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 2.312
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.312:
काकेभ्यो रक्ष्यतां सर्पिरिति बालोऽपि चोदितः ।
उपघातपरे वाक्ये न श्वादिभ्यो न रक्षति ॥ ३१२ ॥kākebhyo rakṣyatāṃ sarpiriti bālo'pi coditaḥ |
upaghātapare vākye na śvādibhyo na rakṣati || 312 ||312. When a boy is told: ‘save the butter from the crows’, he does not refrain from protecting it from dogs etc. knowing that the order refers to destructive agents in general.
Commentary
The Vṛtti says:—Kākebhyaḥ kākād. vā sarpiḥ saṃrakṣyatām ityukte upaghātahetusāmānyamātropalakṣaṇatvāt kākajāter yāvān upaghātahetuḥ sa pratīyate. By saying that kāka in the verse stands for any destructive agent yāvān upaghātahetuḥ, the Vṛtti makes it clear that in worldly verbal usage also, the particular stands for the general.]