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 3.7.120
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.7.120:
विपरीतार्थवृत्तित्वं पुरुषस्य विपर्यये ।
गम्येत साधनं ह्यत्र सव्यापारं प्रतीयते ॥ १२० ॥viparītārthavṛttitvaṃ puruṣasya viparyaye |
gamyeta sādhanaṃ hyatra savyāpāraṃ pratīyate || 120 ||120. If the person is interchanged, it would convey the opposite meaning, because the accessory would be understood as active (and another modification would have to be postulated as having the fruit).
Commentary
Why one does not say ‘atvaṃ tvaṃ sampadyase tvadbhavasi’ is now explained.
[Read verse 120 above]
[We do not say ‘atvaṃ tvaṃ sampadyase tvadbhavasi’, because the meaning intended to be conveyed, namely that ‘atvam’ is the material and ‘tvam’ is the modification would not be understood. Instead, one would understand that ‘tva’ is the active material and one would think of some other modification of it.]
This point is now explained.