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 2.401
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.401:
क्रियाव्यवेतः सम्बन्धो दृष्टः करणकर्मणोः ।
अभिधा नियमस्तस्मादभिधानाभिधेययोः ॥ ४०१ ॥kriyāvyavetaḥ sambandho dṛṣṭaḥ karaṇakarmaṇoḥ |
abhidhā niyamastasmādabhidhānābhidheyayoḥ || 401 ||401. One sees that the relation between the object and the instrument is through action. Similarly, the relation of expression and expressed between the word and meaning is through the function called abhidhā.
Commentary
Something is now said to explain the use of new words like viniyoga, ukti, abhisandhāna and abhidhā.
[Read verse 401 above]
[It is this function called abhidhā which is called ukti. viniyoga and abhisandhāna. The words may be new but they denote a well-known function.
The Vṛtti makes the following points:—The accessories of an action, like the steps of a ladder, are not directly connected with one another. But they are directly connected with the action and through the action indirectly connected with one another. In the process of the word conveying the meaning, the word is the karaṇa, the meaning conveyed is the karma. There can be neither karaṇa nor karma except in regard to an action or process: karaṇakarmaṇośca kriyām antareṇa(na) prakḷptiḥ. It is the action or the process which brings about the result and not anything else: Phalavatī ca kriyaiva, nānyasyārthasya phalavattā. The process can be compared to that of unhusking grain in which the mortar and pestle are the adhikaraṇa and karaṇa respectively and the grain is the karma. Raising and lowering the pestle is the action which produces the result, namely, unhusking: udyamana-nipātanarūpo'vahantiḥ phalaprasavanimittam.]