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 2.318
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.318:
नामाख्यातसरूपा ये कार्यान्तरनिबन्धनाः ।
शब्दा वाच्याश्च तेष्वर्थो न रूपादधिगम्यते ॥ ३१८ ॥nāmākhyātasarūpā ye kāryāntaranibandhanāḥ |
śabdā vācyāśca teṣvartho na rūpādadhigamyate || 318 ||318. When words have the same form as nouns and as verbs and are to express a different meaning as each, then the meaning cannot be understood from the external form only.
Commentary
Sometimes a word has more than one meaning, because from its form only, it can be a verb or a noun. Then also context alone can determine the meaning.
[Read verse 318 above]
[The word aśva as a noun means a horse but it can also be a verb. From the root ṭu o śvi gativṛddhyoḥ one would get the form aśva in the aorist second person singular (luṅmadhyamapuruṣaikavacana). In the same way, ajāpayaḥ can mean goat’s milk or the word can be the causative form of the root ji = to conquer. In such cases, only the context can be the guide.]