Jaina Exegetical Terminology Pk Vibhasa Detailed Exposition

Author(s): Nalini Balbir
Publisher: Nalini Balbir
Catalog link: https://jainqq.org/explore/269518/1

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Jain Studies in Honour of Jozef Deleu Edited by Rudy Smet and Kenji Watanabe HON-NO-TOMOSHA, Tokyo 1993
Jaina Exegetical Terminology Pk. vibhāsā 'Detailed Exposition'
Nalini Balbir
Study of Indian commentaries in their own right has recently emerged as a new and promising field of Indology which can throw light on methods of argumentation, ways of using and quoting traditional material, etc. Jainism also deserves to be included in this type of research. As is well-known, Jaina exegetical literature, especially in its earlier layers, is a bewildering body of texts endowed with a rather peculiar character. In the Prakrit verse-commentaries (niryuktis, bhāṣyas) and the Prakrit or Sanskrit prose-commentaries (cūrṇis, tīkās), the space occupied by the actual explanation of a given basic text (sutra) is rather limited. Their bulk consists in "scholastic elaborations, explanations, or extensions" so that they are in fact rather "pseudo-exegetical vis-à-vis the sutras." They form a well-interwoven and closed system having its own recurring analytic devices and schemes, to which belong for instance the nikṣepa and the caturbhanga, the lists of synonyms or the 'etymologies', as well as its own methodological vocabulary.2 Thus, to some extent they can be viewed as forming a specific branch of technical literature which would need special tools to handle it, such as lexica or indexes of the type we have, say, for Paninean grammar.3 A useful instance of what could be done is provided by W. Schubring's analysis of "150 Strophen Niryukti."4 His thorough investigation of the vocabulary found in the Daśavaikālikaniryukti also highlights the general processes of the niryukti-genre.
As a first step the word vibhāsā is selected here to initiate such a study, for it has the basic advantage of being well-documented in all strata of exegetical literature and being explained with the help of examples in two different sets of works, namely, the Avaśyaka-corpus and the Bṛhatkalpabhāṣya. Thus, besides the actual usage of the word we also come to know about the way it is conceived as a technical term.

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Vibhāsā occurs as a member of a fivefold chain of terms centered around the idea of exposition (Pk. aṇuyoga) in an āryā-stanza common to the Avaśyakaniryukti (131) and the Bșhatkalpabhāşya (187):
aņuyogo ya niyogo bhāsă vibhāsā ya vattiyam c'eva: anuogassa u ee nämā eg'atthiyā panca. Disquisition in sequences, combined disquisition, exposition, detailed exposition and exhaustive exposition: these are the five equivalent designations of anuyoga.
As is often the case with lists of 'synonyms' (eg'arthiya, Sk. ekārthika), or rather words belonging to a given semantic field, the semantic connection is strengthened by morphological or phonetic appariations. In the present case, the formal basis of distribution (-yoga-/-bhāsā-), along with the place of the cesura (after niyogo), results in the formation of two distinct groups of two and three terms respectively, the fact that the last one is formally different from all the others not being an abnormal feature in such types of arrangements.
Thus, vibhāsā will not be explained individually but only in comparison with bhāsā and vattiya with which it is contrasted. The amount of explanation and the way of presenting the material vary according to the exegetical layers one considers. The situation can be summarized in a tabular form:
Defs. of the 3 terms
Development of ills.
AvN
ĀVC ViśAvBh ĀVTH=M. BkB
p. 115.5-6 v. 1418-1420 p. 87a = 130a (Sk.) v. 196-200 (+ Sk. T)
List of ills. v. 135 p. 115.7-116.14 1423 = AVN 135 AVN 135 v. 189
1424-1430 p. 96ab = 138ab (Sk.) v. 196-200 (+ Sk. ?)
Since the Av.-niryukti alone is very brief and only provides a list of terms (ĀVN 131: s. above) and a list of examples (ĀVN 135: s. below), it seems preferable to first address the next exegetical layer. Thus, I shall start with a translation of the relevant part of the cūrni (115.5-116.14). It gives (1) a

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general definition of vibhāsā (+ bhāsā and vattiya), and (2) an elaboration of the examples:
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Bhäsä, vibhāsā and also vattiya: these three [terms] are discussed [now] as only members of a triad. Generally [speaking]: the bhāsaga is a person who tells only one type of meaning. The vibhāsaga is a person who tells certain types of meaning. The vatukaraga is a person who tells all types of meaning. Here are the examples:
AVN 135: The piece of wood, the clay [modelling], the painting, the treasurehouse, the lotus, and the guide. These are the examples about the bhāsaga, vibhāsaga and the vallikarana.
Suppose that Devadatta, who wants to make an image of Skanda or Rudra, determines whether a piece of wood (KATTHA-) of a size proper for the image is solid or hollow. When this same wood is chiselled with an axe, etc., it can be known whether [the figure of] a man or a woman will be made out of it. Similarly, the sutras can be compared with the wood. The person who explains only the meaning of the roots found in the paragraphs of the sūtras is called a bhāsaga. When this same piece of wood is prepared with an adze, thobhanaya (?), etc., the limbs, the secondary members, the shapes [of the figure] are well produced. Similarly, he who explains in detail the words and the meanings of a sūtra in two, three or four different ways is called a vibhāsaga. A knower of the 14 Purvas [is a vibhāsaga] since he is able to explain the meaning in detail. An explanation with the maximum amount of details is a vattiya, when, in the case of this same piece of wood, the various niceties of the limbs and secondary members like the pores of the skin, the eyeball (ditthi-phalaga), etc., are produced, and when one explains a meaning with all possible processes, there is [thus] an exhaustive execution. The Omniscient Being is the vattikaraga par excellence. Others, however, say that the vattikaraga is the one who has heard and learnt an exposition (anuoga) in three or/to seven generations of transmission. So much for 'the wood'.
For the clay [modelling] (POTTHA-): First the darbha grass, etc., has been mixed. It has been bound together and shaped according to the measure: this is bhāsā. The limbs and secondary members have been formed as desired: this is vibhāsā. When the full figure with eyes, etc., is accomplished, there is vattiya.
And now the painting (CITTA-): On a wall the desired shape is outlined (tikkiya): this is bhäsä. The limbs and secondary members are drawn: vibhäsä. When the full figure with eyes, etc., is completed, it is vattiya.

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The treasure-house (SIRIGHARIYA-): One person knows: "In this place there are jewels." Similarly, a learner of sūtras knows that the sūtra has indeed a deep meaning. Another attendant of the treasure-house knows: "This is such and such jewel." Similarly, a learner of sūtras knows that this is the general meaning of the sūtra. The one who thus knows the meaning of the sūtra is a bhāsaga. Another one knows their power and their value, he is a vibhāsaga. Another one knows everything about them. He knows where and when to hide or to exhibit [?] it and so on. Similarly the valtiya knows everything: which meaning is to be applied at which place in his own doctrine, as a general rule or as an exception; where, when and how.
The lotus (PONDA-): Such is also the sūtra. When it blossoms a little, it is bhāsaga. When the lotus blossoms (more), it is vibhāsaga. When it is in full bloom with all its components, it is vattiya. The lotus has been explained.
And now the guide (DESIYA-): Suppose, one man knows the way to Pāšaliputra. Similarly the learner of sūtras knows that there is some meaning in the sūtra. Another person knows that the road leads to such and such town, but he does not know what lies in between. Similarly, the bhāsaga knows that there is this meaning in the sutra). A third man knows the particular road: he knows where it is straight and where winding, he knows its length, it has so many gavyūtas. Similarly, the vibhāsaga knows the sūtra having various components. A fourth one knows all these details about the road). He knows that there is danger coming from wild animals, from thieves and how to bypass them. Again he follows the road. Thus he knows it with all details. Similarly the vattiya.
'The explanation of one who, as if he were echoing, gives only one meaning of a sūtra (containing words such as] sāmāyika, bāla, pandita, sādhu and yati, is called bhāsā.' (=BKBh 196)
As can be seen from this passage, the definition of our three terms is empirical. The process is similar in the Bșhatkalpabhāşya-corpus (bhāsā: v. 196, s. above; vibhāsā: v. 197-199ab, s. below; vattiya: v. 199cd-201),? but the examples are completely different. I shall confine myself to the stanzas relevant to vibhāsā:
The first (roofer) puts one leaf on the roof (= bhāşaka). The second one puts several leaves (= vibhāşaka). The third one thatches it with (leaves and) oil, tamarind and other materials (= vyaktikara). (197) The explanation of one who for one word gives two or more meanings is called

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vibhāsā. (For instance:) it eats, and it runs fast but does not get tired, therefore it is (called) an āsa [i.e. a horse). (198) Those who know the Pūrvas explain in full details the meaning of sāmāyika. (199ab)8
The Viseşāvaśyakabhāşya marks a new step since it gives an analysis of the terms themselves. Thus for vibhāsā:
vividhā visesao vā hoi vibhāsā dugai-pajjāyā; jadha sāmaiyam: samao sāmāyo vä samāyo va. (1419) Vibhāsā is a manifold or specific exposition which uses two or more equivalent terms. For instance, (the word) sāmāyika (can be analyzed in three different ways]: correct direction (= the fact of going on the path of Emancipation), gaining peace, equanimity.
· Haribhadra argues similarly, and Malayagiri follows him, with an example common to different schools of Indian philosophy. Thus, according to them, bhāsā is a statement refering to one characteristic of an object, e.g., the word ghata, derived from the root Vghat-, refers to the main characteristic of the pot. Vibhāsā is explaining an object by employing various synonyms, e.g., the pot has three designations: ghata, kuta and kumbha. A vattiya (rendered as vārtika: s. below) consists in enumerating all synonyms and thus bringing out all characteristics of an object.10
The following general remarks can be made at this stage:
(1) The opinion that the Āvaśyakacūmi and the Višeşāvaśyakabhāşya are "parallel undertakings" 11 is confirmed. Their wordings are very different, and it is hardly possible to detect any trace of reciprocal influence. It cannot be said here that the ViśAvBh "is a mere versification of the prose tradition represented by the (cūrņi)." 12 (2) The Sanskrit prose-commentaries of Haribhadra and Malayagiri clearly bear the mark of the Višeşāvasyakabhāşya, which is actually quoted in Malayagiri's tīkā,13 but they cannot be considered as "changing the Prakrit language of the Cūrņi to Sanskrit." 14 (3) Basically all the texts differentiate the three terms in the same way. Only the field of application does vary: the interpretation of the examples shows

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that it may affect either the number of (pseudo-) etymological explanations or the number of synonyms given for a word. (4) The word vattiya has been sanskritized both as vārtika and vyakti (kara), the latter being a pseudo-Sanskritisation. Anyhow, the word vārttika derives from the verb v vrt-, as does the term vrtti. (5) The difference in the illustrations proposed by the Āvaśyaka and the BKBh traditions probably shows that a certain amount of freedom was admitted among various groups of teachers, while a basic verse such as the one listing the five terms (above, p. 1) was kept identical. The redundancy of the illustrations (all demonstrate the same idea) should not be surprising. The verses which record lists of such examples should be viewed as kinds of stocks, from which the teacher could freely draw according to his requirement. All were most probably not used simultaneously. (6) From the viewpoint of literary classification, it is interesting to observe that the word bhāsā has been used to designate a class of Jaina texts (e.g., Bịhatkalpabhāşya); the words vibhāsā and vattiya are never found in a corresponding usage. (7) Besides the triad bhāsā, vibhāsā and vattiya, we come acro sthe triad sutta, vitit, vattiya (Sk. Sūtra, vrtti, vārtika) in the enumeration of twentynine pāvasuyapasangas (occasions of coming into contact with wrong or improper learning).15 The list has been given, for instance, in the Avasyaka-commentaries where the term vatriya is explained by the word vakkhāna (Sk. vyākhyāna) and its size is said to be one crore (of units) or immeasurable (aparimiya-). 16 The interrelationship of the terms in both triads is of the same nature; they are differentiated on the basis of their respective extent, vattiya, common to both triads, being the largest type of exposition.
Such are the semantic definitions proposed by the commentaries for bhāsā, vibhāsā and vattiya. Their usage may now be considered.
With the aforesaid meanings the terms had varying luck, vibhāsā being apparently the only one which can be followed up and traced in the texts. The conditions of its occurrence can be defined precisely. Vibhāsā always occurs in the nominative singular, mostly by itself as forming a nominal sentence, or, rarely in a phrase of the type vibhāsā kāyavvā (exchangeable with the corresponding verb, ... vibhāsiyavva-). It has not been found in the Canon

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(i.e. Angas, Upāngas, Chedasūtras, Mūlasūtras, Prakīrņakas) and appears to be a term born along with the exegetical texts. The above mentioned discussion on vibhāsā should have at least shown the commentators' wish to endow the word with the status of a methodological technical term and with a particular meaning which is not found outside Jainism. It can even be added that vibhāsā as a living word is restricted to the Prakrit commentaries (niryuktis, bhāşyas, cūrņis, Prakrit portions of the ţikās) since the Sanskritisation into vibhāṣā), traceable only in glosses, does not occur independently from its Prakrit counterpart (or otherwise it has the same usual meanings as in Sanskrit).
A semantic value close to the one described by the commentaries is preserved in an Āvaśyakaniryukti-stanza commenting upon a verse of the Āv.-sūtra (viz., second section: Cauvvīsatthaya, v. 6cd)17 which it quotes:
"ārugga-bohi-lābham samāhi-varam uttamam ca me dentu": kim nu hu niānam eam ti? vibhāsā ettha kāyavvā. (ĀvN 1094) "May (the Jinas) provide me with health and Enlightenment and also with the utmost concentration!" Is this a desire of a bad type? A detailed discussion on this point should be introduced.
The corresponding cūrni makes it clear that vibhāsā here announces a development to be read in the subsequent verses (vibhāsā ettha bhavai tam jahā (AvC II 12.7]) where an answer is given to the question raised: the only justification for this wish is the bhakti of the follower. The Jinas have given what they could, namely the Teaching. Since as Siddhas they cannot be affected by any passion, they will not be able to give anything else. Hence the followers have their destiny in their own hands. The țīkās hand down the following standard gloss of vibhāsā, to which they stick whenever the word appears: vividhā bhāṣā vibhāṣā, viņaya-vibhāga-vyavasthāpanena vyākhyêry arthah (AVTH 508b.2, etc.). An interesting proof of the fact that this meaning was specific to Svetāmbara exegesis only is provided by Vasunandin's commentary on Mülācāra 7.6518 which is almost identical to AvN 1094. This commentator gives vibhāsā the usual meaning of 'alternative' (kim punar idam nidānam na bhavati? na bhavaty eva. kasmād? vibhāşâtra vikalpo 'tra kartavyo yasmād iti).

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However, almost everywhere else, vibhāsā works as an abridgment-mark used in order to avoid a repetition of something which has been said before or which can be easily deduced on the basis of the preceding. The addressees of the text are thus invited to supply the implicit statement. In itself the process is not fundamentally different from what is found in the Canon, where it is, however, expressed by other terms (e.g., ... bhāniyavva-, neyavva-, .evam padiuccāreyavvam, etc.).19
For instance, out of the four combinations which would form a complete caturbhanga-argumentation, only two are explicitly mentioned as examples in the following verse. The remaining two have to be developed accordingly:
ettham puņa cau-bhango jāņaga-iarammi goni-näenam; suddhâsuddhā padham'antimā u; sesesu a vibhāsā. (ĀVN 1616) On this point there is a caturbhanga concerning (the problem of knowing whether the person who confers the pratyākhyāna-atonement and the one who receives it) know (the process) or not. (It is to be developed) with the example of the cow. The first and the last (combinations) are (respectivelyl good and bad (i.e. when both persons know the process and when none of them knows it). For the others the detailed explanation has to be supplied.
A similar process can be seen at work, now in the case of a niksepa-pattern:
sambandhaņa-samjoge khettai-vibhāsă jā bhaniyā kheltâisu samjogo so c'eva vibhāsiyavvo u. (UTIN 63)
This rather awkward verse merely aims at establishing a parallel between two niksepas as far as the viewpoints 'place, etc. are concerned: (a) the niksepa of the compound sambandhana-samjoga which has been the subject of v. 47, and (b) the niksepa of the word samjoga which should be fully developed in the subsequent verses along the same lines.20
In these two examples, the exact contents of what is implied by vibhāsā can be easily determined. Firstly, the words which occur in the verses are expanded in subsequent verses or in the prose-commentaries. Secondly, we are dealing with well-established scholastic patterns endowed with some regularity.

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In other cases, the term vibhāsā means that a detailed explanation is to be supplied on the basis of a pattern already developed within the text. The Av.-sūtra, for instance, lists three cases of transgression of the digvrata: (a) going beyond the limits in an upward direction, (b) going beyond the limits in a downward direction, and (c) going beyond the limits in a horizontal direction.21 The prose-commentaries fully discuss the first and the third cases, the second one having to be discussed on the same model: uddham jam pamānam gahiyam ...; evam adhe vi kūviyâdīsu vibhāsā (“similar full discussion regarding the downward direction also: for wells, etc.") ... ; tiriyam jam pamāṇam gahiyam ... (ĀyH 827b.7 = CII 294.12).22
The same process applies to narrative sections:
tatth'eva virāgam gayassa kevala-nānam uppannam. tãe vi ceļie virāgo: vibhāsā; agga-mahiste vi; ranno vi punar āvatir jāyā, virāgo: vibhāsā. evam te cattāri vi kevalt jāyā siddhā ya (AvH 3600.5; C 485.11 and M 4696.4 have vibhāsā only once). Having reached indifference to worldly objects, he (i.e. Ilāputra) acquired Omniscience. The young girl also became indifferent: full description; and the chief queen too. The king too conceived remorse and indifference: full description. Thus all four became Omniscient and Emancipated.23
Elsewhere we know what is meant by vibhāsā because the word is followed by a reference to a source work. This device is met with only in the prose-commentaries (not in the elliptic style of the verse-commentaries). Thus: etise vibhāsā jahā Ohanijjuttīe (BKBh-cūrņi as quoted by Leumann: s. below, Appendix), or: imam udāharaṇam: do kappatthagā; jahā Āvassae tahā savvam vibhāsiyavvam (DaśavC 50. 17: s. below, p. 12-13.24
In many passages, however, the contents to be supplied remain vague (for us?). Such is the situation in narrative or descriptive passages where vibhāsā occurs after a catch-word introducing a locus communis. It could perhaps be dealt with ad libitum by the teacher, who could either draw from well-known developments on the given topic without restriction or possibly invent new ones. I list here a few instances:
sambuddho: vibhāsā. pavvaio (E. Leumann, Die Āv. -Erzählungen, Leipzig 1987, 28.7): "He was Enlightened: full description. He renounced the world."

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so kaṭṭhāni kalunāni vilavai: 'ehi putta, mã mã ujjhāhi; evam ādi vibhāsā. tato Tisalāe: vibhāsā (AvH 217b.3 = C 305.7 = M 290a.4): "Der [i.e. Sangamaka] schluchzte mitleiderregende, traurige Worte: 'komm, Sohn!'-ausführlicher Kommentar verlasse [mich] nicht!' Dann Tisala-ausführlicher Kommentar-"25 täna pae muha-dhovanâdi: vibhāsā (AvC 469.7 H 355b.7 M 465.12): "[The son] washed their [i.e. his parents'] feet and mouths: full description." (Pasannacando) rodda-jjhäņam pavanno. hatthina (AvH 487b.4; M 586a.4; vibhäsä not in AvC 455.13 entered in the fearful meditation. Full description: he an elephant (a horse fight with a horse, add. M)." tähe Piyangu Sujāyassa vesam karei ābharaṇa-vasaṇehim: vibhāsā (AVC II 197.14; different wording in H): "Then P. dressed S. with clothes and ornaments: full description." 26
hatthim viväei ti vibhäsä Vasudevahindi 16.27): "P. made an elephant fight with
Finally, the preceding investigation should help reconsidering a passage of Devendra's Uttaradhyayanațīkā included in Jacobi's Ausgewählte Erzählungen in Mähäräṣṭrī:
io ya tena kappadieṇa suyam, jahä: Müladevena vi eriso sumino dittho, järiso mae [...]. so cintei: vaccāmi jattha goraso, tam pivittä suvāmi, jāva taṇi sumiņam puno vi pecchami. -avi so pecchejja, na ya manusão vibhäsä. (VIII Müladeva 65.5-8)
Meyer translates: "Now that beggar heard: 'Müladeva too has dreamed just such a dream as I.' [...] He thought: 'I shall go where there is milk and, having drunk that, I shall sleep, so that I may dream that dream again." Maybe he dreamed it: but there is no light to be got from a man." (my emphasis)27. He adds a comment on this "grand and profound thought" 28 and considers that "vibhāsā would be the same in Skt." Similarly, Bloomfield ("As to whether he shall see it no man reporteth")29 and Charpentier ("vielleicht wird er ihn bekommen so was können ja die Menschen nicht wählen"; "na ya manusão vibhāsā ist mir nicht ganz klar")30 missed the point. Edgerton noted that the word was not recorded in Jacobi's 'Glossary' and, apparently not convinced by Meyer's proposal, wrote: "acc. to Meyer t[at]s[ama]; but perhaps rather vibhäşä? Uncertain."31
In fact, for any reader who has only Jacobi's text at his disposal, it is not

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possible to understand this passage correctly: exactly as in the other instances reviewed above, vibhāsā cannot be justified unless it is replaced in its original context.
Devendra's account of Mūladeva's career is a complete recast with considerable additional narrative material of a very brief and simple anecdote preserved both in Sāntisūri's Uttarādhyayanatikā (the avowed model of Devendra) and in the Avaśyaka prose-commentaries, where the only two characters involved are two anonymous beggars (kappadiya-).32
There were two beggars. The first beggar dreamt that he had drunk the moon and told it to (other) beggars. They said: “You will receive a cake the size of the moon." He got one from a householder's wife. Another [beggar) had the same dream. He bathed, took a fruit or some other present and reported to the interpreter of dreams who said: "You will become a king."33 Now, on the seventh day the king died without an heir. This beggar was feeling depressed when a consecrated (ahiyāsio = Sk. adhivāsita) horse came, who took him on its back. This is how he became the king. Then the (first) beggar came to know that (his companion) had such a dream and had become a king as a result of the prophecy (õesa-phalena). He thought: "Let me go where there is milk. I shall drink it and sleep." Will he again have the same dream? May be he will.
In all versions, the story is the sixth of ten examples adduced to illustrate the difficulty of gaining human birth again (catch-word suvine, Sk. svapna: ULUN 160 = ĀvN 832). Each of them (among which the well-known parable of "the turte and the yoke-hole") 34 refers to an extremely difficult task or a very rare event. The conclusion, which is always the same, is expressed in explicit words for the first and the second stories. Thus: avi so vaccejja antam, na ya māņusattaņão bhatt ho puno māņusattanam lahai (śāntisūri, Ut? p. 216, etc.): “He might come to an end (of his activity). However, one who has lost human existence, will not regain it so easily.” Or, avi ņāma so jippejja ņa ya māņusão bhattho puno māņusattanam (ibidem): “It might be that he wins. However, one who has lost human existence will not regain it so easily." In other illustrations, the last part of the sentence, which remains the same, is not repeated, but the mention of vibhāsā indicates that it has to be inferred.

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Thus, I would propose the following translation of Jacobi's Erzählungen 65.7-8: "It might be that he dreams this again. But (once deprived) from human birth...: [supply the] full sentence (on the basis of what precedes for other illustrations]."35
When this story is utilized in later books for other didactic purposes and thus is not a member of a chain, the conclusion is given in full. See, for instance:
kappadio suviņ'atthi puna puņa bhottūna gorasam sutto. avi so lahejja suviņam taha vi narattam puna vi du-laham.36 Wishing to have the same) dream the beggar took milk again and again and slept. He might get this dream. (To get] human birth again is however more difficult.
To trace the destiny of vibhāsā in later Prakrit is not an easy task. It is in fact unlikely that the word continued to be commonly used. Still; the two following instances, both found in Prakrit portions of Jinaprabhasūri's Vividhatīrthakalpa (14th cent.),37 may be mentioned. They are in perfect agreement with the traditional use of vibhāsā since they spare the repetition of what can be easily deduced from a given pattern:
Angakumāra-nāmenam Anga-deso jāo. Kuru-nāmenam Kuru-khettam pasiddham. evam Vanga-Kalinga-Süraseņa-Avanti-m-āisu vibhāsā. (27.6; No. 16 Hastināpura)
The second passage records various diverging interpretations of people about an image of the Jina Supārsva, which they do not recognize as such because they are non-Jainas: "Some say: 'It is the god Svayambhū with Vāsuki as his distinctive mark.' Others say: 'It is Nārāyana lying on Sesa'; evam Bambha-Dharaninda-Süra-Cand"āisu vibhāsā," (17.24; No. 9 Mathurā)
Thus, we see that the word vibhāsā which has been used as a technical term by the Jainas has to be rendered into English in a twofold way:
(1) A medium size exposition, compared to bhāsā (summary exposition) and vattiya (exhaustive exposition). This usage appears only in theoretical discussions. (2) A detailed exposition according to the context in order to fill in a gap. This usage is recorded over a long period of time.

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If it were to be placed in a dictionary, the present study would only be a part of the entry vibhāsā covering a specific shade of meaning evolved in Jaina Prakrit commentaries which the usual Prakrit dictionaries do not record as such or for which they provide scarce material. A complete article would also take into account the weakening of this meaning (vibhāsā tends to become an equivalent of vyākhyā 'explanation')38 and would list usages and references nearer to what is found in Sanskrit (meaning: 'option', possibility').39 All of them are developed from the potentialities included in the preverb vi- which implies dissociation, completeness, and also deviation (cf. Sk. vibhāṣā as the name given to some Prakrit dialects of low-caste people, and the use of the term in Pāṇinean grammar).40
Appendix
As complementary material regarding the use of the word vibhāsā, I wish to add an extract from E. Leumann's posthumous papers made available to me through the kind help of Prof. A. Wezler (Hamburg). It can be read on pp. 6-7 of a document which includes 22 leaves, very neatly written and apparently ready for the press. A reference found on p. 1 suggests that it was to be a part of the Übersicht über die Avasyaka-Literatur.41 Leumann's aim was to determine the relative chronology of the Avaśyakacūrņi and the (Bșhat)kalpacūrņi. In order to answer this question he undertook a detailed study of the language, especially of the terminology and the modi explicandi of this second cūrņi. As usual, his work which extensively covers the first uddesaka of the BKBh-cūrņi is entirely based on manuscripts ("P" and "B" referred to and described in A. Weber, Verzeichnis, 2. Band, 2. Abteilung, Nr. 1894). No progress has been made so far in the study of this cūrņi which is still unpublished in 1993.
Hinter vyākhyā resp. vibhāsā ist in einigen Fällen noch eine Pkt. oder Skt. Einleitung (z.B. nach dem Schema III 1, a)42 eingeschoben. Zuweilen folgt nicht die normale Text-Aufführung (nach der unten III 2 zu schildernden Methode), sondern eine erklärende Paraphrase; hinter etise vibhāsā steht beidemal ein Hinweis auf die Oghaniryukti, (1) auf die auch sonst öfter verwiesen wird.

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Abgesehen von den Varianten kommt asya vyākhyā im ersten Uddeśaka 204mal, assa vibhāsā bloß 20mal vor. Das Wort vibhāsā im Sinne der Schemata C & D erscheint überhaupt nur bei I 114-899, und zwar (sechsmal) bei I 303-556 ohne mit vyākhyā abzuwechseln; dagegen wird vibhāsā zu I 877 und häufig von I 1128 an für die Prosa-Ausführungen des Commentars gebraucht, gewöhnlich abkürzungsweise mit der Bedeutung "die Ausführung soll gegeben werden” (z.B. heißt uvanaya-vibhāsā "die Anwendung des Gleichnißes ist darzulegen," jam kāhiti vibhāsā "was er thun wird ist näher auszuführen"). Diese zweite Verwendung des Wortes vibhāsā ist, wie der Sprachgebrauch der Bhāsyen zeigt, die ursprüngliche; dagegen kann vibhāsā in den Schemata C & D nur angesehen werden als ein dem Pkt. Zusammenhang zuliebe versuchsweise und eine Zeit lang mit Vorliebe gewähltes Aequivalent für vyākhyā.
(1) iyānim "samghādae" iti dāram, asya vyākhyā: 897*, etlse vibhāsā jahā Ohanijjuttīe ... 898*, etise vibhāsā jahā Ohanijjuttie ... 899*, kanthā ... etesim dārānam "sa-padipakkhassa" ya vibhāsā jahā Ohanijjullie. "bhikkha" tti dāram gayam. iyāṇim "kappa-karane ya" ni dāram, asya (assa P] vyākhyā: 900*.
Abbreviations
(Āv)C Āvaýyakacūrņi in śrīmad Āvaśyakasūtam. 2 Parts. Raulam, 1928-1929. (Āv) H Haribhadra's Āvasyakaļikā: see ĀvN. (Āv) M Malayagiri's Āvasyakavrtti. 3 Parts. Bombay: Agamodaya Samiti, 1928,
1932 and DLJP 1936. ĀVN Āvasyakaniryukti (with Āvaśyakasūtra and Haribhadra's țīkā). Bombay:
Agamodaya Samiti, 1916-17. (Reprint in 2 vols. Bombay, vī. sam. 2508
with a different pagination.) BKBH Brhatkalpabhäsya (with tīkā). Ed. Muni Caturvijayaji and Punyavijayaji.
6 Vols. Bhavnagar, 1933-1942. DaśavC Daśavaikālikacūrni. Ed. Muni Punyavijayaji. Varanasi-Ahmedabad,
1973. (Prakrit Text Society Series 20.) UIN Uttarādhyayananiryukti with śāntisūri's tikā. Prathamo vibhāgah. Surat,
1950. ViśĀvBh Jinabhadra's Viseşāvasyakabhāsya with Auto-commentary. Ed. D.D.
Malvania. Part I. Ahmedabad, 1966. (L.D. Series 10.)

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Notes
1. K. Bruhn, "Avaśyaka Studies I," Studien zum Jainismus und Buddhismus:
Gedenkschrift für Ludwig Alsdorf, Wiesbaden 1981, 13-14. 2. "Synonymen-Listen sind nämlich neben Erklärungsschematen, Aufzählungen
(...), Beispieltiteln, Erzählungsgesprächen (...) und geringen Interpretationsandeutungen der wesentlichste Inhalt von Bhadrabahu's Originalstrophen": E. Leumann, “Dasavaikälika-sūtra und -niryukti," ZDMG 46 (1892): 602; L. Alsdorf, “Niksepa — A Jaina Contribution to Scholastic Methodology," JOI (Baroda) 22 (1973): 455-463 = Kleine Schriften, Wiesbaden 1974, 257-265;
Niruktakośa, Ladnun 1984; Ekārthakakośa, Ladnun 1984. 3. E.g., L. Renou, Terminologie grammaticale du sanskrit, Paris: H. Champion,
1957. 4. Studia Indologica: Festschrift W. Kirfel, Bonn 1955 = Kleine Schriften, Wies
baden 1977, 321-343. 5. For a discussion of this passage see N. Tatia's foreword to T. Hanaki,
Anuogaddārāim (English translation), Vaishali 1970, and the English introduction (pp. 49-53) to Nandisuttam and Anuogaddārāim, Jaina-Agama-Series 1,
Bombay 1968. 6. The tīkā on BKBh 196 gives popular etymologies of these five words, for
instance: pāpāt dinaḥ palāyitah: panditah. athavā pandā buddhiḥ sā
samjātasyêti panditah. 7. cauro khalu mankha-suyā vatti-karanammi āharanā. (199cd)
phalag'ekko gāhāhim, biio taio ya vāiy'atthenam tinni vi a-kudumba-bharā, tiga-joga cautthao bharai. (200) je jammi juge pavarā tesi sagāsammi jena uggahiyam (...) vattikaro sa khalu. (201) "The examples about exhaustive exposition are the four adepts of the mankhagroup (s. A. L. Basham, History and Doctrine of the Ājivikas, London 1951, 35). The first one uses the tablet (where god-images are depicted only), the second one (only) sings, the third one (only) gives explanations. All these three do not sustain their families (i.e. earn no money). The fourth one who combines the three activities sustains it. He is a vattikara indeed, who has learnt from those
who are prominent in the respective period." 8. ekkenam ekka-dalam tahim kayam biiyaena (so with v.1.; ed. biiena) bahutaragā,
laieņa chāiyam tam tell'ambila-m-ād'uvāehim. (197)

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ega-pae u dugår jo atthe bhanai să vibhāsā u: asai ya āsu ya dhāvai, na ya sammai teņa āso u. (198) sāmāiyassa attham puvva-dhara samattam-o vibhāsei. (199ab) Especially for v. 197, my translation is highly dependent on the corresponding
tīkā. 9. The translation of padas cd is based on what Hemacandra-Maladhärin says in his
Sanskrit commentary on the Visesävasyakabhāsya, Pt. I, 2, Ahmedabad vi. sam.
2489, 528. 10. yathā ghatanät ghataḥ cestāvān artho ghaļa iti; vividhā bhäşā vibhāṣā,
paryāya-sabdaih tal-svarūpa-kathanam, yathā ghatah kutah kumbha iti. (ĀvH
87a) 11. K. Bruhn, "Āv. Studies I" (see above, n. 1), 15. 12. L. Alsdorf, “Jaina Exegetical Literature and the History of the Jaina Canon,"
Mahāvīra and His Teachings, ed. A.N. Upadhye et al., Bombay 1977, 5. 13. ViśĀvBh 1424-1425 quoted in Malayagiri's sīkā, p. 138b. 14. L. Alsdorf, op. cit. 15. See Samavāyānga 29 (Jaina-Āgama-Series ed., p. 379); Āvaśyakasutra (JĀS ed.,
p. 341, 1.8); Uttarādhyayana 31, 19. 16. AvH 660b, samgrahani-verse 2: ... suttam vitti taha valtiyam ..., and two
explanatory verses: ... suttam sahassa, lakkha ya vitti, taha kodi vakkhāņam (1) angassa saya-sahassam suttam, vitti ya kodi vinneyā, vakkhāņam aparimiyam, iyam eva ya vattiyam jāņa. (2)
Also compare AVC II 149. 17. Jaina-Āgama-Series 15, Bombay 1977, 334. 18. E. Leumann, Übersicht über die Āvasyaka-Literatur, Hamburg 1934, 172 =
v. 568 in Shri Vattakeracharya's Mūlāchāra, ed. by Kailash Chandra Shastri et al., translated into Hindi] by Venerable Aryikaratna Jnanmatiji, vol. 1, Delhi:
Bhāratiya Jñānapītha, 1984. 19. See, for instance, A. Weber, Über ein Fragment der Bhagavati, Abh. d. Königl.
Ak. der Wiss. zu Berlin 1865, 1. Theil, Berlin 1866, 380-381. 20. This complicated niksepa has been briefly surveyed by Alsdorf, “Nikṣepa"
(s. n. 2). 21. Āvasyaka-sūtra, Jaina-Agama-Series, p. 352; cp. R. Williams, Jaina Yoga,
London 1963 (Reprint Delhi 1983), 99ff. 22. Other similar instances are: DaśavN 154 (in Leumann's ed.: ZDMG 46 (1892) =
v. 55 on p. 35 in DaśavC); BKBh 404 (discussion which should explain why the

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83
verse first mentions the learned monk (bahussuya) and then the monk who has
been initiated since long (cirapavvaia]); DasavC 10.22 (evam vibhāsā). 23. See also ĀVC II 302.9 (= H 835a.8; the second example concerning the second
sikşāpadavrata should be detailed as the first has been). 24. Other instance of this type:
so hoi bhāva-kāo jīva-m-ajīve vibhāsā u. (ĀvN 1445 cd);
jīvājīvayor vibhāṣā khalv āgamanusāreņa käryä. (H 770b) 25. Die Āvasyaka-Erzählungen über die Upasargas des Mahāvīra im Vergleich mit
den Versuchungen des Bodhisattva in der buddhistischen Literatur, Dissertation
... vorgelegt von K. Verclas, Hamburg 1978, 258. 26. See also AVC II 60.12: to mā gavvam kāhisi: bahussuo evam ādi vibhāsā
(vibhāsā not in H 561a). 27. Hindu Tales: An English Translation of Jacobi's Ausgewählte Erzählungen in
Māhäräshtrī, London 1909, 219. 28. Meyer, Hindu Tales, 219 n. 1. 29. M. Bloomfield, “The Character and Adventures of Mūladeva,” Proceedings of
the American Philosophical Society 52.212 (Nov.-Dec. 1913): 650. 30. Studien zur Indischen Erzählungsliteratur 1: Paccekabuddhageschichten,
Uppsala 1908, 75 and n. 2. 31. F. Edgerton, “Notes on Jaina Māhārāstrī," Indian Studies in Honor of C.R.
Lanman, Harvard 1929, 30. 32. The translation is based on the text of ĀvC 448.4-9. See also ĀvH 343a.1-7; M
452b.13-453a.5; śāntisūri's Uttarādhyayanatikā 217-218. 33. Read bhavissasi for bhavissati. 34. See K. R. Norman, “Middle Indo-Aryan Studies IX," JOI (Baroda) 21 (1971-72):
331-335; A. N. Upadhye, "The Turtle and the Yoke-Hole," JOI (Baroda) 22.3 (March 1973): 323-326; M. Hara, "A Note on the Hindu Concept of Man," Journal of the Faculty of Letters (The University of Tokyo), Aesthetics 11
(1986): 45-60. 35. Vibhāsā also at the end of the fourth and fifth examples in śāntisūri's and
Devendra's tīkās; at the end of the second, fourth and fifth in Avc. 36. Kumārapāla-pratibodha of Somaprabhāchārya, ed. by Munirāja Jinavijaya, GOS
14, Baroda 1920, 16. 37. Vividhatīrthakalpà of Jinaprabhasūri, ed. by Jinavijaya, Singhi Jaina Series 10,
Bombay 1934. 38. See below, Appendix; Jaina Laksanāvali, vol. 3, Delhi 1979, 1011 (reference to
the Digambara commentary called Jayadhavala). A similar meaning seems to be

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84 Nalini Balbir attested in Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit: F. Edgerton, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Dictionary, New Haven 1953, s.v. vibhasa: "extensive commentary; explanation in detail." 39. References to Pindaniryukui in H. Sheth, Paia-sadda-mahannavo, Varanasi 1963. See also AvN 719; Oghaniryukti 110, 1059, etc. 40. Cf. P. Kiparsky, Panini as a Variationist, Poona 1979, 3; Pa. vibhasa in Aggavamsa's Saddantti: H. Smith, vol. 4, Lund 1949, 87.3.2.3. "Nachdem wir oben pp. 31639-47 festgestellt haben, dass das Visesavas yaka-bhasya zeitlich zwischen das Kalpa-bhasya und die KalpaCumi hineingehort, liegt uns nun in erster Linie daran zu erfahren, ob die AvasyakaCurni alter oder junger als die KalpaCurni ist." 42. "III 1, a" and "C and D" below refer to various headings of Leumann's investi gation. Nalini Balbir (URA 1058)