{{Short description|Indian linguist, philosopher, and poet (around 5th century CE)}} {{Infobox philosopher |name= |birth_place=Ujjain |image=Hindi_Manuscript_884_Wellcome_L0024558.jpg |caption=An image of Bhartrhari from an early 18th century Hindi-language manuscript |native_name={{lang|cls|भर्तृहरि}} |era=5th century CE |region=Madhya Pradesh, India |main_interests=Grammar, linguistics |notable_works=Vākyapadīya |notable_ideas=Sphota |language=Sanskrit }} {{For-text|the folk hero|Bharthari (king)|other uses|Bharthari}} {{EngvarB|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}} '''Bhartṛhari''' (Devanagari: {{lang|sa|भर्तृहरि}}; '''Bhartrihari'''; fl. c. 5th century CE), was an Indian philosopher of language, linguist and poet <ref>{{Cite book |last=Cornille |first=Catherine |url= |title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Inter-Religious Dialogue |date=2020-06-08 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-57259-6 |pages=199 |language=en}}</ref> and poet, known for his contributions to the fields of linguistics, grammar, and philosophy. He is believed to have been born in the 5th century in Ujjain, Malwa, India. He decided to live a monastic life and find a higher meaning but was unable to detach from worldly life. He lived as a yogi in Ujjain until his death.
He is best known for his works, the ''Vākyapadīya'' (a treatise on sentences and words), ''Mahābhāṣyatikā'' (a commentary on Patanjali's ''Mahabhashya''), ''Vākyapadīyavṛtti'' (a commentary on ''Vākyapadīya kāṇḍas'' 1 and 2), ''Śabdadhātusamīkṣā'', and the 300-verse collection ''Śatakatraya''.
Bhartrhari's philosophy is marked by the concept of "Shabda-Brahman", that the ultimate reality is expressed through words. He posited that language and cognition are linked and that by understanding grammar one can attain spiritual liberation.
Bhartrhari's works have been studied in various Indian philosophical traditions, including Vedanta and Mimamsa. Islamic and Western scholars have also shown interest through various translations and commentaries. In the field of Indian poetics, Bhartrhari's ''Śatakatraya'' continues to be revered and studied and has been translated into many languages, affording access to a global audience.
== Life and background == Bhartrhari is believed to have been born in Ujjain, Malwa, India and lived in the 5th century.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Bhartrihari {{!}} Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy |url=https://iep.utm.edu/bhartrihari/ |access-date=2024-06-20 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Bhartrihari {{!}} Indian Poet, Sanskrit Scholar {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bhartrihari |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |title=Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy |date=1998 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-07310-3 |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Edward |location=London; New York |editor-last2=Routledge (Firm)}}</ref> Details of his personal life are not known, but it is assumed, and accepted by scholars, that he lived between 485 and 540 CE.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3">{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Indian philosophies |date=1977 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-07281-4 |editor-last=Potter |editor-first=Karl H. |location=Princeton, N.J}}</ref> He was associated with the court of Valabhi (modern Vala, Gujarat) but decided to follow the path of Indian sages and renounced a sensual life to find higher meaning.<ref name=":0" /> He attempted to live a monastic life but was unable to successfully detach from worldly pleasures. After some time, he lived a life as a yogi in Ujjain till his death.<ref name=":0" />
Siṃhasūrigaṇi, a 6th-century Jain writer, states that Bhartrhari studied under a grammarian named Vasurāta.<ref name=":3" /> Bhartrhari credits some of his theories to Vasurāta in his work the Vakyapadiya.<ref name=":1" />
The Chinese traveller Yi-Jing (635-713 CE) mentions Bhartrhari in his travel notes. He claims that Bhartrhari was a Buddhist and wrote the works ''Vakyapadiya'', ''Peina'', and a commentary on Patanjali's Mahabhashya. Researchers have found some of the details given by Yi-Jing to be erroneous, specifically the time period that he was alive and that he was a Buddhist.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Srimannarayana Murti |first=M. |title=Bhartṛhari, the grammarian |date=1997 |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |others=Sahitya Akademi |isbn=978-81-260-0308-2 |series=Makers of Indian literature |location=New Delhi}}</ref> Bhartrhari's philosophical position is widely held to be an offshoot of the Vyākaraṇa or grammarian school, closely allied to the realism of the Nyayas and distinctly opposed to Buddhist positions such as those of Dignaga, who was closer to phenomenalism.<ref name="watw"> {{cite book |author=Bimal Krishna Matilal |title=The Word and the World: India's contribution to the study of language |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1990}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author1=N. V. Isaeva |title=From early Vedanta to Kashmir Shaivism: Gaudapada, Bhartrhari, and Abhinavagupta |page=75 |year=1995 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GdfIqQdgr1QC&dq=poet+Buddhist&pg=PA75 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-2450-6}}Bhartrihari may have been "within the fold of Vedānta".</ref>
== Philosophical contributions == Bhartrhari is known for his work in the philosophy of language, particularly his theories articulated in the ''Vākyapadīya'' ("Treatise on Sentences and Words"). This text is a comprehensive study of grammar and its metaphysical foundations. Bhartrhari's philosophy is marked by the concept of "Shabda-Brahman", which holds that the ultimate reality is expressed through words. He posited that language and cognition are linked and that by understanding grammar one can attain spiritual liberation.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Herzberger |first=Radhika |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/978-94-009-4666-8 |title=Bhartṛhari and the Buddhists |date=1986 |publisher=Springer Netherlands |isbn=978-94-010-8574-8 |location=Dordrecht |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-009-4666-8}}</ref>
In the ''Vākyapadīya,'' Bhartṛhari writes regarding ''svasamvedana'', arguing that a cognition cannot be the content of another cognition. In verse 3.1.106 he explains why a cognition cannot be objectified using an example of light: "as a source of light is never illuminated by another one, likewise a cognition is never cognised by another one." He also writes that a cognition is always perceived at the same time of the cognition of its content. This explanation avoids infinite regress caused if a second order cognition was needed for the first cognition.<ref name="Ferrante-2017" />
== Works == Bhartrhari is best known for his work in the philosophy of language. He wrote four books on grammar (vyākaraṇa): Vākyapadīya, Mahābhāṣyatikā (an early sub-commentary on Patanjali's Vyākaraṇa-Mahābhāṣya), Vākyapadīyavṛtti (commentary on ''Vākyapadīya kāṇḍas'' 1 and 2), and Śabdadhātusamīkṣā.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":4" /><ref name=":5" /><ref>Extensively used by later grammarians such as Kaiyaṭa, the text is only preserved in fragments. An edition based on an incomplete manuscript was published by Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune (1985-1991), in six fascicles (fascicle 6 in two parts).</ref> As a poet, he also wrote the ''Śatakatraya'', or ''Śataka'', a three-part collection of 300 verses.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":2" />
=== Vākyapadīya === {{main|Trikāṇḍī|}}
The ''Vākyapadīya'', also known as ''Trikāṇḍī'' (three books), is an Indian linguistic treatise on the philosophy of language, grammar, and semantics. It is divided into 3 main sections (or kāṇḍa): ''Brahma-kāṇḍa'' (Book of Brahman), ''Vākya-kāṇḍa'' (Book of Sentences), and ''Pada-kāṇḍa'' (Book of Words), and contains about 635 verses. The ''Brahma-kāṇḍa'' treats the metaphysical aspects of language. The ''Vākya-kāṇḍa'' deals with sentence structure and the relationship between its components. The ''Pada-kāṇḍa'' focuses on the meaning of words, phonetics, morphology, and semantics.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book |last=Coward |first=Harold G. |title=The philosophy of the grammarians |last2=Kunjunni Raja |first2=Kumarapuram |date=1990 |publisher=Princeton university press |isbn=978-0-691-07331-6 |series=Encyclopedia of Indian philosophies |location=Princeton (N.J.)}}</ref><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":1" />
Bhartrhari's philosophy is centred around the concept of "''sphoṭa''". He believed that ''sphoṭa'' carries the meaning of the word(s) and is revealed to the listener upon hearing the word(s).<ref name=":6" /> Unlike Patanjali, Bhatrihari applies the term ''sphoṭa'' to each element of the utterance, ''varṇa'' (''varṇasphoṭa;'' the letter or syllable), ''pada'' (''padasphoṭa;'' the word), and ''vākya'' (''vākyasphoṭa;'' the sentence).<ref name=":6" />
=== Mahābhāṣyatikā === The ''Mahābhāṣyatikā'', also known as ''Tripadi'' or ''Mahabhashyadipika'', is a commentary on Patanjali's ''Mahabhashya'', which itself is a commentary on Pāṇini's ''Aṣṭādhyāyī''. Bhartrhari analyses grammatical rules and explores the metaphysical and epistemological aspects of language. Within this text, Bhartrhari also discusses the connection between words and their meanings, which is further elaborated in the ''Vākyapadīya.'' This text is studied by Sanskrit grammarians and philosophers.<ref name=":6" />
=== Śatakatraya === {{main|Śatakatraya}}
The ''Śatakatraya'' ("Three Centuries": ''śataka,'' "century"; ''traya,'' "three") consists of three collections of 100 verses each. The collections are ''Niti Śataka'' (Ethics, which details principles of righteous living)''<u>,</u> Śringara Śataka'' (Love, which details the complexities of love and relationships), ''and Vairagya Śataka'' (Detachment, a reflection of Bhartrhari's renunciation)''.'' The date of composition is unknown but it is believed to have been written over the course of Bhartrhari's life. Bhartrhari uses various poetic devices including metaphors, similes, and paradoxes to convey complex ideas.<ref name=":2" /><ref name=":7" />
== Influence and legacy == Bhartrhari's works have been studied in various Indian philosophical traditions, including Vedanta and Mimamsa. Islamic and Western scholars have also shown interest through various translations and commentaries.<ref name=":5" /><ref name=":2" />
In the field of Indian poetics, Bhartrhari's ''Śatakatraya'' continues to be revered and studied.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |last=Wortham |first=Biscoe Hale |title=The Śatakas of Bhartr̥ihari |last2=Wortham |first2=Biscoe Hale |date=2000 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-0-415-24510-4 |edition=Reprint |series=India : language and literature, in 14 volumes |location=London}}</ref> The ''Śatakatraya'' has been translated into many languages, affording access to a global audience.<ref name=":2" />
==Further reading== *B. K. Matilal, 1990, ''The Word and the World: India's Contribution to the Study of Language''. Delhi: Oxford University Press. p. 129-130. *Hemanta Kumar Ganguli, "Theory of Logical Construction and Solution of some Logical Paradoxes", appendix to ''Philosophy of Logical Construction: An Examination of Logical Atomism and Logical Positivism in the light of the Philosophies of Bhartrhari, Dharmakirti and Prajnakaragupta'', Calcutta, 1963. *Jan E.M. Houben, ''The Sambandha-samuddeśa (chapter on relation) and Bhartrhari's philosophy of language'', Gonda Indological Series, 2. Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1995, pp. 213–219.
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Wikiquote}} * [https://www.iep.utm.edu/bhartrihari/ Bhartrihari (c. 450—510 C.E.) in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy] * [https://www.historyoflogic.com/biblio/bhartrhari.htm Bibliography on Bhartṛhari, Grammarian and Philosopher] * {{Librivox author |id=6042}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20121025095040/http://www.cgjungpage.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=916&Itemid=1 "Tracking the Hermit's Soul: A Jungian Reading Of Bhartrihari's Satakatraya" by Mathew V. Spano]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bhartrhari}} Category:Sanskrit grammarians Category:Sanskrit poets Category:Indian male poets Category:Ancient Sanskrit grammarians Category:5th-century Indian poets Category:Indian Sanskrit scholars Category:5th-century Hindus