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 3.14.373
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.373:
उपमानं प्रसिद्धत्वात् सर्वत्र व्यतिरिच्यते ।
उपमेयत्वमाधिक्ये साम्ये वा न निवर्तते ॥ ३७३ ॥upamānaṃ prasiddhatvāt sarvatra vyatiricyate |
upameyatvamādhikye sāmye vā na nivartate || 373 ||373. Everywhere, the standard of comparison is what is known as superior in quality. As far as the object of comparison is concerned, nothing is debarred from being so whether it be superior or equal in quality.
Commentary
[That which is superior in quality, really or known to be so, becomes the standard of comparison. The face of the beloved is inferior in quality to the moon, but due to poetic tradition, poets make it the standard of comparison for the moon. Only what is thought of as superior in quality becomes the upamāna. There is no such restriction as far as the upameya is concerned.]
It is now stated that others understand the M. Bhā. which defines māna differently.