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BANERJEE : ANEKĀNTAVĀDA AND LANGUAGE
135
This verse tells us the conception of verbal testimony in the following cases. 1. Vyakarana : We learn from grammar the meanings
of roots and suffices and relation of words in a
sentence; 2. Upamāna : In some cases the meaning of a word
can be ascertained by means of similarity of
comparison; 3. Koşa : We know the meaning of a word, both
synonyms and antonyms, from a dictionary; 4. Aptavākya : We often get the meaning of a word
from the usage of a higher authority; 5. Vyavahāra : We get the meaning of a word from
the practical use of a word; 6. Vākyaśeşa : Literally, vākyaśeşa means 'the end or
rest of the passage' i.e. it means the context. From the context the meaning of word comes out, e.g., in the Vedic passage aktāḥ śarkarā upadadhāti, the exact meaning of aktaḥ is ghệta which is understood from the context (tejo vai ghstam). In the Pūrva Mimāṁsā (I. 4 2a) this idea is expressed
by sandigdheşu vākyaśeşāt. 7. Vivsta : From explanation sometimes we can get
the meaning of a word; e.g., rasāla means ämra,
'mango.' 8. Siddhapadasya vŢddhāḥ: Sometimes the meaning
of a word may be gathered from the utterances of
well-known people. Although we have different ways by which we acquire the meaning of a word, the problem is still shrouded in obscurity. P.V. Kane in his SD. has explained this phenomenon in the following manner :
"When a child begins to learn a language, he first understands the meaning of words in a lump and not of each word separately. When he hears the direction 'bring a cow' addressed by one old man to another, and sees a cow brought by the man, he understands that the direction
