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 3.14.279
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.279:
बुद्धेर्विषयतां प्राप्ते शब्दादर्थे प्रतीयते ।
प्रवृत्तिर्वा निवृत्तिर्वा श्रुत्या ह्यर्थोऽनुषज्यते ॥ २७९ ॥buddherviṣayatāṃ prāpte śabdādarthe pratīyate |
pravṛttirvā nivṛttirvā śrutyā hyartho'nuṣajyate || 279 ||279. In regard to what has been determined by the mind, one understands from a word its existence or non-existence (pravṛttir va nivṛttir vā—action or absention from action). It is the word which is connected with meaning.
Commentary
[It is not only here but everywhere that one understands from a word something which is created by the mind. It is that which is the basis of usage and it does not take into consideration whether something corresponding to it exists outside or not. Words convey something which may or may not exist, something which is common to both existence and nonexistence. Therefore, a word may express a qualifier which is of a positive or negative nature.]
Something is now being said about a negative compound when the meaning of the second constituent is predominant.