Book Title: Yaskas Classification Of Nipatas
Author(s): Johannes Bronkhorst
Publisher: Johannes Bronkhorst

View full book text
Previous | Next

Page 10
________________ Annals BORI, LX (1979) ii. 90-91 a, after which the text continues (ii. 91b) ye tv anekārthakaś ca te "But (there are) also such (particles) as have various senses." (Macdonel). 146 What more could we dream of? The author of the Bṛhad-Devata, who was infinitely much closer to Yaska in time than even the Sanskrit commentators on the Nirukta (that is, the ones whose works have survived until today), understood the sentence which introduces the section on particles in the Nirukta in the way that is being advocated here. Remains the second difficulty. Why does Yaska in the introductory sentence mention the class "various meanings" first, but when actually classifying denote it to the third place ? The answer is easy. The most important thing to be said about the meanings of particles is that they are various. Indeed, even many of the particles included in A, and A, have meanings different from the ones that caused their acceptance there (see Appendix). This circumstance also explains why the "various meanings" were not kept in front during the process of actually classifying. If they would have been, virtually no particles would have been left for the remaining classes, 18 As it is, the particles of A, may, and really do, have "various meanings" besides "comparison." That A, precedes B is because the particles of A, have meanings, and therefore belong to A, whereas the particles of B do not. Interesting is that what has once been mentioned in A, is not repeated in B, even if it can be used as expletive. This applies to khalu, nunam and sim (see above, section 2.2). This fact confirms our belief that the positioning of A, before A, and A, would have had disastrous consequences, especially for A,. It may finally be remarked that Durga and Skanda-Maheśvara, in spite of their misgivings regarding the classification of particles (see above, section 2.1), failed to interpret Yaska's introductory sentence correctly,19 We conclude that the Nirukta, when correctly interpreted, announces, and then brings about, a fourfold classification of particles. The first three of these four classes contain meaningful particles, the fourth meaningless 18 To be precise, only iva would remain for A, (or not even that, on account of the meaning paribhaya; see section 1 above). Ag, on the other hand, would go unscathed, or so it seems. 12 Mahesvara on Nir. 1.4 ( p. 46): ta uccavace sv anekaprakäresu pratipadyesv artheşu pratipadakatvena nipatanti vartanta ity arthaḥ tesam arthapradarsanartham ucyate-apy upamartha ityadi Durga on the same (pp. 36-37): uccavaceṣu anekaprakāresu arthesu nipatanti iti nipataḥ äha katame punas te ya eteṣām iti ucyate | apy upamarthe'pi karmopasam graharthe 'pi padapuraṇaḥ |

Loading...

Page Navigation
1 ... 8 9 10 11 12 13