________________
Sabdavṛttis; recognised in the works....
209
The idea is that some define sabda as one from which apprehension of meaning follows. Bhāmaha rejects this view on the ground that in that case, the appearance of smoke which causes the knowledge of fire through reasoning, should also be recognised as a word. At VI. 8. Bhamaha quotes another view which holds that a collection of letters having a meaning, and used for conveying a meaning, is a word. Says he :
"nanu akāradivarṇānām samudāyo'bhidheyavān, artha-pratītaye gītaḥ śabda ity abhidhīyate."
'abhidheyavān' suggests that for him vācyārtha is 'abhidheyàrtha', and sabda is vācaka, and the power of expression is 'abhidha.' Tatacharya observes :
"nanu' iti avadhāraṇe. abhidheyavān vācyàrthavan vṛttiman iti yāvat. abhidheyavān abhidheyartha-pratītyartham uccarito varṇa-samudaya eva padam iti uktam bhavati. varṇasamudaya iti anena dhūmāder vyāvṛttiḥ. abhidheyavān iti padaikadeśasya padantarakṣaropetapadasya ca. lipi-vyāvṛttaye viseṣaṇantaram. kambugrīvādimad arthàbhidhāyino ghatadipadasya ākāśarthe śabdatva vāraṇāya
vā."
But Bhamaha rejects this view also. He observes: (VI 9, 10)— "pratyekam asamarthānām samudayo'rthavan katham varṇānām krama-vartitvān nyāyyā nā'pi ca samhatiḥ." and, "na ca'pi samudayibhyo samudāyo'tiricyate, dārubhittibhuvo'tītya kim anyat sadma kalpyate."
The rejection perhaps here is of the view held by the Naiyāyikas as observed earlier. Bhāmaha says that how can a collection of letters that are meaningless taken individually convey meaning? Again, as letters follow one another in sequence, no collection of letters is possible because when the next letter is pronounced the earlier one has evaporated. Now a whole cannot be different from its parts; a house cannot be anything else than wall, sticks, and land. The thrust is that how can impermanent letters form a collection? When letters individually are ephemeral how can their combination remain steady and give a meaning ? Bhamaha gives an illustration of a house which in itself is the sum total of the materials it is built with. But we fear that this illustration is not proper. Bhāmaha has drawn an illustration from physical plane to disprove a matter which it not at
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org