Studies On Bhartrhari 5 Bhartrhari And Vaisesika

SR No.: 269426
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst
Total Pages: 20
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

Page 7

BHARTRHARI AND VAISESIKA
81
These sutras occur in two groups, in Ähnikas 2.1 and 2.2 respectively. The first group follows sūtra 2.1.20/19/20 which presents leaving and entering a place as the inferential mark of ether (niskramanaṁ praveśanam ity ākāśasya lirigam)." This inferential mark is rejected in the then following group of sütras, and replaced by another inferential mark, sound, which is proved to be a quality of ether. This whole discussion - which covers sūtras 21-26 in Jambuvijaya's edition, 20-30 in Thakur's, and 21-27 and 30-31 in Sinha's - is therefore added onto another, older inferential mark meant to prove the existence of ether. Since ether is enumerated as one of the substances in sūtra 1.1.4, we may safely assume that in earliest - or at any rate, earlier - Vaišesika the motions of leaving and entering a place were deemed to prove the existence of the substance ether. This conclusion also teaches us to regard with suspicion any discussions that may occur within the body of the Vaiśesika Sūtra.
Sound is again discussed in Ahnika 2.2. The context is, again, peculiar. Sūtra 2.2.19/17/17 introduces the topic, which is doubt (sambaya); this topic continues until 2.2.23/21/20. Then the topic sound is introduced, in 2.2.24/22/21, and the following sūtra 25 (it occurs only in Candrānanda's version) makes clear that this topic is meant to illustrate a particular case of doubt: is sound a substance, an action, or a quality (tasmin dravyam karma guna iti sarśayah)? This illustration now steals the show completely, and is the sole topic of discussion - according to the commentators - until the end of the Ahnika. It seems clear that this long excursus on sound is an intrusion into the text, and that Adhyāya 2 originally ended with a discussion of 'doubt'.
Vaiśesika, then, underwent a change in its conception of sound. The new conception, according to which sound is a quality of ether, is already known to Nyāya Sūtra 1.1.12-14. Caraka Samhita, Sūtrasthāna 1.49, moreover, enumerates the Vaiśesika qualities in such a manner that it is clear that its author knew the expanded list: mention is made of guru etc., and we may conclude that sound, too, was considered a quality. All this suggests that the change took place at a rather early date.
However, Jinabhadra's Visesavasyakabhāsya states in so many words that the number of Vaiśesika qualities is 17, as we have seen. This text
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Compare this with "giving room" (avakāšadāna), mentioned as mark of ether in the (according to Ruben, spurious) Nyaya sūtra gandhakledapakavyūhāvakāśadānebhyah pāricabhautikam, see Ruben, 1928: 64. Cf. Adachi, 1990: 909 (35); Narain, 1976: 108f.