Text 10.182 [Parisaṅkhyā]

39. Parisaṅkhyā

किञ्चित् पृष्टम् अपृष्टं वा कथितं यत् प्रकल्पते ।
तादृग्-अन्य-व्यपोहाय परिसङ्ख्या तु सा स्मृता ॥ १०.११९ ॥

kiñcit pṛṣṭam apṛṣṭaṃ vā kathitaṃ yat prakalpate |
tādṛg-anya-vyapohāya parisaṅkhyā tu sā smṛtā || 10.119 ||

kiñcit—a little something; pṛṣṭam—asked; apṛṣṭam—not asked; vā—or; kathitam—said; yat—which; prakalpate—is used; tādṛk—which is similar to that; anya—another; vyapohāya—for the sake of excluding; parisaṅkhyā—the ornament called parisaṅkhyā; tu—only; sā—that [parisaṅkhyā]; smṛtā—is remembered (the ornament has come the tradition of poets).

When, with or without a question, there is, owing to the mention of a thing, the exclusion of something else similar to it, that is parisaṅkhyā (answer with an exclusion).

praśna-pūrvakam apraśna-pūrvakaṃ vā kiñcid vastu kathitaṃ sad yadi tat-samānānya-vyāvṛttaye kalpate, tadā parisaṅkhyā. tatrobhayatrāpi vyāvartyaṃ vyaṅgyaṃ vācyaṃ ceti caturdhāsau.

Parisaṅkhyā has four varieties: (1) The answer is preceded by a question, and the rejection of similar things is implied, (2) The answer is preceded by a question, and the rejection of similar things is stated, (3) The answer is not preceded by a question, and the rejection of similar things is implied, and (4) The answer is not preceded by a question, and the rejection of similar things is stated.

Commentary:

Parisaṅkhyā is one of three related technical terms in Pūrva-mīmāṃsā philosophy: vidhi (injunction), niyama (enjoining one thing and prohibiting another), and parisaṅkhyā (the prohibition of similar other things is implied by delimitating the permission). P.V. Kāṇe says: “It will have been noticed from the foregoing remarks on niyama and parisaṅkhyā that they have one thing in common, viz., arthāntara-niṣedha [the prohibition of other things]. […] It is for this reason that Grammarians include parisaṅkhyā under niyama. […] For the same reason, Rhetoricians include niyama under parisaṅkhyā.”^[1] The gist of parisaṅkhyā is this: “In parisaṅkhyā we are forbidden a thing out of two, which are possible at the same time.”^[2]

In parisaṅkhyā, the word saṅkhyā has the following sense: carcā saṅkhyā vicāraṇā, “The words carcā, saṅkhyā, and vicāraṇā [are synonymous and mean discussion, deliberation]” (Amara-koṣa 1.5.2). The prefix pari is used in the sense of exclusion, by the rule: apa-parī varjane (Aṣṭādhyāyī 1.4.88). Therefore the sense of parisaṅkhyā is: “the mention of one thing with the idea of excluding another.”

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kane, P.V. (1995), The Sāhitya-darpaṇa, p. 275.

[2]:

Kane, P.V. (1995), The Sāhitya-darpaṇa, p. 274.