________________
12
The nikṣepas or manners of positing indicated by name :
They that is, samyak-darśana etc. on the one hand, jīva etc. on the other-are subjected to the process of nikṣepa or nyāsa (i.e. positing) or vibhāga (i. e. classification) in the form of nama or name, sthāpanā or representation, dravya or potency, and bhāva or reality. 5.
TATTVĀRTHA SŪTRA
All practical intercourse or exchange of knowledge has language for its chief instrument. And a language is made up of words. Now one and the same word is employed to yield several meanings depending on the purpose or context. In any case, four meanings at least are had by each and every word. It is these four meanings that are the four classifications of its general meaning. And these classifications are what are called nikṣepas or nyāsas. Knowing them one finds it easy to follow the intention of a speaker. Hence it is that in the present aphorism there is made mention of those four nikṣepas pertaining to meaning, so that it might be clearly specified as to what meaning-and no other-is to be assigned to the words standing for samyak-darśana etc. that are of the form of the pathway to mokṣa and for jīva etc. that are of the form of the fundamental verities. Here are the four nikṣepas in question : (i) The meaning that is not derived etymologically but is gathered on the basis of the convention set up by the father, mother or some other people is meaning of the type called nama-nikṣepa; for example, a person who possesses no qualification appropriate to a sevaka (Sanskrit for servant) but whom somebody has given the name Sevaka. (ii) The thing which is a copy, statue or picture of the real thing or which is conventionally made to stand for this real thing is what signifies meaning of the type called sthāpanā-nikṣepa; for example, the picture, photograph or statue of a sevaka. (iii) The thing which is an earlier or a later form-that is, an earlier or a later condition of the thing signifying bhāva-nikṣepa is what signifies meaning of the type called dravya-nikṣepa; for example, a person who, though not performing a seva (Sanskrit for service) for the present, has done so in the past or is going to do so in the future. (iv) The thing which properly satisfies the ground of
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
