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 2.263
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.263:
अनेकार्थत्वमेकस्य यैः शब्दसायनुगम्यते ।
सिद्ध्यसिद्धिकृता तेषां गौणमुख्यप्रकल्पना ॥ २६३ ॥anekārthatvamekasya yaiḥ śabdasāyanugamyate |
siddhyasiddhikṛtā teṣāṃ gauṇamukhyaprakalpanā || 263 ||263. According to those who hold that one and the same word has many meanings, the distinction between primary and secondary is based on established usage or lack of it.
Commentary
[Really speaking, the question of primary and secondary in regard to meaning cannot arise if the word becomes different with every meaning. As there are as many words as there are meanings, each word has one meaning only and that is its primary meaning. It has no secondary meaning at all. But the question does arise in the ekaśabdadarśana and then long usage or the lack of it is the basis for the distinction between primary and secondary.
What the Vṛtti wants to say here is not clear as the text is doubtful here and there. The point raised is: When a word has many meanings, what is the criterion for regarding one as the primary one and the others as secondary? The verse says that the criterion is Siddhi or asiddhi. The Vṛtti concludes thus:—tathā paryāyeṇa yasmim vākye prasiddhārthaḥ śabdas tatra mukhyaḥ. Anyatra tu gauṇaḥ.]