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 3.3.57
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.3.57:
अपप्लवो हि ज्ञानस्य बाह्याकारानुपातिता ।
कालुष्यमिव तत्तस्य संसर्गे व्यतिभेदजम् ॥ ५७ ॥apaplavo hi jñānasya bāhyākārānupātitā |
kāluṣyamiva tattasya saṃsarge vyatibhedajam || 57 ||57. When, knowledge exhibits the forms of external objects, it is a kind of disturbance, a kind of impurity consisting in its being mixed up with them as a result of contact.
Commentary
[When pure consciousness comes into contact with objects and gets mixed up with them, a certain impurity results, a certain proneness towards outside objects, just as pure water is tainted when it comes into contact with dust. When this impurity goes away, the consciousness is restored to its original purity.]