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 3.14.287
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.287:
प्रतिषेध्यो यथाभूतस्तथाभूतोऽनुषज्यते ।
वचनान्तरयोगे हि न सोऽर्थः प्रतिषिध्यते ॥ २८७ ॥pratiṣedhyo yathābhūtastathābhūto'nuṣajyate |
vacanāntarayoge hi na so'rthaḥ pratiṣidhyate || 287 ||287. According to the nature of the meaning to be set aside, a second constituent is used. If other numbers are used, that idea would not be understood.
Commentary
[In order to indicate the object of the negation, the second constituent is used even though its meaning is not wanted. It is used in order to show what is superimposed. Unity is superimposed and that has to be set aside. Unless the second constituent is in the singular number, what is to be set aside would not be understood. If the dual and other numbers are used, the number one would not be understood as something to be set aside. So the use of the singular number is a means of understanding the number meant to be conveyed.