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 2.124:

क्रिया विना प्रयोगेण न दृष्टा शब्दचोदिता ।
प्रयोगस्त्वनुनिष्पादी शब्दर्थ इति गम्यते ॥ १२४ ॥

kriyā vinā prayogeṇa na dṛṣṭā śabdacoditā |
prayogastvanuniṣpādī śabdartha iti gamyate || 124 ||

124. An action expressed by a word is never seen except with (the means necessary for) its accomplishment. The understanding of the means (prayoga) happens subsequently. The same is true of the meaning of words.

Commentary

[The word prayoga which means execution or accomplishment is understood by Puṇyarāja in the sense of association with the means of an action. The idea is that when one thinks of an action, one necessarily thinks of the means of its accomplishment.]

The third view

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