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 3.14.419
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.419:
शस्त्रीव शस्त्री श्यामेति देवदत्तैव कथ्यते ।
तस्यामेवोभयं तस्मादुच्यते शास्त्रविग्रहे ॥ ४१९ ॥śastrīva śastrī śyāmeti devadattaiva kathyate |
tasyāmevobhayaṃ tasmāducyate śāstravigrahe || 419 ||419. The word śastrī, which means śastrīva and the word śyāmā, both refer to Devadatta. That is why it has been said that in the śāstraic analysis, both refer to the same thing.
Commentary
Now M. Bhā. I. p. 397, 1. 23, which states the view which is free from defect is explained.
[Read verse 419 above]
[It was said before that if the word expressive of the common property refers to the standard of comparison, then the object of comparison would be conveyed by the compound as a whole.
But in the accepted view, both the constituents of the compound refer to the object of comparison. The first term śastrī would mean not ‘dagger’ but figuratively, something which is like it: śastrīva. That is, it would refer to the object of comparison. Thus both the terms would denote the same object, namely, Devadatta the object of comparison. In this way, sāmānādhikaraṇya results and the masculine form in mṛgacapalā also would come to be by P. 6.3.42. The context of sāmānādhikaraṇya would also be respected. Śastrī would stand for the upamāna. There would be superimposition of identity between the two, resemblance or comparison or the meaning of iva would be implied as when one says siṃho māṇavakaḥ or siṃham adhyāpaya. In the same way, here, śastrī refers to Devadatta. This is what the M. Bhā. means by saying: tasyām evobhayaṃ varttate. But of course, the compound is indivisible and it is only in the śastra [śāstra?] that it is analysed in different ways.]
The view that both the terms in śastrīsyāmā refer to the upameya is the correct one according to the M. Bhā. I. p. 397, 1. 24. This is now going to be stated.