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 3.11.16
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.11.16:
एकत्वे बुद्धिसहिते निमित्तं द्वित्वजन्मनि ।
एकत्वाभ्यां समुत्पन्नमेवं वा तत् प्रतीयते ॥ १६ ॥ekatve buddhisahite nimittaṃ dvitvajanmani |
ekatvābhyāṃ samutpannamevaṃ vā tat pratīyate || 16 ||16. The two unities, together with apekṣābuddhi, are the source of duality or the two unities (without it) are the cause of it.
Commentary
[This stanza gives two views about the origin of the numbers from two onwards. The first view, that of the Vaiśeṣikas, is as follows. When two things are seen, we see a unity in each of them. We also cognise the common feature of these two unities by means of saṃyuktasamavetasamavāya, that is, the eye is in contact (saṃyukta) with the two things, unity inheres in each of them (samaveta) and the common feature inheres (samavāya) in each of the two entities. The two unities are thus cognised as qualified by their common feature. Thus two unities, depending upon this cognition, produce the duality which inheres in the two things which are their substratum. The two things are the intimate material cause (samavāyikāraṇa) of the duality. The two unities are its non-intimate cause (asamavāyikāraṇa) because unless the two unities are cognised, the cognition of duality cannot take place. Therefore, through agreement and difference, the related cognition (apekṣābuddhi) must also be looked upon as a cause. It cannot be the intimate cause because only substance can be so. As there is no proximity or contact, it cannot be the non-intimate cause either. So it must be looked upon as the efficient cause. According to the Vaiśeṣikas, the process is as follows: First of all, duality in general is cognised, that is, it is cognised as an attribute of the two things and lastly, the two things are cognised as qualified by it. According to them, unless the qualifier is cognised, one cannot cognise anything as qualified. Some think that there is no need to bring in this related knowledge in the middle. They argue that the function of the two unities is to cause the cognition of duality. So, without depending upon the related knowledge, they produce duality. Helārāja here points out that he has spoken about this matter in his commentary on the first Kāṇḍa. That is not now available. It is possible that he has done so in his commentary on Kārikā No. 87. of that Kāṇḍā.]