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 2.360
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.360:
साधारणत्वात् संदिग्धाः सामर्थ्यान्नियताश्रयाः ।
तेषां ये साधवस्तेषु शास्त्रे लोपादि शिष्यते ॥ ३६० ॥sādhāraṇatvāt saṃdigdhāḥ sāmarthyānniyatāśrayāḥ |
teṣāṃ ye sādhavasteṣu śāstre lopādi śiṣyate || 360 ||360. The form being common, their meaning is doubtful and their substratum (in the form of meaning) is determined through competence (sāmarthyāt). The śāstra teaches elision etc. in the case of those which are grammatically correct.
Commentary
[Of the words which arise later, some like Deva and Datta are grammatically correct and the śāstra teaches elision (lopa} etc. in their case. Others like jye, drā, khā are grammatically incorrect. It is in the case of the former that the meaning can be doubtful because of similarity of form. The doubt is resolved through context taken in its widest possible meaning. The śāstra also says something about their derivation. But not about the derivation of jye, drā, ghā etc. which are therefore rejected. As the Vṛtti puts it—tatra sādhavo lopaśāstreṇānvyākhyāyamānarūpaparicchedāḥ parigṛhyante. Tato'nye tyajyante.]