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 3.14.556
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.556:
उपमानाविवक्षायां नियमार्थोऽयमुच्यते ।
धर्मोऽर्हतिक्रियाकर्ता तदर्थं वचनं पुनः ॥ ५५६ ॥upamānāvivakṣāyāṃ niyamārtho'yamucyate |
dharmo'rhatikriyākartā tadarthaṃ vacanaṃ punaḥ || 556 ||556. When no comparison is meant, a property which acts as the agent of the act of deserving is used for restriction (that is, exclusion of others). For that, the suffix has to be taught again.
Commentary
[When the word rājan is used in the sense of king in general, that is, in the sense of the universal, the relation of standard and object of comparison based on difference is not understood, as no particular is meant. What is meant to be conveyed is that the conduct befits a king and not anybody else. By excluding anything else, the main idea is confirmed.
That is what is conveyed by an expression like rājavad idaṃ vṛttaṃ vartate = ‘This conduct befits that of a king’.]