MEANING Of the word "meaning" was a great concern for the Indian thinkers. In order to finalize this, they have examined and taken into consideration all the components of a communicative unit such as syllables, words, sentences and intentions of the speakers as well as the capacity to group. After this examination, different philosophers - Mīmāmsakas, Naiyāyikas and Śābdikas - have arrived the conclusion that sentence is the essential component to convey a sense of meaning to a listener. The theory of akhanda-vākya is based on the indivisible sphota theory and the sentence-meaning is experienced by the concept of pratibha. The division of sentence as per the priority of words occurred on the basis of mutual expectancy by which the intended meaning may be assumed by the listener.
Mīmāmsakas consider bhāvanā (action) which is the most essential segment to understand the sense of uttered syllables. On he one hand, the Naiyāyikas emphasize the priority of the words ending in Nominative case. The grammarians, on the other hand, stress the need of predominance to vyāpāra for attaining the meaning. Thus various philosophers have put forward different concepts of sentence, which are the basis of various linguistic aspects.
The Vakyapadiya of Bhartṛhari (sixth century CE) is a text which elaborately explains the notions on sentence. Philosophical dimensions of grammatical units are systematically presented here. The author of this book Dr Sarath P. Nath has attempted to present the philosophy of language in a Bhartṛharian perspective. To substantiate his views, syntactic and semantic thoughts in India are elaborately discussed. While explaining the philosophy, a detailed study on Bharthari is also conducted here.
Various perspectives on the concept of sentence in Indian system of knowledge are taken to consider in the second chapter by which, the limitations of their arguments can be critically evaluated in the following chapter.
Eightfold theory of the sentence propounded by Bharthari is vividly examined here. The illustrations given to each definition by the commentators of Bharthari are described here properly. The views of our ancestors are also critically promoted.
The concept of pratibha is a topic of discussion in Indian intellectual domain. Rhetoricians, philosophers, critics and commentators have viewed this phenomenon from various angles. The author also attempts to justify the concept of pratibha explained by Bhartṛhari in accordance with the views already prevailed in this circle.
I am extremely happy to congratulate Dr Sarath P. Nath for bringing out a composition on the philosophy of Bharthari on sentence. Though the significance of the work can only be understood by those scholars who are well studied in Helārāja and Punyarāja, it will remain an asset to the field of grammatical deliberations.
LANGUAGE is generally perceived as the method of communication.
It is essentially a social phenomenon through which we share our thoughts, experiences, emotions, commands, wishes, statements of facts, etc. Thus, the basic function of language is "communication". Ancient Indian scholars inquired into this concept and went beyond its mere communicative perspective. They portrayed it as the lamp that brought to light all the material objects. Had there been no language, everything would have remained in the darkness of ignorance. No knowledge or science would have originated. Nobody can fulfil his/her life in this material world, without the medium of language. Language which thus spreads over all walks of life is not just a medium of communication, based on syllable-word-sentence. Language can be perceived as the carrier of thoughts and ideas. Thus, beyond its communicative level, language is something, which carries within itself the entire culture of a community. Therefore, an insight into the working of language can be the beginning of the philosophical inquiry.
One of the fundamental problems in the philosophy of language, that has attracted the serious attention of all thinkers, is the relation between sabda (linguistic element) and its artha (meaning). The term sabda is normally used to refer to a linguistic element, which is the meaningful unit of speech. Indian thinkers uphold different views on the linguistic element that is referred to by the term śabda. According to various thinkers, it is the articulated phoneme (varna) or the word (pada) or the sentence (vākya). But all of them emphasize the role of sentence in communicating the ideas conceived by the speaker. Therefore the study of sentence and sentence-meaning became one of the major concerns of linguists, grammarians and philosophers.
The present book puts stress upon the different prospects regarding the basic element of the language-sentence and its n-eaning. The studies on sentence and sentence-meaning in ancient In ita are disseminated among the different systems of knowledge. The scholars in the schools of Mimärisä, Nyaya and Vyakaraņa have devoted their effort to unravel the basic problems regarding these concepts. While analysing the concept of sentence, ancient thinkers tried to deal with two vexed questions: What is a sentence? and What constitutes the sentence-meaning? They have endeavoured to answer these questions according to their preconceived notions.
In the science of Grammar, it was Bhartṛhari, the great grammarian and philosopher, who discovered the depth and breadth of Sanskrit grammar. His magnum opus the Vakyapadiya created a philosophical dimension in the science of Grammar hitherto unseen. He explains the concept of language in different levels to have a comprehensive idea of its function. If language is perceived in the communicative level, sentence is the basic unit of language. The entire second kända of Väkyapadiya is dedicated for the syntactico-semantic analysis of the sentence. Here, Bhartṛhari sets forth new visions and dimensions in the concept of sentence and sentence-meaning. His whole theory of language is to be understood from the context of his general theory of akhanda-väkya. According to this theory, a sentence is the indivisible sphota or a unitary whole and the sentence-meaning is the kind of a flash of understanding called pratibha. The present study tries to analyse the concepts and discussions on sentence and sentence-meaning, with special stress to the Vakyapadiya.
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