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 3.14.240
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.240:
नानाचित्रा इति यथा निमित्तमनुरुध्यते (वर्तते) ।
नानाभूतेऽपि वृत्तः सन् बहुर्वीहिस्तथा भवेत् ॥ २४० ॥nānācitrā iti yathā nimittamanurudhyate (vartate) |
nānābhūte'pi vṛttaḥ san bahurvīhistathā bhavet || 240 ||240. Just as in the word nānācitrāḥ = “different motley-coloured objects”, the word nānā = ‘different, varied’, would retain the basis of its formation, even though now used to denote objects which are different (or such varied), such would be the case of the bahuvrīhi compound.
Commentary
[An example is now given. The word nanā, formed by P. 4. 2.27. from the negative particle nañ by adding the suffix nañ in the sense of separation, not being together (asahārthe) is an indeclinable. If, on that basis, it is applied to an object, even then it would retain its character of denoting asattva, non-substance. Such is the case with the bahuvrīhi compound. From a thing in which the nimitta exists, a cognition similar to the nimitta would arise. The pure nimittin would not figure in the cognition and so grammatical operations would not be according to that but according to the nimitta.]