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 3.14.4
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.4:
कुत्सितत्वेन कुत्स्यो वा न सम्यग् वापि कुत्सितः ।
स्वशब्दाभिहिते केन विशिष्टोऽर्थः प्रतीयते ॥ ४ ॥kutsitatvena kutsyo vā na samyag vāpi kutsitaḥ |
svaśabdābhihite kena viśiṣṭo'rthaḥ pratīyate || 4 ||4. Somebody may be held in contempt because he is contemptible or he may be wrongly held in contempt. The suffix ka specifics what is conveyed by its own word (that is, the stem).
Commentary
What is meant by contempt of the contempt is now explained.
[Read verse 4 above]
[From the generic meaning conveyed by the word kutsita, nothing specific is understood. One does not know whether somebody is held in contempt because of his misdeeds or whether, even though good, he is wrongly accused of misdeed by his enemy. Once the suffix is added, something specific is understood. From the word kutsitaka, one understands that his being held in contempt is itself contemptible, because he is not guilty. Guilt has been attributed to him by his enemy. To hold an innocent man in contempt is itself contemptible. Or, it might be looked upon differently. The word kutsita only means contemptible in general and not for any particular offence. When the particular offence is known, the suffix ka is added. In whichever way one understands it, one must make a distinction between the contempt expressed by the stem and that expressed by the suffix ka.]
It is now stated that the suffix expresses the same idea of contempt as the stem and not a different one.