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Vākyapadīya

The Vākyapadīya, a.k.a. Trikāṇḍī, is a set of around 2000 verses, divided in three books, treating the philosophy of Sanskrit grammar/philosophy of language. It is (one of) the most important works on philosophy of language in the Pāṇinian school as well as more generally, in the Sanskrit grammatical tradition (vyākaraṇa).

Approximate Date of Creation

450 A.D.

Author

Bhartṛhari

Text Type

Text Passages

From the text: Vākyapadīya

From the text: Vākyapadīya

References

Abhyankar, K.V. and V.P. Limaye (eds.) (1965), Vākyapadīya. Poona: University of Poona.

Biardeau, Madeleine (ed.) (1964), Vākyapadīya Brahmakāṇḍa. Avec la Vṛtti de Harivṛṣabha. Text reproduit de l’Édition de Lahore. Paris: Éditions E. de Boccard.

Iyer, K.A. Subramania (1969), Bhartṛhari. A study of the Vākyapadīya in the light of the ancient commentaries. Poona: Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute.

Iyer, K.A. Subramania (ed.) (1963), Vākyapadīya with the commentary of Helārāja. Kāṇḍa 3 Part 1. Poona: Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute.

Iyer, K.A. Subramania (ed.) (1966), Vākyapadīya with the Vṛtti and the Paddhati of Vṛṣabhadeva. Poona: Deccan College Postgraduate and Research Institute.

Iyer, K.A. Subramania (ed.) (1973), Vākyapadīya with the Prakīrṇakaprakāśa of Helārāja. Kāṇḍa 3 Part 2. Poona: Deccan College.

Iyer, K.A. Subramania (ed.) (1983), Vākyapadīya. Containing the Ṭīkā of Puṇyarāja and the ancient Vṛtti. Kāṇda 2. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Rau, Wilhelm (ed.) (1977), Bhartṛharis Vākyapadīya. Die Mūlakārikās nach den Handschriften herausgegeben und mit einem Pāda-Index versehen. Wiesbaden: Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft.

Linguistic Notions

1. Introduction Like the closely related notion of 'subject', the notion of 'object' is an ancient one in the Western linguistic tradition, and in modern Western linguistics 'object',...

1 Introduction The notion 'subject' is an ancient one in the Western linguistic tradition, going back to at least Aristotle. In modern Western linguistics, the notion of 'subject' rema...

Texts

The Paddhati of Vṛṣabhadeva (a.k.a. Harivṛṣabha) is a commentary on the first book of the Vākyapadīya.

Prakīrṇaprakāśa

Helārāja's Prakīrṇaprakāśa is a commentary on the third book of the Vākyapadīya.

Puṇyarāja's Ṭīkā is a commentary on the second book of the Vākyapadīya.

Authors

Bhartṛhari's most famous work is the Vākyapadīya. He also wrote the Mahābhāṣyadīpikā, the oldest partially extant commentary on the Mahābhāṣya. Some also consider Bhartṛhari to be the author of a t...

Helārāja was possibly from Kashmir and a contemporary of Abhinavagupta.

Puṇyarāja was the author of a commentary (Ṭīkā) on the Vākyapadīya.

Vṛṣabhadeva

Vṛṣabhadeva (a.k.a. Harivṛṣabha) was patronised by king Viṣṇugupta.

Linguistic Traditions

Pāṇinīya vyākaraṇa

Pāṇinīya vyākaraṇa (Pāṇinian grammar) refers to the Sanskrit grammatical tradition including and based on Pāṇini's grammar the Aṣṭādhyāyī (c. 400 BC). The Aṣṭādhyāyī...