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“JainaBhāṣā-Darsana'+ (On Jaina Philosophy of Language : An Appraisal)
A review by Nagin J. Shah
Dr. Sagarmal Jain is a scholar of eminence in the field of Jaina philosophy and religion with several celebrated works to his credit. The work, under review, written by him is an important treatise on Jaina philosophy of language. He has collected data from all the major Jaina works, canonical and non-canonical, presented them systematically and expounded them in wide ranging context.
The work consists of seven chapters. The first chapter introduces the subject matter. We are told that it is the very nature of living beings to express themselves and for that purpose the prime instrument they employ is language. Dr. Jain outlines the development of language philosophy in West and India. He clearly shows that problems of language have engaged the Jaina thinkers right from the time of Lord Mahāvīrahimself whoemployed both the analytical and synthetical method to solve the philosophical problems. He informs us about the problems discussed in the Jaina philosophy of language. They are-origin, nature and structure of language, word-meaning relation, what a word denotes-universal, individual or form, how words and sentences related to truth, on what depends truth or falsity of statements.
The second chapter is devoted to the exposition of language and script. Dr. Jain observes that according to Lord Mahāvīra language is originated or created by living beings. This implies that language is as old as the world of living beings as also that language is possible in all the classes of living beings. From this follows that language has two main types-one type of language is of the nature of sounds, gestures, etc. and the othertype of language is of the nature of letters (akşarātmaka). The former is employed by living beings other than humans while the latter is employed by humans. Dr. Jain develops and explains all these points lucidly and refers to the Nyāya-Vaiseșika, Christian and Islamic theory of divine origin, Mimāṁsaka theory of eternal existence of language and Sanskrit Grammarian's theory of śabdädvaita(non-dual word as ultimate reality). He records eighteen different languages enumerated in Dhavalāand eighteen scripts mentioned in Samaväyārga, Prajñāpanāand Višesāvaśyakabhāșya. He identifies Gandharvascript with the script prevalent in Gandhara region, Bhūtascript with Bhota (Tibetan)script, and Kiriscript with the script prevalent in Crete island. He also records 64 scripts enumerated in the Buddhist work Lalitavistara. He deals with the question as to what a letter is and what its types are. Letters are the ultimate units of language. Each letter has three statesform, sound and cognition, letters form two groups-one of vowels, and the other of consonants.
The third chapter expounds the Jaina language philosophy proper. Dr. Jain clearly explains the Jaina view of the material nature of sound (sabda) and furtherexplicates how sound, once generated at a particular place, travels in all directions like waves and spreads over the entire universe within a moment through the medium of material atoms capable of being transformed into sound, these atoms being present everywhere in the universe. A living being receives the material particles capable of being transformed into sound or spoken word through the instrumentality of body, rather bodily activity. Afterwards the living being transforms them into sound or spoken word through vocal apparatus, rather vocal activity. When the material particles thus transformed into sound orspoken word are uttered or expelled out by the living being, they come in contact with other material particles capable of being transformed into sound or spoken word, generate. Specialtype of agitation in them and thereby transform them into sound orspoken word, these material particles transformed into sound or spoken word come in contact with other material particles and transform
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