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 3.14.508
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.508:
अन्तर्भूतं निमित्तं च रूढिशब्देषु यद्यपि ।
क्रियास्तु सहचारिण्यो रूढाः सन्ति पदार्थवत् ॥ ५०८ ॥antarbhūtaṃ nimittaṃ ca rūḍhiśabdeṣu yadyapi |
kriyāstu sahacāriṇyo rūḍhāḥ santi padārthavat || 508 ||508. Even though in pure conventional words, there may be a hidden basis of formation (nimitta), there are some actions, invariably associated with the word and accepted in the world like the meaning of the word itself.
Commentary
[The word putra is usually explained as ‘one who protects the parents from the hell called put.’ Disregarding that, why is it explained on the basis of' actions like obeying the parents etc.? The fact is that the word is a pure conventional word (rūḍhi). Its etymological meaning, if any, is disregarded and the meaning associated with it in usage is taken into consideration. In worldly usage, nobody is called a son because he protects his parents from any kind of hell. It is on the basis of actions like obedience that the word is applied in the world.
Thus the difficulty pointed out above remains.]
To meet the difficulty, another interpretation is proposed.