________________
a particular sense. That power of a word is to be grasped from the convension. “When a man ascertains that a particular word has a convention in respect of a particular sense, then only does he recognise the power of the word to express that particular sense’ (Kane, SD. p. 39).
How can we acquire the meaning of a word? Viśvanātha Tarkapañ cānana (16th century A.D.) has given an indication to that effect in the Bhāṣā-pariceheda thus:
saktigrahaṁ vyākaranopamāna-kośapta-vyäkyād vyavahārataśca/ vākyasya śesād vivrte vadanti sānnidhyataḥ siddha-padasya vrddhāḥ/
This verse tells us the conception of verbal testimony in the following cases. 1. Vyākarana: We learn from grammar the meanings of roots
and suffices and the relation of words in a sentence; 2. Upamāna: In some cases the meaning of a word can be
ascertained by means of similarity or comparison; 3. Koşa : We know the meaning of a word, both synonyms
and antonyms, from a dictionary; Āptavākya: We often get the meaning of a word from the usage of a higher authority; Vyavahāra: We get the meaning of a word from the practical use of a word; Vākyaśeșa: Literally, vākyaśeșa means 'the end or rest of the passage i.e. it means the context. From the context the meaning of a word comes out, e.g., in the Vedic passage aktāh sarkarā upadadhāti, the exact meaning of aktaḥ is ghrta which is understood from the context (teja vai ghrtan). In the Pūrva Mīmāṁsā (I.4 2a) this idea is expressed by sandigdheșu vākyaśeșāt). Vivrta: From explanation sometimes we can get the meaning
of a-word; e.g., rasāla means āmra, ‘mango'. 8. Siddhapadasya Vrddhāḥ: Sometimes the meaning of a word
may be gathered from the utterances of well-known people.
7.
gareft uş sa-E, 2008
-
31
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
