Jain Journal 1998 10

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

Page 33

64
JAIN JOURNAL : Vol-XXXIII, No. 2 October 1998 1. Vyakarana : We learn from grammar the meanings of roots
and suffixes and the relation of words in a sentence, etc. 2. Upamāna : In some cases the meaning of a word can be
ascertained by means of similarity or comparison. 3. Kosa : We know the synonymous meaning of a word from a
dictionary. 4. Aptavākya : i) āptastu yathābhūtasyarthasyopadestā purusah
(T.B). ii) āptastu yatharthavaktā (TS). 5. Vyavahāra : the practical. 6. Vākyasesa : literally, Vakyasesa means 'the end or rest of the
passage'; i.e. it means the context. From the context the meaning of a passage comes out. e.g., in the Vedic passage aktāḥ sarkarā upadadhāti, the exact meaning of aktāh is ghrta which is understood from the context (tejo vai ghrtam). In the Pūrva Mimāsā (I. 4.29) this idea is expressed by sandigdhesu
vākyasesāt). 7. Vivrta : From explanation, sometimes we can get the meaning
of a word, e.g. rasāla means āmra. Siddhapadasya urddhāh : Sometimes the meaning of a word
may be gathered from the utterances of well-known people. At a much later time in the 12th cent. A.D. Ballālasena whose literary activity could be placed around 1150-1175 A.D. in his Danasāgara (ch. 43, atha vidyā-dana-svarūpam tat-phalañca) has hinted at several places the procedure followed by him in writing the book. In the introductory verses (11-20) he has first stated the texts he has consulted for his Dānasāgara to prove his book an authoritative one. He has consulted 13 Purānas, 8 Upapurāņas and 28 Smrti texts along with the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata and the Gopatha Brahmana. In his colophon also he has mentioned the books he has utilised. It should be noted that he has also mentioned the books not consulted by him, and he has adduced reasons for that. This bibliographical procedure which can go on a par with the modern methodology is unique and shows how the author has tried his best to prove his treatise authoritative. Again in chapter 43, he has discussed several procedures on how to write a book, and how to correct a text copied from another book, and the methodology to be followed in reading a book and of writing one. As compared with our modern outlook 'all these ideas can show how the ancient authors thought of the procedures of writing a book some thousand years ago. This procedure, I believe, can be regarded as methodology in terms of modern terminology.
All these references indicate that in ancient India some sort of methodology was followed for interpreting the respective texts of