Jaina Philosophy of Language

Author(s): Sagarmal Jain
Publisher: Parshwanath Vidyapith

Page 40

Chapter 2
Language and Script
Jaina accounts of origin of language
As far as the origin of language is concerned it is very difficult to say when did the language come in existence and who invented it. In the Jaina literature though Lord Rṣabhadeva is said to have invented the script but the invention of script, has nothing to do with the origin of the language. We fail to find a single reference in the Jaina literature by which we can know the creator and the date of the origin of language. In the Jaina canon Prjñāpanā-sūtra, the problem of the origin of language is raised and the Gautama in this connection asks four questions to Mahāvīra: (i) O Lord! What is the beginning of language; (2) What has caused its origin; (3) What is the structure of language and (4) Where does it terminate?
Replying to the first question Mahāvīra said,” Language begins with the living-begins.' This reply of Mahāvīra is sustained by the linguistic discoveries of our times also. Language is possible only in the livingbegins. The nature of language, of course, may differ in different livingbegins and in different periods of human history, but there can be no doubt that language came into existence with the very existence of living beings. Language is a means of self-expression. The Jaina masters have distinguished the two aspects of language (1) Akṣarātmaka-bhāṣā (language consisting of syllables) and (2) Anakṣarātmaka-bhāṣā? (language consisting of no syllables). In the Jaina philosophy human language is regarded to be akṣarātmaka, and the language of living-beings other than human beings, and of infants and dump person is considered to be anakṣaratmaka.3 The modern linguists have also accepted the fact that the world of animals and birds use sound and body signals for their selfexpressions. Hence, the contention of the Jaina Philosophers that there exists a unmanifested language in the world of animals, seems to be correct. The function of language is communication of thought through