंज्ञ्वाद्यवयवैर्न चास्त्यर्थावधारणाम् ।
तस्मात् संघात एवैको विशिष्टार्थनिबन्धनम् ॥ २२० ॥prajñasaṃjñvādyavayavairna cāstyarthāvadhāraṇām |
tasmāt saṃghāta evaiko viśiṣṭārthanibandhanam || 220 ||220. In the words prajñu and saṃjñu, one does not understand a meaning from the different parts. Therefore, it is the whole which conveys a definite meaning.
Commentary
[Thus, four arguments have been given against the expressivity of the parts: (1) Both differentiation and unity cannot be understood as real from the same word, (2) adhi etc. by themselves cannot express the means (sādhana), (3) in a bahuvrīhi, the anyapadārtha cannot be understood from the parts in prajñu and saṃjñu, jñu has no meaning when it is by itself.
The Vṛtti also discusses prajñu and saṃjñu which convey a meaning only as wholes. It is only in the śāstra that these words are analysed and a meaning ascribed to the parts. But that is fictitious, not known in the world. It concludes as follows—tasmād anarthakā avayavāḥ sarvatra saṅghāta evārthavān.]
Some objections against indivisibility are anticipated and answered. The first objection is that if individual words and their meanings have no reality, then a dvandva compound would only denote an integrated object and cannot, therefore, take the plural number. It is answered as follows—