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I ADHYAYA, 4 PÂDA, 12.
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applied to your categories? In both cases the common meaning of the word 'people' has to be disregarded ; but in favour of our explanation is the fact that the breath, the eye, and so on, are mentioned in a complementary passage. The breath, the eye, &c. may be denoted by the word 'people' because they are connected with people. Moreover, we find the word 'person,' which means as much as 'people,' applied to the prânas in the passage, 'These are the five persons of Brahman' (Kh. Up. III, 13, 6); and another passage runs, Breath is father, breath is mother,' &c. (Kh. Up. VII, 15, 1). And, owing to the force of composition, there is no objection to the compound being taken in its settled conventional meaning.-But how can the conventional meaning be had recourse to, if there is no previous use of the word in that meaning ?—That may be done, we reply, just as in the case of udbhid and similar words. We often infer that a word of unknown meaning refers to some known thing because it is used in connexion with the latter. So, for instance, in the case of the following words: 'He is to sacrifice with the udbhid; he cuts the yüpa ; he makes the vedi.' Analogously we conclude that the term pañkaganah, which, from the grammatical rule quoted, is known to be a name, and which therefore demands a thing of which it is the name, denotes the breath, the eye, and so on, which are connected with it through their being mentioned in a complementary passage.--Some commentators explain the word panka
1 This in answer to the Sânkhya who objects to gana when applied to the prâna, &c. being interpreted with the help of lakshanâ; while if referred to the pradhâna, &c. it may be explained to have a direct meaning, on the ground of yaugika interpretation (the pradhâna being gana because it produces, the mahat &c. being gana because they are produced). The Vedantin points out that the compound pañkaganâh has its own rûdhimeaning, just as asvakarna, literally horse-ear, which conventionally denotes a certain plant.
. We infer that udbhid is the name of a sacrifice because it is mentioned in connexion with the act of sacrificing; we infer that the yûpa is a wooden post because it is said to be cut, and so on.
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