Verse 2.467

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.467:

तत्रैकवचनान्तो वा सोऽक्षशब्दः प्रयुज्यते ।
प्रत्येकं वा बहुत्वेन प्रविभागो यथाश्रुति ॥ ४६७ ॥

tatraikavacanānto vā so'kṣaśabdaḥ prayujyate |
pratyekaṃ vā bahutvena pravibhāgo yathāśruti || 467 ||

467. Either each word akṣa can be used in the singular number or according to the original utterance, each word akṣa can be separated in the plural number.

Commentary

[What is meant is that each word akṣa standing for one thing only can be used in the singular or plural number. Thus, it is shown that the splitting up of the original utterance akṣāḥ can take place in two ways.

Normally, one would use a separate word for every idea or object which one wants to express: Pratyarthaṃ śabdaniveśaḥ, as it is generally put. Pratyartham is explained usually as artham artham prati. But it can also mean arthāu arthau prati or arthān arthān prati. In the last two cases pratyarthaṃ śabdaniveśaḥ would mean for every two ideas or objects or for many ideas or objects, one should use a word. It means that the same word can express more than one idea or object. Those who hold this view are abhedavādinaḥ = those who hold that the word is the same even when it denotes many things. According to them, the sentence akṣāḥ bhajyantām, bhujyantām dīvyantām is not to be split up on the basis of the word akṣāḥ understood as including more than one word akṣa each being connected with one of the verbs because, according to this view, there is only one word akṣa which has three meanings. That is possible only if it has three distinct powers. In other words, abhedavādinaḥ believe in śaktitantra and not in śabdatantra.]