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 3.7.15
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.15:
स तेभ्यो व्यतिरिक्तो वा तेषामात्मैव वा तथा ।
व्यतिरेकमुपाश्रित्य साधनत्वेन कल्प्यते ॥ १५ ॥sa tebhyo vyatirikto vā teṣāmātmaiva vā tathā |
vyatirekamupāśritya sādhanatvena kalpyate || 15 ||15. Others consider this causal power to be either different from the objects or to be identical with them. (Here), on the basis of difference, it is considered to be the means.
Commentary
It is now stated that grammar is indifferent on the question whether a power is different from the object of the same.
[Read verse 15 above]
[Some think that the powers of objects to accomplish actions to be different from the objects themselves and to be invisible. Others on the other hand, do not believe it, but consider that things themselves, helped by the accessories, produce their effects. To Grammarians, it is immaterial whether power (śakti) is considered to be different from or identical with objects. They are only concerned with how words present the matter and they see that words present things and their powers as distinct. In other words, they are not expressed by the same elements in the word or the sentence. The stem expresses the thing and the suffix expresses the power: tathā ca prātipadikena drarye'bhihite śaktau kṛtapadabandhā vibhaktiḥ pravartate.]
The view of the Bhāṣyakāra that action can also become the means in the accomplishment of other actions is now explained.