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 3.8.54
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.8.54:
साधनत्वं प्रसिद्धं च तिङूक्षु संबन्धिनां यतः ।
तेनाध्यारोप एव स्यादुपमा तु न विद्यते ॥ ५४ ॥sādhanatvaṃ prasiddhaṃ ca tiṅūkṣu saṃbandhināṃ yataḥ |
tenādhyāropa eva syādupamā tu na vidyate || 54 ||54. As what arc connected with actions are known to be accessories, therefore there can only be superimposition and not comparison.
Commentary
Can there be comparison with an action through its accessories?
[Read verse 54 above]
[Where there appears to be comparison through the accessories, there is superimposition and not comparison. What are connected with actions are their accessories. Otherwise, there would be no relation between them. In the sentence: parvataś calati = ‘the mountain moves’, from the words we understand that the mountain is an accessory (agent) in the action of moving. If that is not possible in reality, the capacity to move is superimposed on the mountain which thus becomes the agent. We do not understand from the sentence that the mountain docs something resembling movement. No comparison is understood. It is something like such sentences as parvataṃ bhinatti = ‘he breaks the mountain’ where no comparison is understood. Thus through the accessory also, there cannot be comparison with the meaning of a verb.]
Another reason why there cannot be comparison between two actions is now given.