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 3.1.79
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.1.79:
व्यक्तिशक्तेः समासन्ना जातयो न तथा गुणाः ।
साक्षाद्द्रव्यं क्रियायोगि गुणस्तस्माद्विकल्पते ॥ ७९ ॥vyaktiśakteḥ samāsannā jātayo na tathā guṇāḥ |
sākṣāddravyaṃ kriyāyogi guṇastasmādvikalpate || 79 ||79. The qualities are not as near to the substance having capacity as the universals are. The substance is directly connected with action. That is why there can be alternative only for quality.
Commentary
[That is because the universals are much nearer to the substance which is actually the accessory than the qualities which come later and are liable to change. So they are a step removed from substance which is directly connected with action. No quality can be connected directly with action. As the universal is much nearer to the substance which is connected with action, there can be no substitute for it. If it is replaced, it would become a different accessory and so the action itself would become different. All this is said on the basis of the universal being the meaning of words. According to the view that substance or the individual is the meaning of words, the universal is not directly taught and so can be replaced.]