Bhattoji Diksita On Sphota

Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

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JOHANNES BRONKHORST
NOTES
Yoga Bhāsya on sūtra 3.17: ... ekam padam ekabuddhivisayam ekaprayatnāksiptam abhāgam akramam avarņam bauddham antyavarnapratyayavyāpāropasthāpitam ... 2 Cp. Joshi, 1967: 7: “Since for (later grammarians (i.e., Bhattoji and his successors)], the term sphota necessarily refers to the significant unit, they tried to interpret the term varnasphota to mean the smallest meaningful units like stems, roots and suffixes. ... To Patañjali the term sphota need not necessarily involve consideration of meaning." Further Joshi, 1967: 10: "Patañjali has never used the term sphota to refer to a single indivisible meaning-bearing unit. The term sphota as used by Patanjali always stands for the structure of expression which may or may not have meaning". Cardona, 1968: 448: "Joshi rightly and importantly stresses ... that for Bhartshari sphota is not used uniquely with reference to the meaning-conveyor word'. This is worth emphasizing in view of the influence exerted by J. Brough's article 'Theories of General Linguistics in the Sanskrit Grammarians' ..., wherein Brough maintains that for Bhartrhari, as for later grammarians, sphota was ... 'simply the linguistic sign in its aspect of meaning bearer (Bedeutungsträger)." See further below. 3 Similarly Cardona, 1976: 303: "Brough's exposition of sphota was heavily influenced by later Pāņinīyas." 4 Bhattoji Dīksita, Sabdakaustubha (ed. Nene et al.) I p. 71.15–17: ekah pata itivad ekam padam vāk yam vety abādhitapratiter varnätiriktam eva padam vāk yam vā akhandam varnavyangyam / kat vapratitir aupādhikiti cet? pate 'pi tathāt vāpatteh/. 5 Bhattoji Dīksita, Sabdakaustubha (ed. Nene et al.) I p. 7 1.4-9. 6 Bhattoji Dīksita, Sabdakaustubha (ed. Nene et al.) I p. 81.13-19. 7 This passage occurs twice in the Bhāsya, not under sūtra 1.1.56, but under P. 1.1.20 (Mahā-bh I p. 75 1.13) and P. 7.1.27 (Mahā-bh III p. 251 1.12). See further below.
It seems likely that the reference is to Kaiyata on P. 1.1.56 sthānivad ädeso 'nalvidhau (I p. 399 1.11-16): dvividha ādesah, pratyaksas cāster bhür it yadih / anumānikas cair urityādih / atra hi ikārenekärāntah sthāny anumīyate / ukārenokārāntas cadeśah / tatas tes tur iti sampadyate / etc. For a discussion what is at stake, cp. Joshi & Roodbergen, 1990: p. VIII f. and transl. p. 6 n. 30. 9 The reference is no doubt to Mahā-bh I p. 267 1.8-12 (on P. 1.3.10). See further below. 10 Cp. Gaurinath Sastri, 1980: 60: "it is necessary to point out that by varņa-sphota it is not meant that each and every letter is regarded as sphota but the letter or letters constituting either a stem or a suffix are regarded as such"; and p. 63: "according to (the grammarians' theory of varna-sphota the stem and the suffix ... are denotative of sense". Joshi, 1967: 73: “The term varnasphota does not mean that each single phoneme is regarded as sphota, but the phoneme or phonemes constituting either a stem or a suffix are regarded as such." Il So Cardona (1976: 303): 'in the view of such later Päninīyas the term varna does not mean 'sound unit' in this context; it denotes a unit lower than a word, namely a base or an affix". Similarly Sri Krsna Bhatta Maunin, who in his Sphotacandrikā (p. 1 1.22) speaks of a varna which is of the nature of a stem or a suffix (prakrtipratyayarüpa). Since this last author refers to the Bhusana of Kaunda Bhatta (p. 2 1.29), he is to be dated after the latter. Ramajna Pandeya (1954: 49 f.) tries to improve upon the scheme of Bhattoji and his successors by replacing their varnasphota with the pair prakrtisphota and pratyayasphota. Further refinements lead him to a total of sixteen kinds of sphota. 12 Bhattoji Dīksita, Sabdakaustubha (ed. Nene et al.) I p. 7 1. 9-10. Bhattoji does not say, nor indeed intend, that this remark concerns isolated morphemes, but this is how Nāgeśa interprets him (Sphotavāda p. 5 1.6–7: prayujyamānapadanantargalā