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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.

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 1.127:

प्रविभाग� यथ� कर्त� तय� कार्ये प्रवर्तत� �
अविभाग� तथ� सै� कार्यत्वेनावतिष्ठत� � १२� �

岵 yathā kartā tayā kārye pravartate |
岵 tathā saiva kāryatvenāvatiṣṭhate || 127 ||

127. Just as in the wakeful state () it is through the word that the agent acts on the objects of all actions, in the same way, in dream (), it is the word itself which becomes the object of all actions.

Commentary

The appearances of the Word-Brahman (in the wakeful state) consist of things to be accomplished and the means of accomplishing them. In the wakeful state, the seeds of the divisions of the word, being of the nature of the word, attain modifications like birth etc. through production, modification and reaching and act as objects of action. In the undivided states like sleep, on the other hand, the same word, being deprived of (external) objects but being similar to them, becomes the object of the actions of production, modification and reaching.1 It has been said�

“The Lord of All, the All-Embracing, the Enjoyer, after dividing Himself and after having created many different things, proceeds to sleep.�

Notes

1. See Vāk. III, Sā 45.

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