Verse 2.77

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.77:

प्रासाङ्गिकमिदं कार्यमिदं तन्त्रेण लभ्यते ।
इदमावृत्तिभेदाभ्यामत्र बाधसमुच्चयौ ॥ ७७ ॥

prāsāṅgikamidaṃ kāryamidaṃ tantreṇa labhyate |
idamāvṛttibhedābhyāmatra bādhasamuccayau || 77 ||

77. That this action is prāsaṅgika, this is obtained through tantra (extension), this through āvṛtti (repetition) or bheda (difference), there is bādhā (suspension) here and combination there (samuccaya).

Commentary

It is now pointed out that, if the individual word and its meaning are denied any existence, certain principles followed in the world and in the śāstra would become inexplicable. These principles form the subject matter of the Mīmāṃsā-sūtras of Jaimini.

[Read verse 77 above]

[The principle of prasaṅga is established in the twelfth adhyāya of the Mī.Sū. Mādhava, in his Jaiminīya-nyāyamālāvistara XII.l. defines it thus:—

anyoddeśena anyadīyasyāpi sahānuṣṭhānaṃ prasaṅgaḥ

‘The single performance of a subsidiary action, accepted as helping a primary action other than the one to which it belongs.’

For instance, prayāja and anuyāja offerings, taught as subsidiary to the agnīṣomīya animal sacrifice, serve as subsidiary to the cake-offering also. See Mī. Sū. XII.I, 1-6. This principle is sometimes followed in the world also. When a teacher is teaching one student and other students arrive and profit by the same teaching instead of asking the teacher to instruct them separately, it is a worldly example of the principle. It is sometimes followed in the Vyākaraṇaśāstra also. For example, P. 1.1.27 not only gives the name sarvanāma to some words but tells us incidentally that in the word sarvanāma, n is not changed to ṇ, as it normally should. If individual words have no meaning, this principle cannot be applied.

The principle of tantra is established in chapter XI of the Mī. Sū. It is similar to the principle of prasaṅga. The difference is that in tantra, the single performance of a subsidiary rite is prescribed and it is intended by the sacrificer to help more than one primary rite, whereas in prasaṅga no such prescription or intention is discernible. The prayājeṣṭi, performed once before or after, serves all the six sacrifices. An every-day instance of the application of such a principle is that of many students using one lamp for their study. Pāṇini’s use of the word tapara in P. 1.1.70 in two meanings is an instance of tantra in grammar. The two meanings are: (1) taḥ paro yasmāt so'yaṃ taparaḥ, (2) tāt paraḥ taparaḥ. For a Vedic application of this principle, see Mī. Sū. 1, 14.

Each of these principles has its opposite which also goes to prove the existence of the individual word. Āvṛtti or repetition is the opposite of tantra= extension. A Vedic instance of āvṛtti is the statement that there are seventeen mantras for kindling the sacrificial fire (saptadaśa sāmidhenyo bhavanti). This number is reached by repeating the first and the last of eleven three times. Bheda or difference is also an extension of tantra. A Vedic instance of it is grahaṃ sammārṣṭi=he cleans the vessels. As there are many vessels, each one has to be cleaned separately (bheda). The cleaning of one would not do for all.

Bādhā or suspension is the subject matter of adhyāya X of Mī. Sū. An instance of it would be the prohibition of the eating of the domesticated fowl (abhakṣyo grāmyakukkuṭaḥ) which would otherwise be possible, considering that it can also satisfy hunger. An instance from the world would be: After the statement: “Give curds to Brāhmaṇas,” it is said ‘and butter-milk to Kauṇḍinya’. The latter statement suspends the operation of the previous one as far as Kauṇḍinya is concerned. The opposite of this principle is samuccaya. Instead of one operation cancelling another, both become applicable to the same case. An instance of it would be the statement: Feed Devadatta with salt, ghee and vegetables. All are given to the same person.

These principles would not be sound if the individual word and its meaning did not exist.]