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 3.9.58
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.9.58:
ज्ञानानुगतशक्तिं वा बाह्यं वा सत्यतः स्थितम् ।
कालात्मानमनाश्रित्य व्यवहर्तुं न शक्यते ॥ ५८ ॥jñānānugataśaktiṃ vā bāhyaṃ vā satyataḥ sthitam |
kālātmānamanāśritya vyavahartuṃ na śakyate || 58 ||58. Whether it is only something having an existence in the mind or whether it has an existence outside the mind, expression in words is not possible without recourse to the notion of Time.
Commentary
[Whether Time is only a mental construction or whether it has an existence outside the mind, speech, that is, expression in words is not possible without the help of the notion of Time. Bhartṛhari is not concerned with the determination of Time philosophically. He is only concerned with the notion which is the basis of tense distinctions in the Sanskrit language as in the verbs : abhūt, asti, bhaviṣyati.]