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 2.372
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.372:
भोजनं फलरूपाभ्यामेकैकस्मिन् समाप्यते ।
अन्यथा हि व्यवस्थाने न तदर्थः प्रकल्प्यते ॥ ३७२ ॥bhojanaṃ phalarūpābhyāmekaikasmin samāpyate |
anyathā hi vyavasthāne na tadarthaḥ prakalpyate || 372 ||372. The action of eating, consisting of a particular form and a particular result, rests in each person separately. Otherwise the meaning of the root √bhuj = to eat, would not be carried out.
Commentary
It is now stated why an action like eating cannot rest in many at the same time.
[Read verse 372 above]
[The action of eating is not like the action of dramatic representation (nāṭya) which is a name applied to the different actions of many taking place at the same time. The name ‘eating’ is applied to a particular action of a person, resulting in his satisfaction (tṛpti). If its parts and its result are found in different individuals, it would not be called eating at all. As the Vṛtti puts it—Yadi hi bhinneṣu bhoktṛṣv anyatra rūpaṃ rūpaikadeśo vānyatra dṛśyate, anyatra phalaṃ phalaikadeśo vā vyavatiṣṭheta bhujir evāsau na syāt.]