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 3.14.388:

मानं प्रति समीपं वा सादृश्येन प्रतीयते ।
परिच्छेदाद्धि सादृश्यमिह मानोपमानयोः ॥ ३८८ ॥

mānaṃ prati samīpaṃ vā sādṛśyena pratīyate |
paricchedāddhi sādṛśyamiha mānopamānayoḥ || 388 ||

388. Or it is proximity to the primary measure because of resemblance which is understood. The

primary and the secondary measures resemble each other because both are determinants.

Commentary

[In the previous stanza, the word tat in tatsamīpe etc. of the M. Bhā. on P. 2.1.55. was taken as referring to the object of comparison. It can be taken as referring to the primary measure. The secondary measure is that which is near the primary measure. The latter determines an object and so does the former. The only difference is that the former does it incompletely and the latter does it completely.]

In M. Bhā. I. p. 397, II.5-6, a question is asked whether the standard and the object of comparison are the same thing or whether they are two different things. The purport of this question is now explained.

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