Dravyasamgraha

Author(s): Nemichandra Acharya, Vijay K Jain
Publisher: Vikalp

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Dravyasamgraha
serve as means of intercourse among civilized persons, and other languages among primitive peoples. The latter kind of sounds (i.e. sounds not having scripts) is the means of ascertainment of the nature of superior knowledge amongst creatures with two of more senses1. Both these kinds of sounds are produced by the efforts of living beings (i.e. not produced by nature, but made by man etc.).
Sounds not partaking of the nature of languages are of two kinds, contrived and natural. Natural sounds are caused by the clouds and so on. The former are of four kinds.
Tata is that produced from musical instruments covered with leather, namely the drum, the kettle-drum, the large kettle-drum, etc. Vitata is that produced on stringed instruments such as the lute, the lyre, the violin and so on. Ghana is that produced from metallic instruments, such as cymbals, bells etc. Susira is that produced through wind-instruments such as the flute, the conch etc.
Union is of two kinds, natural and that produced by the efforts of human beings. The first kind of combination of matter is caused by the mixing of smooth and rough particles of matter (positive and negative electric charges) in lightning, meteoric showers, rainfall, fire, rainbow, etc. Union produced by the efforts of human beings is twofold, union of non-living things and union of the living and the non-living. Instances of the union of non-living things are resin, wood and so on. The second kind of union consists of bondage of karma and nokarma (which aids the fruition of karmas). Fineness is of two kinds, extreme and relative. Extreme fineness is found in the
1 The languages of birds and beasts are referred to here. Superiority in, or
excess of, knowledge is to be taken in accordance with increase in the senses. The two-sensed beings are endowed with greater knowledge than the one-sensed beings and so on.
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