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 3.7.11
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.11:
स्वैः सामान्यविशेषैश्च शक्तिमन्तो रसादयः ।
नियतग्रहणा लोके शक्तयस्तास्तथाश्रयैः ॥ ११ ॥svaiḥ sāmānyaviśeṣaiśca śaktimanto rasādayaḥ |
niyatagrahaṇā loke śaktayastāstathāśrayaiḥ || 11 ||11. Taste etc. have powers in the form of their own universals by means of which alone they are perceived. These powers are similarly perceived through their substrata.
Commentary
[It is not only in the case of colour that its universal (rūpatva) is a cause of perception. That is true of other qualities also. In the cognition of taste, the quality of being taste is a means. So is the case with smell. In fact, they can be cognised only in that way. Substance, on the other hand, can be cognised through other factors also. It can be cognised through its universal, its quality or its action. Universals, on the other hand, depend upon their substrata for their cognition. When the universal ‘rasatva’ is cognised, the rasa in which it inheres is the means or power by which it is cognised. So is the substance in which the rasa is found one of the factors or the means by which rasatva is cognised. What it all amounts to is that things are powers to one another, powers which help the thing having the power to produce its effect. Therefore, the power of a thing is not something fixed.]