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 3.3.25
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.3.25:
सर्वं मिथ्या ब्रवीमीति नैतद्वाक्यं विवक्ष्यते ।
तस्य मिथ्याभिधाने हि प्रक्रान्तोऽर्थो न गम्यते ॥ २५ ॥sarvaṃ mithyā bravīmīti naitadvākyaṃ vivakṣyate |
tasya mithyābhidhāne hi prakrānto'rtho na gamyate || 25 ||25. The sentence ‘all that I am saying is wrong’ is not literally meant. If what it says is wrong, the point in question would not be conveyed.
Commentary
[When one says: ‘all that I am saying is wrong’, the incorrectness should not be applied to that very sentence. Otherwise, the incorrectness of what the person had been saying before—the point which is sought to be conveyed—would not be conveyed. On the other hand, if that sentence is held to be expressive even though it is incorrect, the same could be said of the previous sentences and that would mean that what was meant to be conveyed would not be conveyed.]