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The Jaina world of Non-living
5. The exertional sounds have four varieties depending upon their origin: (a) sounds of stretched membranes (Tata) are produced from stretching the leather membranes and are exemplified by drum, kettle drum, tambourine etc. sounds (b) sounds of stringed instruments (Vitata) are produced from playing musical instruments like violin, lyre, lute and the like (c) beating sounds (Ghana) are collisional sounds produced from collision or beating of metallic or non-metallic solid objects like cymbals, bells and clapping etc. (d) air-column based sounds (Sušira) are produced through playing wind-instruments like conch, flute etc.
Some philosophers (Vaiseṣikas) postulate that the sound is the quality of space. This is not correct as has already been detailed earlier under aphorism 5.18.19.
Some other philosophers (Mīmānsakas) postulate that sounds are momentary and successively produced. They are destroyed as soon as their nature is known. They are, therefore, not capable of perceiving their meanings or objects. If this could be so, every alphabet or syllable should be able to perceive the meaning like the meaning about objects from words. If there can be perception of meaning from one letter or sound, it should be useless to pronounce many letters to form words. Secondly, the successively born and momentary sounds cannot co-exist to combine to give the meaning. One must, therefore, agree to an agency or medium which could be capable of giving the meanings for the sounds and expressible by them. This is known as 'Sphota' or linguistic symbol which is taken as eternal, non-corporeal, supra-sensual, partless and inert. (The word 'Sphota' means bursting forth or flash. As soon as sounds come out, they flash their meanings which are received by us. This term has been expressed in many english equivalents- like exposure).
This postulate is also not correct as there cannot be any relationship of expressive and expressible-type between the sound and its flash (Sphota). Here, the flash is expressible. The question is whether its expressiblity is based on its independent existence. If it is so, there will be duality (of sound and its flash). In this case, what could be the reason it is not found before or after sounds? There could be two reasons: fineness or presence of obstructors. If fineness is the cause, it should
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