Studies On Bhartrhari

SR No.: 269568
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst
Total Pages: 17
Language: English
Classification: Article
File Size: 2 MB

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Johannes Bronkhorst
only 'vibhaktis! with two or four syllables are acceptable. Then however it deviates from any known text by quoting a remarkable rule: One should not use sabdajāmi; sabdajāmi is that which has an ablative ending. Subsequently Bhartshari observes that tanūnapad is sometimes replaced by narāśamso. Something similar was noted by the commentator Gārgya Nārāyaṇa on AśvśS 2.8.6 (see Rau, 1980: 176) and by Sivarāmendra Sarasvati (see Bronkhorst, 1981:174), both in connection with the Aśvalāyana version of the 'vibhaktis'.
1.5. What is the source from which Bhartshari derived his detailed know
ledge on ritual matters? The most likely answer is that he used Prayoga manuals belonging to the Maitrāyaṇīyas. Few old Prayogas have survived and their study has hardly begun. Yet the suspicion could be voiced that "some sort of Prayogas must have been in vogue even before the composition of the Srautasūtras proper" (Srautakośa Vol. I, English section, Part I, Preface, p. 7; see already Hillebrandt, 1879: XV; 1897:38). Bhide (1979: 150f.) studied two extant Prayogas of the Cāturmāsya sacrifices and compared them with the Hiranyakesi Srauta Sūtra, under which they resort. Interestingly, the older of these two Prayogas, by Mahādeva Somayājin, deviates a number of times from the Hiranyakeśi Srauta Sūtra. This shows that Bhartshari may indeed have used Prayoga manuals belonging to his Vedic school, and that the few deviations from the Mānava Srauta Sūtra which we noticed above do not prove that these manuals belonged to another school than that of the Mānavas.
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2.1. We conclude from the above that Bhartshari was not a Mimāmsaka. Yet he
was acquainted with Mimāmsā. He uses the word 'Mimāmsaka' several times in his commentary on the Mahābhāșya. The line siddha dyauh siddha prthivi siddham ākādam iti (Mbh 1.6.18-19) is elucidated by Bhartrhari's remark (AL 22.23; Sw 27,19; Ms 8a4; CE I 19.11): arhatānām mināmsakānam ca naivāsti vināśaḥ eşām "According to the Jainas and Mimāņsakas there is no destruction of these", i.e., of sky, earth and ether. At another place (AL 29.10-11; Sw 35.2; Ms 9d7; CEI 24.15) Bhartshari quotes the words darśanasya parārthatvat in a discussion concerning the eternality of words. This must be a reflection of PMS 1.1.18 nityas tu syad darśanasya pararthatvát. Note however that Bhartshari's quote does not only lack the initial words of the sūtra, it also has an additional word at the end,