________________
In Vākpadīya of Bhartshari, it has been discussed as ‘ekasyeivātmano bhedauśabdārthāvaprithaksthitau” (Vak 2/31)
‘Words and meanings are interrelated. Word is like body and meaning is like the soul inside the body. In the absence of meaning words are useless and in the absence of words meaning remain unknown. Both are interdependent and express any meaning with mutual collaboration. Bhartyhari believed that there is vācya-vācaka relation between the word & the meaning
asyāyam vācako vācya iti sāstya pratīyate yogaḥ śabdārthayostattavamapyato vyapadiśyate 8// Vak- 3/3/3
This (word) is the referent of that (Meaning), is known by relational case ending. Word and meaning unitedly express the reality. Although they work in collaboration still are not one. There is a Unity-cum-Difference (Bhedabheda) relation between them. Bhedabheda relation between word and the meaning is said by Ac Bhadrabaahu as quoted in Syadavada Mañjarī that
‘abhihāṇam abhiheyāu hoi bhinnamabhinnam vā khuraaggimoyaguccāranammi vayanasavaņānam
na ca bhavati anarthe tenābhinnam tadarthāto He believes that words and meanings are not identical for if it had been so with the utterance of fire the mouth must get burnt but this does not happen. Hence are different but particular meaning can be drawn from the particular words only. They are one in this sense. Wittgenstein himself was later to point out that it is a mistake to identify the meaning of a name with its bearer. 10 The problem of ambiguity
Language can be observed from various point of view and they are reflected in various concepts of Meaning'. Hence there is always a possibility of miscommunication in language due to occurrence of ambiguity.
Often a word is used in more than one meaning. Indeed a brief look into dictionary would reveal the fact that majority of the words are
46
C
gari uşi Bia 141
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
