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 3.7.2
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.2:
शक्तिमात्रासमूहस्य विश्वस्यानेधर्म्मणः ।
सर्वदा सर्वथा भावात् क्वचित् किंचिद् विवक्ष्यते ॥ २ ॥śaktimātrāsamūhasya viśvasyānedharmmaṇaḥ |
sarvadā sarvathā bhāvāt kvacit kiṃcid vivakṣyate || 2 ||2. Since the universe which is a bundle of powers is always there in all its aspects, some power or other is intended to be conveyed in a particular context.
Commentary
How we know that power is the means and not substance is now stated.
[Read verse 2 above]
[Objects like a jar are bundles of powers to perform such actions as holding water. These powers are parts (mātrā, bhāga) as it were, of the objects. They are of many kinds. Some arise spontaneously, like the power of light or of knowledge to illuminate and they disappear when their substrata disappear. Some are of human origin and disappear even when the substratum continues to exist. For example, physical strength which can increase through exercise and nourishing food. Some are checked by the efforts of others, even when the substratum exists. For example, the power of poison to kill or the power of seed to produce the sprout. Some are changed by persons having great personal gifts. A yogi can, for instance, change the form of anything and everything. Some are manifested by the passage of time, like dharma and adharma. Thus, powers being many, one can explain the variety which one sees in the effects. If the thing itself, apart from its power, is the means, one cannot explain the diversity of effects, because a thing is one and simple. That is why a thing is said to be a bundle of powers. The main action cannot be brought about individually by any one power. That is why the word samudāya has been used in the M. Bhā. A subordinate action can be accomplished by some one power individually. If the thing, apart from its power were the means, it could not become, now agent (kartā), now instrument (karaṇa), now starting point (apādāna) and so on, because it is, in itself, uniform in nature.]