© DrSurabhi Verma

National Institute of Technology, Rourkela, Odisha

Course ID: HS 1317

INTRODUCTION TO THE METAPHYSICS OF

SANSKRIT LANGUAGE

Course Co-ordinator: Prof. Surabhi Verma

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© DrSurabhi Verma

UNIT 1: N AT U R E O F L A N G U A G E
❖What is Language? Written or Oral?
❖Difference between Bhāṣā, Vāk and Vāṇī
❖Spoken and Compositional language
1. Classification of Indian Knowledge Systems based on Kāvyamīmāmsā of Rājaśekhara
2. The Vaidika Literature
3. India at the time of Rājaśekhara
❖The Knowledge disciplines related with discourse of Language
❖Effect of orality on the Nature of Language
❖The Language of the Universe: Nāda (Resonance)

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Vidyā Classification of Indian Knowledge Systems based on

Kāvyamīmāmsā of Rājaśekhara

Parā Aparā

No Śāstra Śāstra Kāvya

Style of Mode of Language Structure Dialogue

Apauruṣeya Pauruṣeya Plot based
writing Perception based based based

Āgama -92 Itihāsa Gadya Dṛśya Saṃskṛta Paurāṅika Mahākāvya Vaidarbhī

Nigama – Purāṇa
Padya Śravya Prākṛta Kālpanika Nāṭaka Gauḍī
4+1 (18)

Upa-veda- Apabhraṃ
Ānvīkṣakī Mixed Kalā-āśrita Ākhyāyikā Pāñcālī
4+1 ṣa

Vedāṅga – Śāstra-
Mimāmsā Kathā Lāṭī
6+1 āśrita
Figure 1.1
Smṛti - 18 Kathānaka 3
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• In Kāvyamīmāmsā by Rājaśekhara, Nāṭya as the 5th Veda,
Itihāsa as 5th Upa-veda and Alaṃkāra Śāstra (Science of
Figures of Speech) as the 7th Vedāṅga has been considered.
• Ānvīkṣakī is the Science of investigation dominated with
© DrSurabhi Verma
Logic.
• Mimāmsā deals with the interpretation of the texts. It has two
parts- one is Pūrva Mimāmsā and other is Uttar Mimāmsā.
• Pūrva Mimāmsā interprets the utterances and statements of
Veda while Uttar Mimāmsā is Vedānta (Brahma Sūtra).
• Gadya is prose. Padya is poetry. Mixed one contains both of
them together.
• Dṛśya is visual like drama and Śravya is audible like poetry
and story.
• Saṃskṛta means the standardized one while Prākṛta means the
natural one. All modern Indian languages fall under the
category of Apabhraṃṣa, whose 90-95% words are from
Saṃskṛta either as tatsama (same as the one before) or
tadbhava (modified from the previous one).
• Paurāṅika means the narrative or characters are from the
Paurāṅa while in Kālpanika, they are imaginative. In Kalā-
āśrita, they are based on any of 64 kalās and in Śāstra-āśrita,
they can be of any of the Śāstras.
• Mahākāvya has a popular hero (lokaprasiddha nāyaka) and
grand narrative.
• Nāṭaka is acted one, may be small.
• Ākhyāyikā is a small narrative.
• Kathā is a story.
• Kathānaka is a dialogue based small narrative.
• Rīti means the style of dialogues (Vacana vinyasa kramaḥ
rītiḥ). It is of four types- Vaidarbhī is the style of Southern
parts. Gauḍī is of eastern places. Pāñcālī belongs to north
west and Lāṭī belongs to central part.
Refer Figure 1.1, Image 1.1 and 1.2
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© DrSurabhi Verma

Image 1.2
Image 1.1 5
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Vaidika Literature
• The word ‘Veda’ is composed of ‘Vid-jñāne’ which means the Ṛgveda
total knowledge source; so it is only one but for the sake of
understanding it has been classified into four Vedas. Nāṭya is Yajurveda
also considered as fifth Veda. Vedas
• There are many Upa-vedas, mainly four are well accepted –
Sāmaveda
Ayurveda, Gandharva-veda, Sthāpatya-veda and Dhanur-veda.
Atharvaveda
• Vedāṅgas are six in number.
• Śikṣā (Phonetics) deals with sound/phonemes. Śikṣā
• Kalpa (Performing modes) are four- Śrauta (Social conduct),
Dharma (Individual conduct), Gṛha (Family conduct), Śulva Kalpa
(Creation of Yajña kuṇḍa).
Vyākaraṇa
• Vyākaraṇa (Grammar) lays down the rules for structuring
sentences. Vedāṅga
Chanda
• Chanda (Meter) is rhythmic pattern of mantras.
• Nirukta (Dictionary) is relation of word with its meaning. Nirukta
• Jyotiṣa (Astronomy) is related with planetary positions for
Jyotiṣa
understanding seasonal variation.

Figure 1.2 6
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• The Knowledge disciplines related with • Effect of orality on the Nature of

discourse of Language Language
• Due to the orality of language the first and foremost
• Among the six Auxiliary Sciences of Vedas, four are directly requirement in the study of language is the pronunciation.
related with the language- Śikṣā (Phonetics), Nirukta
• The variation in pronunciation especially in such a long
(Dictionary), Vyākaraṇa (Grammar) and Chanda (Meter).
tradition of thousands of years, is unmeasurable thing.
• In these four Sciences also three- Śikṣā (Phonetics), Nirukta
• So Indian Knowledge tradition puts a lot of efforts to
(Dictionary), Vyākaraṇa (Grammar) are directly related with
preserve all the variations of pronunciation of sounds and in
Spoken language and Chanda (Meter) is related with the
this series we currently have 21 branches (available) of
Compositional language though it is sometimes present in
Vedas and Prātiśākhyas of each of the branch (ex- Ṛk
Spoken language also.
Prātiśākhya, Vājasneyī Prātiśākhya)
• Yāsk is known popularly of his Nirukta (Dictionary) which
• The Prātiśākhyas belong to the preservation of the language
is ‘nirvacana śāstra’ (e.g. how to related the words of Vedas
of Composition.
with its meaning).
• In oral tradition the four - creation, storage, dissemination
• Pāṇinī is known popularly for his Aṣṭādhyāyī of Vyākaraṇa.
and transmission were very challenging, so in this system
• Piṅgala is known popularly for his Chanda Śāstra. deeper investigation about language is available.
• In the text of Pāṇinī and Patañjali, the term ‘Sanskrit’ is not
available. Patañjali says that I am talking about Vaidika and
Laukika words; which suggests that Sanskrit is a spoken as
well as compositional language of that time.

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• THE LANGUAGE OF THE COSMOS:
NĀDA (RESONANCE)
• The study of language was a preliminary step in order to
preserve and maintain the vast body of oral literature of Indian
Knowledge Systems.
• The Indian mind therefore, reflected continuously on the nature
and conception of language in relationship to the world it talks
about.
• All the granthas; the knowledge texts, they were talking about
what was around this world. This world is the universe or jagat,
Brahmāṇḍa stands for this or the whole cosmos.
• Brahmāṇḍa literally means a universe shaped like an egg. So
the word ‘Brahmāṇḍa’ suggests that it’s an elliptical universe
which is not very different from the modern conception.
• They thought about language because this language talked
about the world around and they wanted to see the relationships
between the language and the world.
• Indian Knowledge System talks about the language of
Cosmos also in the concept of Nāda (The resonance) or
Nāda Brahman.
• The text Spandakārikā deals elaborately with the pulsating
or vibrating Universe and Sangīta Śāstra deals with the Nāda
in music.
• Vedas talk about this pulsation through mantras.
• The highest pulsating sound of Universe is designated as
AUṂ which denotes the resonance of Cosmos and indicates
the balance among all manifested entities.
• Because of this only there is language of silence also.
Actually when we make noise we create an imbalance in the
Cosmos. And when we rest in silence, we become able to
listen to the balanced Cosmos.
• The happiest and realized person’s vibrational energy
resonates with the vibrational energy of the Cosmos.
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THANK YOU.
© DrSurabhi Verma