The Sphota Theory of Language: A Philosophical AnalysisStudy of some linguistic considerations in Sanskrit grammar and Hindu philosophy. |
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Advaita Advaita Vedanta aspect Aurobindo avidya Bhartṛhari Brahman Brāhmaṇas Buddha Buddhist Cārvāka cognition conception consciousness convention convey meaning conveys the meaning darśanas denotes described dhvani differentiation Divine error eternal existence experience expressed fabda Grammar Grammarian hearer Hereafter cited hymns Ibid Indian Philosophy Indian thought individual words indivisible inference inherent intuition Isvara Iyer Jaina Kārikā knowledge Kumārila letters linguistic logical Mahābhāṣya mahāvākyas Maṇḍana Maṇḍana Miśra manifest metaphysical Mimāṁsā mind Murti nature Nyaya object Parā Vāk pasyanti Patanjali perceived perception phenomenal philosophy of language phonemes postulated prajñā pramāņa pratibha reality relation revealed Rgveda ṛsis Sabara sabda samādhi saṁskāra Śankara Sankhya Sanskrit Sastri School scripture Seers sentence sentence-meaning sequence sounds speaker speech Sphota theory sūtra T. R. V. Murti Theory of Language tion tradition trans truth ultimate unitary unity universal unreal Upanisads uttered Vāk Vakyapadiya Veda Vedanta Vedic verbal viewpoint vision Vṛtti whole word-meaning word-sound Yoga
Popular passages
Page 21 - Veda itself is Sruti, a rhythm not composed by the intellect but heard, a divine Word that came vibrating out of the Infinite to the inner audience of the man who had previously made himself fit for the impersonal knowledge.
Page 65 - Karika is that Brahman is the one object denoted by all words ; and this one object has various differences imposed upon it according to each particular form ; but the conventional variety of the differences produced by these illusory conditions is only the result of ignorance. Non-duality is the true state ; but through the power of
Page 13 - Bhartrhari's theory with the analogy of a jeweller who assesses the genuineness of a precious stone. His continuous gaze is really a series of cognitions, each of which perceives the genuineness of the stone but with increasing clarity. Each cognition leaves its samskära or common memory trace.
Page 75 - Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken. Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks Within his bending sickle's compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error, and upon me prov'd, I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.
Page 78 - The external (audible) word employed in verbal usage is merged in the mind after suppressing all assumption of differentiation, without, however, abandoning the residual force of the differentiation, as in the case of the yolk in the egg of the pea-hen. Just as one single word can merge, so can passages consisting of as many as ten parts. The word, thus merged, with all differentiation suppressed, again assumes differentiation and sequence, when through the speaker's desire to say something, the...
Page 83 - For example, when the young child says "mama," it is clear that whole ideas are being expressed; eg, "I want mama!" Even when a word is used merely in the form of a substantive noun (eg, tree), the verb to be...
Page 135 - Although not all may agree with the spiritual vision of the Hindu Grammarians, it must be conceded that we do find here a view of language which makes sense of poetry, revealed scripture, science, the mystical chanting of mantras, and which, in addition, strongly resonates with our ordinary everyday experience of coffee-cup chat. It is a way of seeing language which effectively explains why it is that sometimes when we listen we do not hear. It also teaches how to remove the obstructions in one's...
Page 13 - ... of the intervening cognitions, there would be no difference between the last one and the first one. An important point is that the jeweller is described as "expert", meaning that before beginning the examination he already had the image of a precious stone ingrained in his subconscious, and it was this image (like the inhering...
Page 66 - ... power to produce the cognition of the meaning [which the word is to convey]. There is no conceivable alternative other than their single or united capacity ; and therefore it follows (say the wise in these matters) that, as the letters cannot cause the cognition of the meaning, there must be a sphota by means of which arises the knowledge of the meaning ; and this sphota is an eternal sound, distinct from the letters and revealed by them, which causes the cognition of the meaning. " It is disclosed...
Page 112 - In both of these examples there is a necessary perception of the parts prior to the perception of the whole. This aspect is brought out clearly by Bhartrhari who describes the painter as going through three stages when he paints a picture: "When a painter wishes to paint a figure having parts like that of a man, he first sees it gradually in a sequence, then as the object of a single cognition, and then paints it on cloth or on a wall in...