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 3.14.316
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.316:
आकृतिः सर्वशब्दानां यदा वाच्या प्रतीयते ।
एकत्वादेकशब्दत्वं न्याय्यं तस्यां च वर्ण्यते ॥ ३१६ ॥ākṛtiḥ sarvaśabdānāṃ yadā vācyā pratīyate |
ekatvādekaśabdatvaṃ nyāyyaṃ tasyāṃ ca varṇyate || 316 ||316. When the universal is understood as the expressed meaning of all words, that being one it is right that only one word should be used.
Commentary
Now gender and number in connection with words expressive of the Universal (jāti) are going to be considered.
[Read verse 316 above]
[On the ground that all words denote the universal which is One, the teaching of ekaśeṣa has been declared unnecessary. The use of several words would be necessary only if the things denoted are many. Where ekaieṣa is taught, there the different words denote the same universal and so the use of just one word would result naturally. Thus there is no need to prescribe the retention of one.]