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 3.14.273
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.273:
निवृत्तेऽवयवस्तस्मिन् पदार्थे वर्तते कथम् ।
नानिमित्ता हि शब्दस्य प्रवृत्तिरुपपद्यते ॥ २७३ ॥nivṛtte'vayavastasmin padārthe vartate katham |
nānimittā hi śabdasya pravṛttirupapadyate || 273 ||273. If the properties are absent how can a word standing for only a part be applied to them? It is not right that a word should be applied without a basis (nimitta).
Commentary
[To the question: What is the nature of the meaning qualified by the negative particle, the answer given is: nivṛttapadārthakaḥ = “something in which the attributes are absent”. (Ibid, 1. 3.) To this, it is objected that even when the meaning of the word is something fashioned by the mind, it should be based on something external. By identifying what figures in the mind with what is external, the meaning of the word appears to have external existence. If the word brāhmaṇa stands only for a part of the qualities, how can it be applied, without a basis, to a kṣattriya?, so that the negative particle may reveal that condition?]