Verse 2.314

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation of verse 2.314:

वाक्यात् प्रकरणादर्थादौचित्याद् देशकालतः ।
शब्दार्थाः प्रविभज्यन्ते न रूपादेव केवलात् ॥ ३१४ ॥

vākyāt prakaraṇādarthādaucityād deśakālataḥ |
śabdārthāḥ pravibhajyante na rūpādeva kevalāt || 314 ||

314. The meanings of words are determined according to the sentence, situation, meaning, propriety, place and time and not according to mere external form.

Commentary

The factors which enable us to decide which meaning is primary, which secondary and which implied are now enumerated.

[Read verse 314 above]

[The following examples are given by Puṇyarāja. By sentence is meant the fact of construing together several words occurring in the same sentence or taking together several sentences occurring in different contexts. For example: in the sentence kaṭaṃ karoti bhīṣmam udāsaṃ darśanīyam, the connection of the verb karoti is with the word kaṭam but as there cannot be a substance without qualities and as qualities must have a substratum in which to inhere, the other words like bhīṣmam ending in the second case-ending are taken as qualifying kaṭam and so a mat having those qualities is made and not any other on the basis of interconnection within the sentence, when someone is asked to fetch saindhava in the context (prakaraṇa) of battle, he would fetch a horse but when the same word is uttered in the context of eating, he would fetch salt. Thus context helps to determine the meaning of a word. When the same word is used in different sentences, its meaning is determined by the meaning (artha) of the other words in the sentence as in the following:—añjalinā juhoti, añjalinā sūryam upatiṣṭhate, añjalinā pūrṇapātram āharati. In these three sentences añjalinā means something different due to its association with the meanings of the other words. It is propriety (aucitya) that helps to determine, when sīra, asi and musala are mentioned without reference to any particular action, that sīra is for ploughing, asī for fighting and musala for unhusking again. When one says that becomes from a town to the east of Mathurā, from the word ‘to the east’, one would understand that he comes from Pāṭaliputra. When one only says ‘the door’ in winter ‘the listener’ would understand that it has to be closed and when the same thing is said in summer, he would understand that it has to be opened. Here it is time or season which helps to determine the meaning.

In the Vṛtti, some examples are the same while the others are different. But the text being corrupt, the meaning is not clear.]

The author now gives two verses giving a more complete list of the factors which help to determine the meaning of words. These may be quotations from some unknown work.