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The Jaina Philosophy of Sentence : (81) terms. To ignore terms in a sentence or to think that there is no place for terms and objects (which are denoted by the terms) in a sentence is to become indifferent towards the experiential truth. Prabhācandra has labelled all those objections of this theory, which could be raised against the theory of sphota. Theory of the indivisibility of a sentence is really a variety of the sphota theory, which propounds that terms and sentences made of them are not expressive of meaning. It is the sphoța, which is the carrier of the meaning of a sentence. But the theory of sphoța is not the only and the final theory regarding the cognition of meaning because it is unable to answer as to why, after all, the sphota of meaning does not occur in the absence of terms of a sentence. We cannot, therefore, regard a sentence as indivisible or as without having parts. Terms, really are the essential constituents of a sentence and they as words, without sentence also have their own independent meanings. Moreover, there cannot be any sentence in the absence of terms. Hence, a sentence cannot be called as partless. (5) Successivism (Kramavāda) and its criticism
Successivism is really a special variety of the theory of Samghāta (complex). In Kramavāda though terms are recognised as essential parts of a sentence but the theory makes order of the terms in a sentence much more important than their coexistence for the comprehension of the meaning of the sentence. Succession of the terms is sentence in itself. As if the letters are not in a definite series they cannot make a term, so also, if the terms lack the definite order, they cannot make a sentence. For a meaningful sentence, it is necessary that there be a serial order of terms. It is the order of the terms, which creates a sentence and makes us comprehend the meaning of a sentence. Terms have their meaning but they have a special meaning also. This special meaning is expressed only when they are oriented in an order. The appropriation of terms makes the terms of a sentence.
Successivism also emphasises continuity of time and maintains that if there is a break in time, the order of the terms also breaks down, which in tern ruins the sentence. In successivism, the second term which follows the first, is accepted as a sub-factor and this determinate order of terms itself is the expressive of meaning.
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