Jain Journal 1998 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 32

BANERJEE : RESEARCH IN SANSKRIT AND JAINA LITERATURE
63 That is to say, at the beginning of a śāstra the four things, commonly known as anubandha-catuștaya, must be stated first : 1) Visaya, i.e. the subject-matter of the treatises must be indicated
at the very outset, so that the readers can easily understand
what they are going to know from the treatises. 2. Sambandhah, i.e. what is the relation of the text to the common
human knowledge and how this relationship can be achieved
(by way of writing this particular treatise). 3) Prayojanah, i.e. the necessity or utility of the subject is also to
be indicated in the beginning. Unless the utility is shown the reader may be reluctant to know them. (prayojanam anuddisya
na mando'pi pravartate-Mahābhāsya, Paspasā.) 4) Adhikārī, i.e. an adhikāri is he who wants to know the subject
(taj jijñāsur adhikari). Whether the original composer of the text normally follows this dictum or not is a matter of investigation now. But it is true that from almost all the Sāstras these anubandha-catustayas can be found.
From this it can be interpreted that in ancient times the primary methodology was to indicate the four points discussed above. It means in order to make the book authoritative, the Šāstrakāras have followed certain principles. Patañjali, while interpreting the sūtras of Pāṇini, actually followed the same principles in his book. He has indicated first the subject-matter of his book (atha Sabdanušāsanam). Then he has enumerated the necessity of studying grammar (sabdānusāsanasya prayojanāni). In between the interpretation he has indicated the relationship (sambandha) of grammar with the use of language (laukika vyavahāra) and obviously an adhikari is he who intends to study grammar. In this way, many texts can be ransacked for finding these anubandha-catustaya. This is practically the earlier stage of methodology for writing a text.
In a research process the authority of the earlier documents are generally accepted by judging the validity or genuineness of the statement mentioned in the earlier documents. It is to be noted that the most fundamental issue of research is the authoritativeness of verbal testimony. The Naiyāyikas at a much later time summed up the conception of verbal testimony in the following verse :
sakti-graham vyākaranopamāna-koşāpta-vākyat vyavahāratasca/ vākyasya śeşād vivrter vadanti sānnidhyatah siddhapadasya vsddhāh/
(Bhāsa -pariccheda, Muktāvali on verse 81).