Meaning of the shabda "Nitya"

[Gmail Team]

June 23, 2012

 

Respected Scholars, Namaskar!

 

 Meaning of the shabda 'Nitya"

 

 I think there is some confusion here in my mind. Sanskrit scholars think that the meaning of shabdas are Nitya. Do they mean Nitya the same as conventional?

 This way I understand. The English word 'Serendipity' is the conventional word. It came from the name "Sinhala Dweepa" (Ceylon). In short English superimposed new meaning on the word derived from the name of the island. If meaning-shabda relation in Sanskrit is eternal (Nitya), they how could be conventional at the same time? Conventional meanings go on changing. If meanings of Sanskrit words are conventional like any other language, then Sanskrit could not be a divine language (Deva-vaNee). It is on the footing the same as other languages. If whatever comes down from Shabda-Brahma into VaikharI  the same in all languages, then Sanskrit is not special. On the other hand if something has to come down from Shabda -Brahma, then it has to happen in the way of nature. And in case of Vaikhari the only natural thing is acoustic properties of Sanskrit varNas. If VarNas have constant (Nitya) meanings, then shabdas have also constant(Nitya) meanings. People may change it. That is different story.  Please enlighten us.

In my opinion, in UpAdAna shabda, the meaning is superimposed. So shabda is used (UpAdAna) to indicate something. English creates UpAdAna shabdas everyday for new technological terms. On the other hand in the Nitya shabda, meaning is not superimposed.It rises internally and naturally. UpAdAna shabdas from all languages are VarNAtmaka with few exceptions. I know that.. I am not talking here about DhvanyAtmaka shabda ( water dripping from tap).Please enlighten us. Thanks. N.R.Joshi

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[narayanan er]

Respected Professor Joshi,
Although I am not competent enough to speak about such a complex topic, but still I would like to share a few viewpoints. I apologise in anticipation that the idea may not be that matured due to my ignorance so that the scholars are hereby requested to correct me.  
The term "nitya" is stands to indicate for all the three times, past, present and future; i.e kālatrayavyāpin which corresponds the term eternal. The Grammarians consider the śabda as nitya. The term "eternal" could more be appropriate to indicate "nitya" rather than the term "conventional", as the term "conventional" could more appropriate for "lakṣaṇā" where the most popular or the etymological meaning has been overlooked or empowered by another meaning emerged contextually or through certain circumstances. For instance, "paṅkaja" has an etymological meaning of "paṅkajanikartṛ" "something born from marsh" but still due to conventional and popular usage, the meaning of the term is stipulated to "lotus" only. In that way all conventional meanings may not go on changing. Because when we use "paṅkaja" during the Puranic era or nowadays the meaning intended is "lotus" only. The divisions of different status of the sound is for convenience, as just like time. Time, direction etc. are although one each they are used as many like past and present; or south and west etc. for convenience. Parāvāk is the fundamental form, and other divisions (paśyantī, madhyamā and vaikharī) of different process of sound production are for convenience. Varṇa and svara are the methods to use the nitya śabda. It should not be used meaningless in terms of its varṇa and svara. Grammarians believe that it will yield an opposite result to the intention of the user.  
Regarding the term "devavāṇī" the term "deva" indicates three actions like dāna (to provide, donate), dīpana (to enlighten) and dyotana (to make others shine). So, devavāṇī is used in cases of dāna, dīpana and dyotana. The donation and enlightenment could have provided the divinity.
Regards,
Narayanan

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Subject: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Meaning of the shabda "Nitya"

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[Hnbhat B.R.]

Regarding the term "devavāṇī" the term "deva" indicates three actions
like dāna (to provide, donate), dīpana (to enlighten) and dyotana (to
make others shine). So, devavāṇī is used in cases of dāna, dīpana and
dyotana. The donation and enlightenment could have provided the
divinity.

दिवु  = क्रीडा-विजिगीषा-व्यवहार-द्युति-स्तुति-मोद-मद-स्वप्न-कान्ति-गतिषु ।

I don't think देववाणी is dependent on donations, grants, gifts from
Govt. and Private bodies and made use by the common people to earn
their living in the ancient time.

एकः शब्दः सुष्ठु प्रयुक्तः स्वर्गे लोके कामधुग् भवति need not apply to
other languages, as स्वर्ग is the invention of देववाणी, spoken by
देव-s, the inhabitants of स्वर्ग. Otherwise, it is useful to use
proper language appropriate for the context to achieve the desired
reaction using any language will not make much difference in the
appropriate use of the language in this world.

Just a reflection.

Dr. Hari Narayana Bhat B.R. M.A., Ph.D.,
Research Scholar,
Ecole française d'Extrême-OrientCentre de Pondichéry
16 & 19, Rue Dumas
Pondichéry - 605 001

[R. Narayana iyengar]

Dear Dr.Joshi,

Here is my unscholarly response to your post. Pardon me.

I have heard of "onomatopoeic words" particularly "pilippila". Perhaps Jharjhara, marmara (english murmur?), काकः, कुक्कुट, डमरु,  taTit,  DiNDima, may belong to this class. In such cases the अर्थ may be inherent in the शब्द  which I take as the 'heard sound' leading to  some type of  श्रवणेन्द्रियजन्यज्ञानं . Now if you claim shabda is nitya (=constant, unchanging,eternal, natural)  I have no problem in accepting it. But how can meaning be constant? When you talk of संस्कृतं  as a language are you referring to the 'spoken one' that Panini concentrated on or the later written textual language? I prefer to have a clear distinction on this since leaving aside the temporal/historical changes is not rational. May be I have not understood you when you bring up the issue of Sanskrit being divine-language. You will have to define 'divine', an unenviable proposition! Nevertheless what I could not follow is with नानार्थकोष being recognized as valid how  can there be स्फोट of unique meaning of a isolated written/printed word for a reader (like me) without carrying the continuity of the context in the mind?. This is no more श्रवणेन्द्रियजन्य except by स्मरणं.

The changing meaning of technical words in Sanskrit is quite dangerous!

kind regards for thought provoking posts.

RN Iyengar

 

From: "Gmail Team" <girav...@juno.com>
Date: Jun 23, 9:39 pm
Subject: Meaning of the shabda "Nitya"
To: भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्


June 23, 2012 Respected Scholars, Namaskar!  Meaning of the shabda
'Nitya"  I think there is some confusion here in my mind. Sanskrit
scholars think that the meaning of shabdas are Nitya. Do they mean
Nitya the same as conventional? This way I understand. The English
word 'Serendipity' is the conventional word. It came from the name
"Sinhala Dweepa" (Ceylon). In short English superimposed new meaning
on the word derived from the name of the island. If meaning-shabda
relation in Sanskrit is eternal (Nitya), they how could be
conventional at the same time? Conventional meanings go on changing.
If meanings of Sanskrit words are conventional like any other
language, then Sanskrit could not be a divine language (Deva-vaNee).
It is on the footing the same as other languages. If whatever comes
down from Shabda-Brahma into VaikharI  the same in all languages, then
Sanskrit is not special. On the other hand if something has to come
down from Shabda -Brahma, then it has to happen in the way of nature.
And in case of Vaikhari the only natural thing is acoustic properties
of Sanskrit varNas. If VarNas have constant (Nitya) meanings, then
shabdas have also constant(Nitya) meanings. People may change it. That

is different story.  Please enlighten us.In my opinion, in UpAdAna

[subrahmanyam korada]

नमो विद्वद्भ्यः

शब्दनित्यता

व्याकरणम्  -  मीमांसा - वेदान्तः - न्ययवैशेषिके - बौद्धम्

(this is a difficult topic running across Darsanas , i.e. without face to face interaction difficult to convince . certain facts are applicable to language in general and others to sanskrit . material may be limited due to temporal and spacial considerations)

Nyayadarsanam enumerates the devices to know the meaning --

शक्तिग्रहं व्याकरणोपमानकोशाप्तवाक्याद्व्यवहारतश्च ।

वाक्यस्य शेषाद् विवृतेर्वदन्ति सान्निध्यतः सिद्धपदस्य वृद्धाः॥

among the above things व्यवहार or वृद्धव्यवहार is called  शक्तिग्राहकशिरोमणि , i.e. first and the best . So following this , people say - meaning is known thru vyavahAra , but other  devices  are also there .

One may coin a word and  due to currency it becomes नित्य in व्यवहार -- वृद्धिरादैच् , अदेङ्गुणः ...

In answer to the question as to since when Sabdas started  denoting meaning , rather , how old is शब्दार्थसम्बन्ध - Hari in sambandhassamuddesa of Padakanda , Vakyapadiyam says -

इन्द्रियाणां स्वविषयेष्वनादिर्योग्यता यथा ।

अनादिरर्थैश्शब्दानां संबन्धो योग्यता तथा ॥

The relation between Sabda and Artha is as old as the one between Indriya and Visaya -- अनादि (so नित्य , like पृथिवी , आकाशम् etc) .

Here is Bhartrhari's  त्रिपादी on Mahabhasyam --

किं पुनः नित्यः शब्दः आहोस्वित् कार्यः(भाष्यम् - पस्पशा)

त्रिपादी -- 

अत्रापि (just like in the case of जाति and व्यक्ति) विप्रतिपत्तिः । वेदविदां नित्यः अन्येषाम् अनित्यः

अन्ये मन्यन्ते - इयं दैवी वाक् ,सा तु पुरुषाशक्तेः आलस्याद् वा प्रकीर्णा । यथा अम्बाम्बेति शिक्षमाणः बालः अन्यथा उच्चारयति इति।

अथवा यथैवेह वस्तु द्वेधा अवस्थितं द्रव्याकृतिभेदेन एवं शब्दो’पि । य एते शब्दाः किं ते शब्दाकृतयः आहोस्वित् शब्दव्यक्तय इति ।

(Mimamsakas accept जाति/आकृति as the meaning , then व्यक्ति thru लक्षणा ; Naiyayikas acept जतिविशिष्टव्यक्तिः ; among vaiyakaranas - - Vajapyayana says आकृति  wheras Vyadi says द्रव्यम् । Patanjali under सरूपसूत्र concludes 'उभयोः उभयं पदार्थः , किञ्चित् प्रधानभूतं किञ्चित् गुणभूतम् । जातिः = अकृतिः - roughly , व्यक्तिः = द्रव्यम्  ; आकृति / जाति is  नित्या and द्रव्यम् is अनित्यम्  for others , for Vedantins जाति is also अनित्या - ’ अग्नेः अग्नित्वम् अपागात् -- छान्दोग्ये , for them द्रव्यम् is कूटस्थनित्यम् ब्रह्म , कूटः = anvil )

For Panini both जाति and व्यक्ति  are पदार्थ (पस्पशा) ।

तत्र यदा अयं वृक्षः इत्यत्र वृक्षादयः शब्दाः क्रमजन्मानः अयुगपत्कालाः वृक्षशब्दत्वाकृतेः अक्रमयाः अभिव्यक्तिहेतवो भवन्ति , यथा सास्नादयो गोत्वस्येति ; तदा वृक्षशब्दत्वाद् अर्थप्रतिपत्तिः । सा च नित्या ।

अभ्यासाच्च सा आकृतिः केनचित् पुरुषेण कतिभिश्चिदेव वर्णव्यक्तिभिः अवगृह्यते । .. 

एतस्मिन् दर्शने नित्यः शब्दः , तत्र चैतदुक्तं (भाष्ये- एओङ्) -- ’उभयतः स्फोटमात्रं निर्दिश्यते । रश्रुतेः लश्रुतिः’ इति । 

यस्यापि शब्दव्यक्तिः तस्यापि नित्यः शब्दः शब्दः । स तु नादाभिव्यङ्ग्यः , पदनियतो नादः । ...

यथा आदर्शमण्डलादिषु (आदर्शः = mirror , मण्डलः = surface) प्रतिबिम्बानि दीर्घाणि परिमण्डलानि महान्ति अन्यानि च दृश्यन्ते एवं शब्दा अपि नादभेदेन भिद्यन्ते । 

यथा सलिले  तरङ्गभेदेन एकः चन्द्रः अनेक उपलभ्यते , प्रदीपभेदाच्च छाया भिद्यते , आदर्शभेदाच्च प्रतिबिम्बभेदः । तस्मान्नियतनादाभिव्यङ्ग्या नादव्रुद्धिह्रासानुविधायिनो व्यक्तिशब्दा अपि नित्याः ( वृद्धिः ़x ह्रासः) ।

स च नादः श्रोत्रस्य अनुग्रहे वर्तते। तदनुगृहीतं श्रोत्रं शब्दोपलब्धौ समर्थं भवति , यथा अक्ष्णोः अञ्जनम् इत्येके ।

अपरे शब्दस्यैव । उभयोरित्यपरे ।

एवं च सति वर्णः पदं वाक्यं च सर्वं नित्यम्

लौकिकवैदिकयोरेष विशेषः - प्रयोगे नित्यत्वं वैदिकानाम् , अनित्यता च लौकिकनाम् इति।

नित्यता चापि द्विविधा - व्यवहाराश्रया परमार्थाश्रया च ।

परमार्थाश्रया - वैशेषिकदर्शनेन परमाणव आकाशादीनि च ।

व्यवहाराश्रया - नागरातिविषामुस्ताक्वाथः स्यात् आमपचनः(चरक . ग्रहणीचिकित्सित 16 . 64) |  न चरकवचनात् एषाम् आमपचनत्वम् । किं तर्हि ? स्वभावात् ।

एवम् इहापि पाणीनिना अन्येन वा शब्दा एव स्मृताः स्वतो’र्थप्रत्यायका इति व्यवहारनित्यतैव  इह उपकारिणी ।

Panini runs his Sastra taking both - शब्दः नित्यः कार्यश्च ।

More details are available in Paspasahnika of Mahabhasyam and commentaries >

Mimamsakas are firm - शब्दः नित्यः --

Jaiminisutram (1-1-5) - औत्पत्तिकस्तु शाब्दस्यार्थेन सम्बन्धः ....’

शाबरभाष्यम् - औत्पत्तिक इति  नित्यं ब्रूमः

 Devadatta who  is seen yesterday is seen today and then there will be प्रत्यभिज्ञा ( - प्रत्यक्षम्) - सो’यं देवदत्तः ।

Similarly the same अकार is heard and said - सो’यम् अकारः ।

So शब्द is नित्यः ।

व्याकरणम् is based on the premise - सिद्धे शब्दार्थसम्बन्धे लोकतः अर्थप्रयुक्ते शब्दप्रयोगे शास्त्रेण धर्मनियमः क्रियते ।

सिद्धः = नित्यः

धन्यो’स्मि 

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