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 2.258
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.258:
सामिधेन्यन्तरं चैवमावृत्तावनुषज्यते ।
मन्त्राश्च विनियोगेन लभन्ते भेदमूहवत् ॥ २५८ ॥sāmidhenyantaraṃ caivamāvṛttāvanuṣajyate |
mantrāśca viniyogena labhante bhedamūhavat || 258 ||258. It is thus that a Vedic hymn for kindling-the fire becomes different by mere repetition. In the same way. a Vedic mantra that is the object of usage or guess also becomes different.
Commentary
[It is prescribed in the Vedas that a certain number of mantras should be recited for kindling the sacrificial fire. The number is sometimes eleven, sometimes thirteen and sometimes seventeen. Repetition of a mantra is also taught in this connection. It follows that a mantra repeated becomes a different mantra. It is by repetition that the required number is obtained. In the same way, a word used in a secondary meaning should be considered to be different from the same one used in its primary meaning.
What is interesting to note here is that the question of sameness or difference is thought of in connection with phonemes, words and whole mantras. The same phoneme comes in different contexts and becomes the object of grammatical operations; the same word denotes different meanings in different contexts; the same mantra is repeated in the same context and is counted as a different mantra. All this has been said to strengthen anekaśabdadarśana.]