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 3.9.2
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.9.2:
दिष्टिप्रस्थसुवर्णादि मूर्तिभेदाय कल्पते ।
क्रियाभेदाय कालस्तु संख्या सर्वस्य भेदिका ॥ २ ॥diṣṭiprasthasuvarṇādi mūrtibhedāya kalpate |
kriyābhedāya kālastu saṃkhyā sarvasya bhedikā || 2 ||2. Diṣṭi, prastha, suvarṇa etc. serve to differentiate (measure) concrete objects. Time differentiates action and number differentiates everything.
Commentary
[Diṣṭi, vitasti etc. are measurements of length; prastha droṇa are measurements of volume; suvarṇa, niṣka and pala are measurements of weight. Time is the means of measuring such immaterial things as action. It is Time which measures the course of the sun and we get such expressions as māsa (month), samvatsara (year) etc. Number measures material as well as immaterial things. We say ‘two jars’ ‘many souls’ ‘two actions’, one vitasti, two hands (hasta). Number can measure number also. That is why we can say: ‘two twenties’ ‘five fifties’ etc.]