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 3.14.102-103
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.102-103:
अगृहीतविशेषेण यथा रूपेण रूपवान् ।
प्रख्यायते न शुक्लादिभेदरूपस्तु(रूपन्तु) गृह्यते ॥ १०२ ॥
भेदरूपसमावेशे तथा सत्यविवक्षिते ।
भागः प्रकाशितः कश्चिच्छास्त्रेऽङ्गत्वेन गृह्यते ॥ १०३ ॥agṛhītaviśeṣeṇa yathā rūpeṇa rūpavān |
prakhyāyate na śuklādibhedarūpastu(rūpantu) gṛhyate || 102 ||
bhedarūpasamāveśe tathā satyavivakṣite |
bhāgaḥ prakāśitaḥ kaścicchāstre'ṅgatvena gṛhyate || 103 ||102. Just as an object is cognised (from a distance) as having some undifferentiated colour, its particular colour like white being not cognised.
103. In the same way, when a particular number is not meant to be conveyed through the secondary constituent, if anything connected with it is revealed, it is taken as the basis by the śāstra for the teaching of a form.
Commentary
[Even if, from a distance, we cannot see the exact colour of an object, we know that it has some colour. In the same way, we know that the meaning of the secondary constituent, being sattva, must have some number, though we do not know which particular one. This is the effect of abhedaikatva. When any circumstance in connection with it is revealed, it is made use of by the śāstra to teach a particular form. As for instance, the substitution of yuṣmad and asmad by tavaka and mamaka is made use of by the śāstra to derive the forms tāvakīna and māmakīna in the singular by P. 4.3.3.]