Vakyapadiya (study of the concept of Sentence)

by Sarath P. Nath | 2018 | 36,088 words

This page relates ‘Language Analysis in Vakyapadiya’ of the study on Vakyapadiya by Bhartrhari and his treatment of the Concept of Sentence in Language. Bhartrhari was a great grammarian and philosopher who explored the depth and breadth of Sanskrit grammar. These pages analyse the concepts and discussions on sentence and sentence-meaning presented in the Vakyapadiya, against the different systems of knowledge prevalent in ancient India (such as Mimamsa, Nyaya and Vyakarana).

1. Language Analysis in Vākyapadīya

As discussed, Bhartṛhari presents a unique and complete analysis of the concept of language in Vākyapadīya. He analyses language in three levels viz. absolute level, communicative level and analytic level.

(i) Absolute level:

Bhartṛhari explains the absolute level of language in terms of the concept of Śabdabrahman. This is the ultimate level of existence of language, which is beyond shape, time, qualities etc. At this level, word is a representative of the ultimate Truth.

This perspective of languageessence is described in the opening verse of Vākyapadīya.

anādinidhanam brahma śabdatattvaṃ yadakṣaram
vivartate' rthabhāvena prakriyā jagato yataḥ
.
  —(Vākyapadīya 1.1)

Here, it is described as the essence of the world, which is beyond the timespace limitations. Here, Bhartṛhari uses the word śabda with deeper significance. Thus śabda, which is sequence-less in nature underlies the sequential language.

(ii) Communicative level:

This is the state of language when used as the speech act. Language is generally considered as the tool of communicating ideas. Ideas or thoughts are communicated in a language act. Thoughts are never bits and pieces, but appear as whole. So ideas and thoughts are also to be communicated as wholes. Thus, in communication, there must be a minimum possible unit of language. Bhartṛhari argues that the unit of language is sentence, which conveys the complete thought or idea of the speaker[1].

(iii) Analytic level:

Though Bhartṛhari accepts the sentence as the unit of language, he mentions that language can be analysed into its various parts, for the purpose of studying grammar. In the third canto of Vākyapadīya, he explains each and every part and piece of language with their minute significances. Study of language at this level is an ideal tool to teach and learn language. The grammar level teaching and learning is significant at this analytic level of language.

Thus, it can be deduced that Bhartṛhari has a unique and complete vision on the concept of language and the speech act. The whole language theory of Bhartṛhari is erected on the concept of Sentence-holism, which is emphatically described in the second canto of Vākyapadīya.

After the three sages Pāṇini, Kātyāyana and Patañjali, it was Bhartṛhari, the great grammarian and philosopher, who discovered the depth and breadth of Sanskrit grammar. Aklujkar rightly observes that Vākyapadīya is chronologically the fourth surviving work in the Pāṇinian grammatical tradition (2007, p.125). As stated, Bhartṛhari examines language in three levels. In the first canto, it is conceived as śabdabrahman, which is the ultimate inner level of language. He also perceives language in the level of communication, which is discussed in the second canto. The entire second canto of Vākyapadīya is dedicated for discussing the basic unit of communication, sentence. There are different opinions as to whether word is expressive or sentence. Bhartṛhari opines that individual words and individual word meaning are not real when compared to sentence. An idea can be expressed only by a sentence; neither by words nor by syllables and thus, sentence is considered as the basic unit of language.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

This can be compared to the concept of Gestalt, which is used in modern psychology. Gestalt is a term, which signifies a 'unified whole'. Gestalt theories refer to theories of visual perception developed by German psychologists in 1920s. These theories put forth an idea that in our visual perception, we organise visual elements into groups or unified wholes. Psychologists define Gestalten as a configuration or organised field that cannot be derived from the summation of its components rather it is a unified whole.

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