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 2.286
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.286:
यद्यपि प्रत्ययाधीनमर्थतत्वावधारणम् ।
न सर्वः प्रत्ययस्तस्मिन्नसिद्ध इव जायते ॥ २८६ ॥yadyapi pratyayādhīnamarthatatvāvadhāraṇam |
na sarvaḥ pratyayastasminnasiddha iva jāyate || 286 ||286. Even though the determination of an object depends upon our understanding of it, still all understanding of it does not go in vain (or, all understanding of it is not as in the case of the well-established object, if the correct text is prasiddha iva, instead of asiddha iva.)
Commentary
It is now shown that even if the meaning is what figures in the mind, there can be a distinction between what is primary and what is secondary. To show this, the author says something about what is real and what is not.
[Read verse 286 above]
[The Vṛtti seems to point out that even though the determination of an object depends upon our understanding of it still our subsequent experience in regard to such objects brings out a distinction between the primary and the secondary:—‘pratyayādhīne'pyarthasyāvadhāraṇe kvacit tadviṣayāṇāṃ pratyayānām avyabhicāreṇa yā pravṛttir loke (sā?) gauṇa-mukhya-bhāvaṃ vyavasthāpayati.]