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 3.2.15
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.2.15:
विकारापगमे सत्यं सुवर्णं कुण्डले यथा ।
विकारापगमे सत्यां तथाहुः प्रकृतिं पराम् ॥ १५ ॥vikārāpagame satyaṃ suvarṇaṃ kuṇḍale yathā |
vikārāpagame satyāṃ tathāhuḥ prakṛtiṃ parām || 15 ||15. Just as, when forms disappear, it is the gold which is the truth (satya) in the ear-ring etc., in the same way, when transformations (like earth etc.) disappear, the primordial substance is the only thing which is real.
Commentary
The author now shows that when all the appearances disappear, something unchangeable does remain.
[Read verse 15 above]
[That which persists when all the forms disappear has been declared to be real. But somebody might ask whether something does persist at all. In answer, it is said that when forms such as ear-ring (kuṇḍala) disappear, the gold remains. Similarly, when forms such as earth disappear, primordial substance, that is, Brahman, remains. For this, the authority is the written tradition (āgama). It would not be right to say that all this universe proceeds from something which is non-existent and inexpressible. Non-existence cannot produce existence. Nothing can come out of hare’s horn. Consciousness persists in everything. Therefore, everything originally came out of it.]
The author now concludes by saying that all words express that.—[Read next verse]