Studies On Bhartrhari 3

Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

Page 12

JOHANNES BRONKHORST
Consider now the first two stanzas of the Dravyasamuddeśa:20
'Self' (atman), 'abiding essence' (vastu). 'own nature' (svabhāva), body' (sarira) and 'true principle' (tattva), these are synonyms of 'substance (dravya); it is traditionally believed to be eternal. (111) The abiding essence (vastu), which is real, is known through its forms which are un real. The real (abiding essence) is denoted by words which have unreal delimitations. (112)
The content of the second of these two stanzas resembles to some extent VP 3.32-33, studied above. Here again we find that objects have a real and an unreal part. But in the case of the present stanza the real part is the substance, not the universal. Substance and universal are not the same thing for Bhartshari. Bharthari rather deals, in these two sections of the third Kända of his Vākyapadiya, with the two views regarding the denotation of words, and shows that either way, whether one accepts the one or the other, all words denote Brahman.
Let us again retum to the sphota. Besides the view that the sphota is a universal, we would, in view of the above, expect some stanzas in the first Kanda which present the opinion of 'others' according to whom the sphota is substance.
This is exactly what we find. The discussion of the sphota as universal begins in VP 1.96 and extends up to 1.104. VP 1.105-110 and 120-121 (1.11-119 are really part of the Vrtti)21 then present the altermative view; 1.105 reads:22
Others declare that the sphota is the utterance) produced by the organs (of speech) on account of their contact and separation; the utterances bom from (this initial) utterance are the sounds.
The 'substantial' nature of the sphota here described becomes especially clear in the stanzas 110 and 120:23
Some accept that the (real) word is wind, (others) that it is atoms, (others again) that it is knowledge; for in debates the different points of view are endless. (110) The (real) word (whether it be wind, atoms, or knowledge), though ceaselessly active, is not per
20 VP 3.111-112: ātmā vastu svabhāvas ca śariram tattvam ity apil dravyam ity asya paryāyās
tac ca nityam iti smrtain satyam vastu tadākārair asatyair avadhāryatel asatyopādhibhiḥ
Sabdaih satyam evābhidhiyatell 21 See "Etudes sur Bharthari, 1. L'auteur et la date de la Vrtti" section 4 (see note 1, above). 22 VP 1.105: yah samyogavibhāgābhyām karanair upajanyatel sa sphotah Sabdajāh Sabda
dhvanayo 'nyair udārtān/l VP 1.110, 120: vāyor anūnām jñānasya sabdatvāpattir isyatel kaiścid darśanabhedo hi pravades anavasthitaḥl ajasravíttir yah sabdah suksmatvän nopalabhyatel vyajanād vāyur iva sa svanimittāt pratiyatell