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 1.40
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.40:
इदं पुण्यमिदं पापमित्येतस्मिन् पदद्वये ।
आचण्डालं मनुष्याणामल्पं शास्त्रप्रयोजनम् ॥ ४० ॥idaṃ puṇyamidaṃ pāpamityetasmin padadvaye |
ācaṇḍālaṃ manuṣyāṇāmalpaṃ śāstraprayojanam || 40 ||40. In order to decide what is good and what is bad, all men, including the lowest, have very little use for scripture;1
Commentary
Therefore, direct perception and extra-sensory cognition (of the sages) set aside reasoning even when there is contradiction between the two.
Notes
1. This verse is found in the Śl. Vār. (verse 3, p. 209. (Chowkhambha edition). It is there given as that of Pārāśarya, i.e., Vyāsa. Jayanta Bhaṭṭa, in his Nyāyamañjarī, also gives it as a quotation from Vyāsa. Here, however, it is not given as a quotation, but as an integral part of the Vākyapadīya itself.