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.

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.8.3:

श्वेतते श्वेत इत्येतच्छ्वेतत्वेन प्रकाशते ।
आश्रितक्रमरूपत्वादभिधानं प्रवर्तते ॥ ३ ॥

śvetate śveta ityetacchvetatvena prakāśate |
āśritakramarūpatvādabhidhānaṃ pravartate || 3 ||

3. In regard to the quality ‘white’ the verb śvetate presents it as having sequence and it means that it shines as something white.

Commentary

[The verb śvetate presents the quality white as a process. The noun śveta, on the other hand, presents it as a thing. Śvetate is explained in the kārikā itself as śvetatvena prakāśate.]

Thus action is something which is presented by words as a process having parts arranged in a sequence. How the idea of a single action arises from parts or moments which cannot co-exist is now explained.

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