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22
Letter 4
So you see, reading scriptures does not comprise of just knowing the literal meaning but it consists of an over all study comprising of Shabdartha, Bhavartha, Agamartha, Nayartha and Matartha.
It can be explained in following manner also :(1) Shabdartha - This is what is commonly done by ordinary people.
Word to word meaning as given by the dictionary. (2) Bhavartha - Literaly this can be translated as abstract meaning.
That is to say that one has to understand the exact sentiment or inner intention of using the word. Agamartha – To know the meaning of a word or sentence in
relation to the scripture in which it is used. (4) Nayartha - To know the meaning by finding out in what context or
from what point of view a word or a sentence is said. (5) Matartha – To understand the meaning of the word or sentence,
which has a comparative meaning showing the fallacy of the other doctrines of philosophy and proving the point of view of Jain philosophy.
Shortly we are going to see in detail the above methods in which the scriptures should be understood.
To elaborate the above point of different ways of understanding 1 quote a simple example from our daily life. Suppose if a mother tells her daughter, " This milk contains ghee. So extract it from milk ". The daughter either may get confused because she can't see any ghee in milk or she may react smartly as generally the younger generation does, saying, "oh mom ! Are you kidding? Where can you see ghee in this ?"
But the one who knows the procedure by which ghee can be extracted and is well versed in extracting ghee from milk will explain the exact procedure to the daughter.
Similarly one who knows the deeper meanings of our scriptures will be able to explain how to extract the hidden meaning of different sentences and verses of our scriptures.
Now we will see in detail the five different methods mentioned above.
(1) Shabdartha : Our scriptures are in the form of verses or couplets of sentences. Their literal translation in one's own language is Shabdartha. But by knowing the translated words we may not know the exact deeper meaning of the words used. e.g. If a child sings a love song from a movie he may not understand the sentiments of it, because the child does not know what exactly is the meaning of the words 'to fall in love'. To know that sentiment along with the meaning of the words Bhavartha is essential.
