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 3.14.132
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.132:
भेदः संख्या विशेषोवाव्याख्यातो वृत्तिवाक्ययोः ।
सर्वत्रैव विशेषस्तु नावश्यं तादृशो भवेत् ॥ १३२ ॥bhedaḥ saṃkhyā viśeṣovāvyākhyāto vṛttivākyayoḥ |
sarvatraiva viśeṣastu nāvaśyaṃ tādṛśo bhavet || 132 ||132. The understanding of a particular number in a sentence has been explained as the difference between a sentence and a vṛtti. But the difference is not always like that.
Commentary
[The correct position is this. There is infinite variety in the use of words and rules cannot cover all of it. So some general rules are made. Thus ekārthībhāva is shown as the particular feature of a vṛtti, as distinct from a sentence. One-ness in general is understood from a vṛtti while a particular number is understood from a sentence. But it is not that a particular number is never understood from a vṛtti. In śaurpika and māsajāta, it is understood. The vaiśeṣika definition of dravya does not apply to ākāśa but it is enough to distinguish it from guṇa. Similarly, even if sometimes a particular number is understood from vṛtti, it is different from a sentence where it is always understood. So the general definition of vṛttiis not affected. Like the particular number, sometimes a particular gender is also not understood from a vṛtti as in kukkuṭāṇḍam.]