Qualities (15): Śabda (Sound)

According to the Bhāṭṭa school of Mīmāṃsā, śabda (sound) is a substance. But the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣikas do not conform to this view. They regard śabda as a quality; it is a special quality of ether. For establishing śabda as a quality Viśvanātha has forwarded an inference. The inference ‘sound is a quality, since it possesses a generic attribute which is not perceptible to the eye, but is perceptible to an external organ, like touch’.^[1] Proves that sound is not a substance but a quality.

Defining śabda Annaṃbhaṭṭa says that sound is a quality which is apprehended by the organ of hearing.^[2] Śivāditya adds the term śabdatvasāmānyayogi (possessing the generic attribute of śabdatva) with the afore mentioned definition. Annaṃbhaṭṭa also points out that the word guṇa is added in the definition to avoid the defect of ativyāpti in śabdatva (soundness). The word śrotra is added to avoid the defect of ativyāpti in rūpa (colour).^[3] In addition to this two fold sounds Annaṃbhaṭṭa has given another threefold division of sounds. Nyāyabodhinī also follows this. This division is done on the basis of how sound is produced.

Hence, sound can be:

1. saṃyogaja (born of conjunction),
2. vibhāgaja (born of disjunction) and
3. śabdaja (born of sound).

When there is a contact of the stick with the drum, the first kind of sound is produced. When a bamboo is split, a sound is produced. This is vibhāgaja sound. The last variety is śabdaja which is found in all subsequent sounds which are produced from the first sound.^[4]

For understanding this third kind of sound it is necessary to understand the view of the Naiyāyikas as regards how sound can be heard at a distance. In this respect two different theories are prevalent. One is called vicitaraṅganyāya (like ocean waves) and kadambagolakanyāya (like Kadamba buds). The Naiyāyikas hold that sound is non-eternal and lasts for a few minutes. Sound is perceived by the organ of hearing which is nothing but the portion of ether limited by the cavity of the ear (karṇaśaṣkulyavacchinna ākāsaḥ). Hence, the organ of hearing cannot go outside the ear-cavity and reach where sound is produced. Sound itself also cannot travel to the ear-cavity, being a guṇa and as such, devoid of action. To come out of this impasse to the Naiyāyikas say that the first śabda creates a second similar sound in the next part of ether and the second sound creates the third similar sound and the third sound creates the fourth similar sound and so on and at last sound reach the ether confined in the ear-cavity and it is heard. Some Naiyāyikas say that this is like the waves in the sea where one wave creates the second wave, around it the second wave similarly creates the third wave, and the third wave creates the fourth and so on. At last the wave reaches the shore. The others opine that sound travels like kadamba buds. In their view, as the filaments of a kadamba bud come out in all directions, similar from the central point of the first sound innumerable sounds go in all directions, and thus sound is heard from a distance.^[5]

This quality exists in ākāśa only. Śabda is twofold–dhvanyātmaka (inarticulate) and varṇātmaka (alphabetic). The dhvanyātmaka śabda is found in the drum etc. The varṇātmaka śabda is found in the form of languages like Sanskrit etc.^[6]

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Kārikāvalī-Nyayasiddhāntamuktāvalī, p. 264

[2]:

śrotragrāhyo guṇaḥ śabdaḥ. Tarkasaṃgraha, p. 21

[3]:

Dīpikā on Ibid.

[4]:

Dīpikā on Ibid; Nyāyabodhinī on Ibid

[5]:

śabdotpattidesamārabhya karṇavivaraparyantaṃ vīcītaraṅganyāyena kadamvamukulanyāyena vā nimittapavanena śabdadhārājāyante. tatrottaraśabde pūrvaśabdaḥ kāraṇam. Nyāyabodhinī on Tarkasaṃgraha, p. 21

[6]:

Tarkasaṃgraha, p. 21