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 3.11.1
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.11.1:
संख्यावान् सत्त्वभूतोऽर्थः सर्व एवाभिधीयते ।
भेदाभेदविभागो हि लोके संख्यानिबन्धनः ॥ १ ॥saṃkhyāvān sattvabhūto'rthaḥ sarva evābhidhīyate |
bhedābhedavibhāgo hi loke saṃkhyānibandhanaḥ || 1 ||1. Anything which is a thing (sattva) is said to have number. In the world, distinctions such as unity and diversity are based, on number.
Commentary
Now number is going to be considered.
[Read verse 1 above]
[Things arc characterised by difference and number expresses this difference. The number one expresses their unity or identity and the other numbers express their diversity. According to the saṃsargavādins (the Vaiśeṣikas), things are said to be distinct if there is separation between them and they are said to be one, two and so on, on the basis of number. Even in complex formations, the meaning of the secondary word, being a thing is cognised as something having number, as distinct from the meaning of an indeclinable which has no number. That number is called abhedaikatvasaṃkhyā = ‘the number one in general,’ which will be explained later in the section devoted to vṛtti (complex formation)].