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 2.424
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.424:
क्रियानुषङ्गेण विना न पदार्थः प्रतीयते ।
सत्यो वा विपरीतो वा व्यवहारे न सोऽस्त्यतः ॥ ४२४ ॥kriyānuṣaṅgeṇa vinā na padārthaḥ pratīyate |
satyo vā viparīto vā vyavahāre na so'styataḥ || 424 ||424. No word-meaning, whether real or unreal, is understood in communication except as connected with some action. Therefore, it does not really exist.
Commentary
[Explaining this verse, the Vṛtti says that one cannot predicate the truth or otherwise of the meaning of a single word:... kevalapadaprayoge satyatvaṃ viparyayo vā na prakhyāyate. It is only when it is completed by a verb that the listener understands it as true or untrue: kriyāpadopasaṃhāre tu satyāsatyabhāvena pratipattṛṣu vyavahāro'vatiṣṭhate. Without connection with some verb, the completion of the meaning can be done in one of many possible ways, in a way that would come under any one of the six transformations of Being = ṣaḍbhāvavikārāḥ. That is much too vague: so'rthaḥ pariplavamāno'pi hy asau ṣaḍ bhāvavikāraparyāyeṇānu dhāvatīti. That is why, the isolated word-meaning is beyond the scope of communication and is said to be unreal: Tasmāt kevalapadārtho vyavahārātītatvān nāstīti vyapadiśyate.]