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 3.14.268
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.268:
पदार्थानुपघातेन दृश्यते च विशेषणम् ।
अथ जातिमतोऽर्थस्य कश्चिद् धर्मो निवर्तितः ॥ २६८ ॥padārthānupaghātena dṛśyate ca viśeṣaṇam |
atha jātimato'rthasya kaścid dharmo nivartitaḥ || 268 ||268. It is seen that a qualifier does not set aside the thing qualified. Therefore (in abrāhmaṇa) a part of the meaning of the word expressive of the universal is set aside.
Commentary
[It is now clear why the Bhāṣya points out that, in the uttarapadārthaprādhānya view, on hearing ‘abrāhmaṇam ānaya’ one would bring a brāhmaṇa. In a compound like rājapuruṣa, the first constituent qualifies the second one without setting it aside and so it can be a qualifier. Here the negative particle sets aside the meaning of the second constituent and, so, it cannot be a qualifier. It is as good as meaningless and so, on hearing abrāhmaṇam ānaya, one would bring just a brāhmaṇa. This, of course, is wrong. So the correct interpretation is that the negative particle negates the existence of a part of the attributes for which the universal-expressing word brāhmaṇa stands. The remaining attributes stand. In this way, the use of the negative particle has a purpose and it becomes a qualifier.]
A difficulty is now pointed out.