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Jaina Philosophy of Word : (53) of Naya (Viewpoint). They hold that in poly-semantic words the desired meaning of word is decided on the basis of speaker's intention and context in which the word is spoken. If we decide the meaning of the word without caring the intention of the speaker then chaos will take place in our behaviour, e.g. 'Bring saindhava'. Here the word saindhava carries two meanings i.e. (i) Horse and (ii) Salt. When a person asks for saindhava when he is on dining table and one brings the horse, it would be ridiculous. Similarly, on demand of saindhava by a person who is ready to go some where, one brings salt, it would be again ridiculous. Thus, the meaning of the poly-semantic words is always decided on the circumstances and intention of the speaker. Again the intention of speaker, which depends upon the total circumstances in which he has uttered the word is the deciding factor of the meaning. Even the contemporary western philosophers have accepted that the meaning of a word is not determined on the basis of the word-sound but on the total circumstances in which it is spoken. The ancient Indian philosophers have also accepted it. Bharthari in his Vākyapadiya accepting this fact maintains that the words are of both types poly-semantic and synonymous. But which meaning of a word comes forward as expressive (vācya), is determined according to the intention of the speaker. In bringing forth the desired meaning of the speaker two factors work i.e. (i) upacāra; (ii) praticăra. Upacāra is that which brings forward the denotation of word (vācyārtha) eminently, while praticāra eliminates the unwanted meaning20. Thus, the intention of the speaker plays an important role in determination of denotation of a word. In addition, the denotation of a word is determined by the context also. This very context is designated as Naya (viewpoint) by the Jaina philosophers. What ever the speaker speaks, is always relative or with a particular viewpoint. If we determine the meaning of the word ignoring viewpoint or relativeness, it would not be possible to comprel
hend the exact denotation of the word. Because, the language, in no way is absolute and thus any effort made to understand the meaning of an expression in ay language can not be called as absolute.
Not only the poly-semantic words, but also the denotation of other words and sentences are determined by the circumstances or the context in which that particular word or sentence is spoken. When a mason while binding a wall asks 'brick' or 'stone', he from that single
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