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 3.14.529
Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 3.14.529:
मधुराविषयः पाठः स्मरणं मातृकर्मकम् ।
मधुरामातृशब्दाभ्यामभेदेनाभिधीयते ॥ ५२९ ॥madhurāviṣayaḥ pāṭhaḥ smaraṇaṃ mātṛkarmakam |
madhurāmātṛśabdābhyāmabhedenābhidhīyate || 529 ||529. Studying in Mathurā and the remembering of the mother arc respectively identified with Mathurā and mother.
Commentary
[In madhurayā tulyam adhīye = ‘I study like Madhurā, the act of studying is mentioned as related to the object of comparison but it is understood as related to the standard of comparison also, because a comparison is based on a common property. Such expressions are used when the location of an action is identified with the action. In the other example, the action of remembering is identified with the object of remembrance. Mother, the object of remembrance, stands for the action of remembrance. So Madhurayā tulyam adhīye would mean: my studying (in Pātaliputra) is similar to my studying in Madhurā. The other example would mean: my remembering of Devadattā is similar to my remembering of my mother. Even though technically mother is śeṣa here by P. 2.3.52, still, it is karma which has become śeṣa.]