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 3.14.440
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.440:
उपमानोपमेयत्वे द्रव्ये चानुक्तधर्मिणि ।
निमित्तत्वेन गम्यन्ते रूढयोगाः क्रियागुणाः ॥ ४४० ॥upamānopameyatve dravye cānuktadharmiṇi |
nimittatvena gamyante rūḍhayogāḥ kriyāguṇāḥ || 440 ||440. Even when the bare substance without any attribute is mentioned, common attributes in the form of action or quality, based on convention are understood.
Commentary
[It might be argued that no comparison is understood in these cases because no word expressive of the common attribute is used. But that is not the true position. In candravan mukham, no word expressive of the common attribute is used and yet one does understand something. In the same way, here also, we would understand some common attribute if there can be comparison between two things. If we do not understand it, it is because no comparison is possible between action and substance etc.]
Could there be comparison between action and what is nearest to it, namely, the agent?