Nyaya Theory of Language

About the Book

This book is a published form of the author’s important research papers published in different Indological Journals. The present attempt is to bring out them collectively in a book form with additions & interpretations so that the researchers in the field of language analysis will find it easy to relate the subject. This book also will help the western philosophers to have a comparative study on the subject.

About the Author

Dr. Subash Chandra Dash, Reader, Department of Sanskrit, Utkal University, a double gold medallist from the University of Poona is a Researcher and a creative author in Sanskrit and Oriya languages. He has worked in subjects like Nyaya-Vaigesika Philosophy, Yoga Philosophy, Pali and Buddhist literature, Manusciptology, Religion, and Indian Culture. He served in the prestigious institutions like Vaidik Sansodhan Mandal, Pune, Centre of Advanced Study in Sanskrit, Poona University and Deccan College Pune. He has presented sixty research papers in National and International Seminars and Conferences. So far he has authored seven books.

Preface

The Indian Philosophers have discussed the sentence and its parts in various manners. The system of sentence analysis has been a subject matter of the Mimathsakas, Naiyayikas, Grammarians, and Poets. Everybody accepts iabda, artha, and vrtti (the relationship or function) according to their own framework. The speaker uses those in languages for day-to-day behavior. For that, he uses the words in their proper context in order to express those objects. The listener listens to the sentence and understands accordingly. The words convey meanings differently depending upon the situations. Those are the cases of usages that are widely accepted by all the philosophers those who deal with language analysis. For different types of usages, various methods of the process of verbal understanding arise because they are used primarily and secondarily as per given circumstances. The words have the power of deriving or expressing the meanings. Some words convey certain meanings regularly in a particular manner and some change their status as per the usages. The speaker emitters or uses those words with the intention of signifying those intended meanings. Sometimes it is conveyed properly and some other time it does not convey. For that, the Naiyayikas here laid down the conditions like – akanksa, yogyata, sannidhi and tatparya for the smooth understanding of the sentences. The present book is an attempt regarding the Nyaya theory of language analysis. The Naiyayikas accept vrtti in two-fold manner. They are known as Sakti and laksand i.e. the relationships between a word and its meaning. Sakti is the primary relationship and laksand is the secondary one. The Naiyayikas again divide these two in to further categories. These operate on the basis of the usages as it occurs depending upon the given situations. They also provide why such categories do appear in the language and how it is used. ‘These concepts are discussed in this book. The history and development of the relationship find a place in this book. When words are uttered the listener listens and he then gets those meanings through remembrance and then he relates those in formulating the sentence meaning. This is called siibdabodha in Nyaya Philosophy. So there is a process of verbal understanding involved in the whole method of connecting the word meaning for sentence meaning. This entire process of verbal understanding is also discussed here. The concept of the fourth type of Sakti namely yogarftdhi has attracted many views of the Mimathsakas and the Grammarians. Some say it is unnecessary and some say that it may be included under rudhi only. The Naiyayikas deal with such a category of words and provide logical grounds for accepting it as one of the categories of Sakti. It is discussed in the text of the Nytiyasiddhantadipah of Sasadhara a pre-Gangega Navya-Naiyayika and also by Gangega himself. Some of the above chapters in this book were published in different Indological Journals. The present attempt is to bring out them collectively in a book form with additions & interpretations so that the researchers in the field of language analysis will find it easy to relate the subject. This also will help the western philosophers to have a comparative study on the subject. I must sincerely thank my teacher Prof. V.N. Jha, Ex-Director, CASS, University of Pune, Pune for his guidance and timely advice. My sincere thanks go to all my colleagues of the Department of Sanskrit, Utkal University for their co-operation.