Abhidha

Author(s): Tapasvi Nandi, Jitendra B Shah
Publisher: L D Indology Ahmedabad

Page 35

Mahimā
Mahimā accepts sādhya-sadhana-bhāva in any verbal function. He not only does not accept Anandavardhana's scheme of the three functions of a word such as abhidhā, laksanā and vyanjanā, but positively denounces it and installs only one function of the word, i.e. only abhidhā and leaves all other meaning to be collected by what he calls 'anumiti' or 'kävyānumiti' i.e. 'poetic inference to be precise. We will have to examine his approach in greater details as below.
While refering to the powers belonging to word and sense, Mahimā, observes Prof. Dr. C. Rajendran (pp. 67, “A study of Mahimabhatta's Vyaktiviveka" pub. Calicut, '91), discusses the various aspects of language like word and sentence. According to him, all verbal expressions should be considered as inference since they consist of establishing something (sādhya) by means of something else (sādhana). The fact that language is used to persuade the hearer to do or not to do something, implies that the hearer has to be convinced of the logic of the speaker's arguments. The hearer has to grasp the connection between sabda and artha, the sādhya and sādhana, through inference and then only he is convinced of the soundness of the speaker's idea :
(vy.viveka, pp. 26, 27, Edn. Dr. Rewāprasāda Dwivedi, Chowkhamba Sktseries, office, Varanasi, '64) - "sarva eva hi śābdo vyavahārah sadhyasādhana-garbhatayā prāyena anumānarūpo'bhyupagantavyaḥ, tasya parapravrtti-nivrtti-nibandhanatvāt, tayońca sampratyaya-asampratyayātmanor anyathākartum aśakyatvatah, na hi yuktim anavagacchan kaścid vipaścid vacana-mātrāt sampratyayabhāg bhavati.”
Mahimā divides sabda into two such as 'pada' or word and 'vākya' or sentence. Word is further subdivided into (i) naman i.e. noun, (ii) ākhyāta or verb, (iii) upasarga i.e. semantic prefix, (iv) nipāta or preposition and (v) karmapravacanīya i.e. adverb. - "dvividho hi śabdah, pada-väkya-bhedāt; tatra padam aneka-prakāram nāmākhyātopa-sarga-nipāta-karmapravacanīya-bhedāt (pp. 27, ibid). 'nāmā' denotes an existing object, which is qualified by either jāti i.e. class, guna, i.e. quality, kriyā i. e. action or dravya i. e. substance. -