Vyākaraṇa-mahābhāṣya 1.1.1.4

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IASTदेवनागरीবাংলা

MBH 1.1.1.4

← 1.1.1.3 1.1.1.5 →

vṛddhir ād-aic

Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.1.1

Vṛtti Patañjali

sataḥ vṛddhyādiṣu sañjñābhāvāt tadāśraye itaretarāśrayatvāt asiddhiḥ .

Since the existing (sounds) among vṛddhi and the rest have no name, and since what rests on that (name) is mutually dependent (itaretarāśraya), there is non-establishment (asiddhi).

sataḥ sañjñinaḥ sañjñābhāvāt sañjñāśraye sañjñini vṛddhyādiṣu itaretarāśrayatvāt aprasiddhiḥ .

Since the existing named (saṁjñin) has no name, and since there is mutual dependence — in the named, which rests on the name — among vṛddhi and the rest, there is non-establishment (aprasiddhi).

kā iteretarāśrayatā .

What (is) the mutual dependence?

satām ādaicām sañjñayā bhavitavyam sañjñayā ca ādaicaḥ bhāvyante .

The existing ā/ai/au must acquire the name, and by the name the ā/ai/au are (in turn) established.

tat itaretarāśrayam bhavati , itaretarāśrayāṇi ca kāryāṇi na prakalpante .

That is mutual dependence; and mutually-dependent operations do not come off (na prakalpante).

tat yathā .

That is, as (follows).

nauḥ nāvi baddhā na itaratrāṇāya bhavati. nanu ca bhoḥ itaretarāśrayāṇi api kāryāṇi dṛśyante .

A boat tied to a (another) boat does not serve for rescuing the other. — But surely, sir (nanu ca bhoḥ), mutually-dependent operations too are seen (to work).

tat yathā .

That is, as (follows).

nauḥ śakaṭam vahati śakaṭam ca nāvam vahati .

A boat carries a cart, and a cart carries a boat.

anyat api tatra kim cit bhavati jalam sthalam vā .

There is also something else there: water or dry land.

sthale śakaṭam nāvam vahati .

On land the cart carries the boat.

jale nauḥ śakaṭam vahati .

In water the boat carries the cart.

yathā tari triviṣṭabdhakam .

As, on a boat, a three-legged prop (tri-viṣṭabdhaka).

tatra api antataḥ sūtrakam bhavati .

There too, at least (antataḥ), there is a (connecting) cord (sūtraka).

idam punaḥ itaretarāśrayam eva .

But this (case of ours) is, on the other hand, pure mutual dependence.

siddham tu nityaśabdatvāt .

But (tu) (it is) established, because words are eternal (nitya-śabdatva).

siddham etat .

This is established.

katham .

How?

nityaśabdatvāt .

Because words are eternal.

nityāḥ śabdāḥ .

Words are eternal.

nityeṣu śabdeṣu satām ādaicām sañjñā kriyate .

Words being eternal, a name is made for the (already) existing ā/ai/au.

na sañjñayā ādaicaḥ bhāvyante .

The ā/ai/au are not produced by the name.

yadi tarhi nityāḥ śabdāḥ kimartham śāstram .

If, then, words are eternal, for what purpose (is) the śāstra?

kimartham śāstram iti cet nivartakatvāt siddham .

If (it be asked) 'for what purpose the śāstra?' — (the answer) is established, because (the śāstra) is exclusionary (nivartaka).

nivartakam śāstram .

The śāstra is exclusionary (nivartaka).

katham .

How?

mṛjiḥ asmai aviśeṣeṇa upadiṣṭaḥ .

The root √mṛj has been taught to him without distinction (aviśeṣeṇa).

tasya sarvatra mṛjibuddhiḥ prasaktā .

For it, the notion 'mṛj' (unmodified) would apply everywhere.

tatra anena nivṛttiḥ kriyate .

There, by this (śāstra) an exclusion (nivṛtti) is made.

mṛjeḥ akṅitsu pratyayeṣu mṛjiprasaṅge mārjiḥ sādhuḥ bhavati iti .

'Of mṛj, before suffixes that are neither ṅit nor kit (a-kṅit), where mṛj would (otherwise) apply, mārj is the correct form' — thus.

Translator notes mūla-only construal · not shown in the reading edition

Dialectic construal (whole unit): a circularity objection to the naming, then its resolution. The vārttikas v9–v11 are Kātyāyana's; the prose is Patañjali's expansion, on which I leaned to construe them. v9 (with s1–s14): OBJECTION (pūrvapakṣa) — the naming cannot be established, because the existing ā/ai/au have no name yet, and what depends on that name is mutually dependent (itaretarāśraya): the sounds need the name and the name in turn picks out the sounds (s3), and mutually-dependent operations do not come off (s4). The boat-tied-to-a-boat is no help for rescue (s6a). s6b–s13 is a rejoinder ('but mutually-dependent operations ARE seen', the boat-and-cart that carry each other, disambiguated by a third factor, water or land); s14 replies that OUR case is pure mutual dependence with no third factor.
v10 (s15–s20): SIDDHĀNTA — it is established, because words are eternal (nitya-śabdatva): the sounds ā/ai/au already exist, so the name is merely applied to existing things (s19) and the sounds are not PRODUCED by the name (s20) — one arm of the circle is removed. s21: sub-question — if words are eternal, what is grammar for? v11 (s22–s27): grammar is restrictive/exclusionary (nivartaka) — the root √mṛj is taught unrestrictedly, its bare form would apply everywhere, and the śāstra restricts it (mārj, the vṛddhi form, being correct before non-kit/ṅit suffixes, s27). I read v10–v11 as the settled view and v9 as the opponent.
s6 holds TWO sentences in one atom (as in the source): the close of the boat illustration ('a boat tied to a boat does not serve to rescue the other') and the opponent's rejoinder ('but sir (nanu ca bhoḥ), mutually-dependent operations too are seen'). Rendered as two sentences.
s12 'yathā tari triviṣṭabdhakam' and s13 'antataḥ sūtrakam bhavati' are elliptical and I am UNSURE: triviṣṭabdhaka I take as a three-legged prop/strut on a boat, and sūtraka as at least a (connecting) cord/string — i.e. even in the boat-and-cart cases some further supporting factor is present. The exact referents are not recoverable from the words alone; rendered literally and flagged.
s1/v9 'aprasiddhi'/'asiddhi' rendered 'non-establishment'; s3 'sañjñayā bhavitavyam / sañjñayā ādaicaḥ bhāvyante' rendered as the two arms of the circularity (the sounds must acquire the name; by the name the sounds are, in turn, established/singled out).
s24 'mṛjiḥ' = the root √mṛj (to cleanse); s27 mārjiḥ = the vṛddhi-grade form mārj. 'akṅitsu pratyayeṣu' = before suffixes that are neither ṅit nor kit; kept technical.

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