________________
ya faragha
To refute the objection of the Jaina logicians, the grammarians may argue that Verbal Testimony is the Vivarta of the SB. However, Vidyanandi nicely rejects this type of argument of the grammarians. According to him if the Verbal Testimony or will be the Vivarta "appearance" of the SB like other things, then this means of knowledge will be treated as avidya, which is asat. Now he asks the opponents that an asat, i.e. the Verbal Testimony may not be a cause for a sat one i.e. the SB viz tad-vivartastva vidyātma tasya prajñapakah katham.24 Thus the verb as testimony may not be a case to prove the existence of the SB.
In the Tattvarthaslokavarttika, Vidyanandi not only rejects the existence of the SB, but directly attains Bhastrhari quoting his first verse from the Vakyapadiya. He also opines that there is no such type of Brahman who is without beginning or end, whose very essence is the word, who is the cause of the manifested phonemes, who appears as the objects from whom the creation of the world proceeds viz.
tato natva oaram brahmastyānādinidhanātmakam. Vivarte-tvarthabhavena prakriya jagato yataḥ. 25
Thus the Jaina logician rejects the existence of the SB, which is, according to the grammarians, the real cause of this universe. They not only reject the existence of the SB, but who argue that the world is not engulfed with worlds
Sabdamaya". According to them since the SB is eternal in character, how any change "vivarta or parināma" is possible with that? Again, they think if the grammarians argue that at
24. The Tattvarthaslokavrttika Ibid verse 101, p. 241. 25. Ibid, verse 103, p. 241.
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