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If we touch something, we should feel the touch. We hear words, but words are not touchable. How can words be considered touchable in such a situation? The answer is that it is not possible to make a rule that whatever we experience must have an effect. There are many things that we do not experience, but their existence is accepted through inference and other proofs. For example, atoms are not visible, but they exist. The second question might be, if there is touch in words, why don't we feel it? The solution is that touch is present in words, but it is latent. Just as we experience the smell from a fragrant substance, but we do not experience touch in it because it is latent. Similarly, the touch of words is also latent.
Again, one might wonder how to ascertain that there is touch in words. The solution is that when a favorable wind blows, sound can be heard even from a distance. When an unfavorable wind blows, even if one is close, words are not clearly heard. This clearly shows that a favorable wind helps in the transmission of words, while an unfavorable wind resists it. If words were touchless, then wind would have no effect on them. Therefore, words are material, they have touch, and because they have touch, they are made of pudgala.
The second argument was that words pass through walls and come out, so they are not pudgala. The answer is that there are small holes in doors and windows through which words come out. If there were no holes at all, words would not be able to come out. If the door is open, it is clearly heard, and if the door is closed, it is unclear. Therefore, words are gross like smell, and because they are gross, they are pudgalic.
The third argument is that pudgala is not visible before it is created and after it is destroyed. The answer is that just as electricity is not visible before it is generated and after it is destroyed, its subsequent form is not visible, yet electricity is still pudgalic. So what is the obstacle in considering words to be pudgalic?
The fourth argument is that if words were pudgala, they would surely induce other pudgalas. In response, we would say that there are many substances like subtle dust, smoke, etc., which, despite being pudgalic, do not induce others. This does not pose any obstacle to their being pudgala. The same is the case with words.
The fifth argument was that words are a quality of space, but words are not actually a quality of space, but a synonym of pudgala substance. If words were a quality of space, they could not be perceived directly. Since space is not directly perceived, how can its quality be directly perceived? Words are directly perceived through the auditory sense, so they are not a quality of space. Whatever is the object of the sense is pudgalic, like a pot, a cloth, etc.
From the above discussion, it is clear that words are pudgala. This pudgalic word has an inherent power due to which the knowledge of objects arises. Every word has the power to convey the knowledge of all objects in the world. The word 'pot' signifies a pot, but it can also signify a cloth, etc. But humans have imagined different symbols and focused its vast speaking power. Therefore, in which country and in which time, for which object, whatever word is fixed, it conveys the knowledge of that object. Take the word 'cow' as an example. If the meaning of 'cow' is assumed to be all objects in the world, then a person will understand any object from it. To avoid this confusion, the comprehensive [43]