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BHARTRHARI AND VAIŚESIKA
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Bhartrhari had this sūtra in mind when he wrote the verse. Our next question must be: how is this verse to be understood?"
To begin with, note that this verse describes the opinion of 'others'. It offers, by doing so, an alternative to the opinion of 'some', which is presented in the preceding verses. The first of these preceding verses is nr. 1.96, which reads:20
Some consider that the sphota is the universal revealed by the various individual instances, and they consider that the individuals belonging to this universal) are the dhvanis.
We see that two alternatives are placed side by side. According to the first alternative, the sphota - that is the real, eternal word - is a universal; according to the second one the sphota is produced by the speech organs. But what is produced by the speech organs? Several factors combine to show that the sphota, on the second alternative, is some form of substance (dravya).
Recall, to begin with, that for Bhartrhari the world has two sides: the one real and eternal, the other unreal and non-eternal. Regarding the real, eternal side, Bhartrhari does not care much what we call it. Some consider the eternal aspect of an object to be its universal, others its substance. We are free to choose, as long as we agree that every object has an eternal aspect. The second verse of the Jātisamuddeśa (3.2) states therefore:21
In the analysis of objects denoted by words, the eternal objects denoted by all words have been described as 'universal' or as 'substance'.
The remainder of the Jātisamuddeśa occupies itself with the alternative that the eternal part of all objects is its universal; the then following Dravyasamuddeśa takes up the alternative view that substance constitutes their eternal part.
What is true for all things', is true for words, too. The real, eternal part of words is either a universal or a substance; both views are acceptable. The conclusion cannot but be that the verse (1.105), which appears
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See in this connection also Bronkhorst, 1991: 14. VP 1.96: anekavyaktyabhivyarigvā jātih sphota iti smrtā/ kaiścid vyaktaya eväsyä dhvanitvena prakalpitāh// VP 3.1.2: padārthänām apoddhāre jätir va dravyam eva vā/ padārthau sarvaśabdānā nityāv evopavarnitau//
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