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 3.7.76
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.76:
णिजन्ते च यथा कर्ता सक्रियः सन् प्रयुज्यते ।
नयत्यादौ तथा कर्ता निष्कियोऽपि प्रयुज्यते ॥ ७६ ॥ṇijante ca yathā kartā sakriyaḥ san prayujyate |
nayatyādau tathā kartā niṣkiyo'pi prayujyate || 76 ||76. Just as, in the case of a verb ending in the causative affix, it is the active agent who is prompted, in the same way, in the case of roots like ‘nī’, the agent, though inactive, is prompted.
Commentary
Something is now being said as to whether the cow, in connection with the root ‘duh’, can become the object according to P. 1.4.49.
[Read verse 76 above]
[One cannot compare cases like gāṃ dogdhi payaḥ with gamayati grāmaṃ devadattam. In gamayati, the root expresses one action and the causative affix (ṇic) another. Each has its own object according to P. 1.4 49. In dogdhi, there is only one action and the cow and milk become objects in regard to the same action. Between the two, there is difference of degree in the matter of being desired to be attained by the action of the agent. Milk has a greater degree of it and so it becomes the object under P. 1.4.49 and the cow becomes so under P. 1.4.51.]
Just as gamayati is explained as: ‘he prompts to go the person who goes’, in the same way, why not explain dogdhi as: he prompts to yield (milk) that which yields?