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.

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.202:

समुच्चितनिमित्तत्वे चार्थस्यापगमेऽपि वा ।
स्वभावसिद्धे द्वन्द्वस्य लिङ्गसंख्ये व्यवस्थिते ॥ २०२ ॥

samuccitanimittatve cārthasyāpagame'pi vā |
svabhāvasiddhe dvandvasya liṅgasaṃkhye vyavasthite || 202 ||

202. Whether the objects collected are the basis (nimitta) for the formation of the dvandva compound or whether the meaning of ca (collection, samuccaya) is absent, gender and number in a dvandva are due to the natural power of words.

Commentary

[The real position is this. If the ‘collected’ are the basis for the formation of dvandva, it is natural that their gender and number should prevail. It is a mistake to think of a collection at all in connection with a dvandva. The mistake arises because, in grammar, some meaning or other is taken as the basis for wordformation on the strength of some resemblance or other. Really speaking, the meaning of a dvandva is, by its very nature, substance (sattvabhūta.)]

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