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 3.9.38
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.9.38:
भूतः पञ्जविधस्तत्र भविष्यंश्च चतुर्विधः ।
वर्तमानो द्विधाख्यात इत्येकादश कल्पनाः ॥ ३८ ॥bhūtaḥ pañjavidhastatra bhaviṣyaṃśca caturvidhaḥ |
vartamāno dvidhākhyāta ityekādaśa kalpanāḥ || 38 ||38. The past is of five kinds, the future of four kinds and the present of two kinds. Thus there are eleven varieties.
Commentary
[Past in general, adyatana = immediate (lit. ‘of today’), anadyatana = not immediate, including parokṣa = distant, adyatanānadyatanasamudāya = combination of the two previous ones and secondary (gauṇa) past, that is, future treated as past—these make up the five kinds of past. Future in general, adyatana = immediate future, anadyatana = not immediate future and adyatanānadyatanasamudāya = combination of the two previous kinds, these make up the four kinds of future. Primary present, and secondary present (that is, past and future treated as present, these are the two kinds of present. These divisions of time have been mentioned only to explain the tense distinctions mentioned in the Science of grammar.]
How can action which is past give Time its name?