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 3.14.276
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.276:
यद्यप्युभयवृत्तित्वं प्रधानं तु प्रतीयते ।
प्रस्थानं गम्यते शुद्धे तदर्थेऽपि न तिष्ठतौ ॥ २७६ ॥yadyapyubhayavṛttitvaṃ pradhānaṃ tu pratīyate |
prasthānaṃ gamyate śuddhe tadarthe'pi na tiṣṭhatau || 276 ||276. Even though the word may stand for both, the main one is understood. From the bare root sthā (tiṣṭhati), going away cannot be understood even though it is its meaning.
Commentary
[After having rejected the view that the fact that a certain thing is not included in the meaning of a word is the result of the use of the negative particle, it is confirmed that exclusion of certain things from the meaning of a word is natural. The negative particle only makes it known, just as a lamp only makes known the presence of some objects in a dark place. It is well-known that the root sthā means staying. Even though it means going away also, it cannot express it without the preposition pra. Similarly, the word brāhmaṇa can mean one who is not a brāhmaṇa also but not without the use of the negative particle. Going away is not the meaning of pra in pratiṣṭhate. It is the meaning of the root sthā. Pra only reveals it. That is what happens in brāhmaṇa.]