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 2.147
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.147:
प्रमाणात्वेन तां लोकः सर्वः समनुपश्यति ।
समारम्भाः प्रतायन्ते तिरश्चामपि तद्वशात् ॥ १४७ ॥pramāṇātvena tāṃ lokaḥ sarvaḥ samanupaśyati |
samārambhāḥ pratāyante tiraścāmapi tadvaśāt || 147 ||147. The whole world considers that to be the authority (in daily life). Even the activities of animals develop because of that.
Commentary
[Puṇyarāja compares this intuition to the conscience of good people which is able to decide what is right and what is wrong quite instinctively. He quotes Kālidāsa’s famous verse: satāṃ hi sandehapadeṣu vastuṣu pramāṇam antaḥkaraṇa-pravṛttayaḥ = in matters of doubt, one’s own conscience is the guide of good people.]