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 2.260
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.260:
शब्दस्वरूपमर्थस्तु पाठोऽन्यैरुपवर्ण्यते ।
अत्यन्तभेदः सर्वेषां तत्सम्बन्धात्तु तद्वताम् ॥ २६० ॥śabdasvarūpamarthastu pāṭho'nyairupavarṇyate |
atyantabhedaḥ sarveṣāṃ tatsambandhāttu tadvatām || 260 ||260. Some maintain that the outward form itself is the purpose of the transmission of the Vedas, so that everything possessing the form is different while those that are used in the ritual are different on account of their connection with what is actually handed down.
Commentary
[If the outward form is the meaning of the Vedas, the mantras are different from one another because their outward form is different. Not only the mantras which have been handed down but the others also have an outward form and as that is always different, the mantras are also different. As far as the outward form is concerned, a word conveys it through śakti and not through lakṣaṇā.