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 3.1.88
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.1.88:
गुणेऽपि नाङ्गीक्रियते प्रधानान्तरसिद्धये ।
संख्या कर्ता तथा कर्मण्यविशिष्टः प्रतीयते ॥ ८८ ॥guṇe'pi nāṅgīkriyate pradhānāntarasiddhaye |
saṃkhyā kartā tathā karmaṇyaviśiṣṭaḥ pratīyate || 88 ||88. (Sometimes) even in what is secondary, the number (mentioned) is not accepted (that is, it. is not significant) in order that the main thing may be accomplished. Therefore, in regard to the teaching of the name ‘object’ (karma), the agent is understood unqualified by anything.
Commentary
It is now shown that there are exceptions to this principle.
[Read verse 88 above]
[It is not that, in the śāstra, the number coming after every secondary thing (guṇa) is significant. The sūtra teaching the name karma is: kartur īpsitatamaṃ karma = that accessory is called the object which the agent wants most to reach (P. 1.4.49). Here the word kartuḥ is in the singular number and in this sūtra, the agent (kartā) is secondary, because the name ‘object’ is the main thing. And yet, the singular number here is not significant. What many agents together want to reach most is also called karma.]
This conclusion is now further strengthened.