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 3.3.87
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.3.87:
तस्माच्छक्तिविभागेन नित्यः सदसदात्मकः ।
एकोऽर्थः शब्दवाच्यत्वे बहुरूपः प्रकाशते ॥ ८७ ॥tasmācchaktivibhāgena nityaḥ sadasadātmakaḥ |
eko'rthaḥ śabdavācyatve bahurūpaḥ prakāśate || 87 ||87. Therefore, the one eternal Reality, consisting of existence and non-existence, shines through its different powers, in many forms when conveyed by words.
Commentary
[The substance of this section can be stated as follows—The ultimate Reality is beyond all differentiation. It is endowed with all powers. Words express this Reality, according to occasion, either as a positive entity or as a negation and as having this or that limiting factor. Those words which express negative things are similar to words expressive of positive things as far as their relation to their meanings are concerned. This ultimate Reality is one, because there is no differentiation within it. It is eternal, because there is no such thing as abhāva, non-existence.]