Jain Journal 2004 04

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

Page 47

248
JAIN JOURNAL: VOL-XXXVII, NO. 4 APRIL 2004
Tätparya is another element which is the cause in helping the meaning of a word.
The rhetorician Viśvanātha says that in considering compatibility and expectancy, the words ātmā and artha are to be construed respectively as ākāņkṣā and yogyatā respectively.
tatrākāňkşā-yogyatayor ātmārtha-dharmatve 'pi padoccaya dharmatvam upacārāt (Vrtti under SD. II.I).
Although expectancy is a property of the soul and compatibility is an attribute of things, both of them are spoken of in the text as the properties of a collection of words in a secondary sense. (Kane, SD. p. 35)
Ākārkṣā literally means “a desire to know”. Desire does not inhabit in the words, nor in the sense. Desire is the property of the listener. So ākānksā is atmadharma, yogyatā really subsists in the thing as signified by the words. Words and things are closely connected. Asatti is an attribute of words, when one utters the words in juxtaposition, the meaning is conveyed.
Having defined a sentence which is a collection of words, it is now time to define a word.
varņāḥ padam prayogārhān anvitaikārtha-bodhakāḥ
“A word means letters so combined as to be suited for use, not in logical connection, conveying a meaning and only one meaning."
The use of the word prayogārhā “suited for use" means that the crude form of a word (prātipadika) is not regarded as a word. Unless the words are inflected, they are not considered word to be used in a sentence.
The words 'not in logical connection' means that the combination of letters are not logically connected though the combination of letters gives the meaning of words logically.
Having defined a word as “combination of words converying a sense”, it is now necessary to know the nature of meaning of a word.