Shabda Vichara (शब्दविचारः)

Shabda (Samskrit: शब्दः) a word similar to many others like Dharma and Jnana used in Sanatana Dharma, is of significance in the development of the language system and expression of thought. It is defined and explained as a that "heard by the ear" or it is a "sound (ध्वनिः)" or "a cry, roar (रवः)" by Vaiyyakaranas, apart from being used as a technical term (संज्ञा) of a valid tool of knowledge (cognition) or Pramana (प्रमाणम्) by the Darshanikas.

Shabdanushasanam (शब्दानुशासनम्) means Vyakarana (Grammar) which deals with the systematic study to comprehend the meaning of a sentence by understanding the connotation and the denotation of the words which make it up.

परिचयः ॥ Introduction

As a means of communication the role of words is indispensable. It is known from ages that words are the main ways of conducting all activities by man; all the letters starting from Akara are Arthabodhaka-s i.e., used in words to clearly express the meaning.

Shabda literally means sound. In linguistics it means the words and sentences. A word is a particular kind of sound, thus a sentence is a group of sounds arranged in a certain order. According to Nyaya, sound is a physical phenomenon. It is the attribute of an intangible and all-pervading substance called Akasha (आकाशः).

आकाशगुणः शब्दः । Sound is the attribute of Akaasha (Nirukta. Shast. 13.17)

Vayu is its medium of transmission from one place to another and not a substratum of the quality of sound.

Sound is a product of the conjunction of two bodies or of the disjunction of the parts of one composite body. It is thus non-eternal or subject to origin and cessation in time. The Mimamsakaras here differ from the Nyaya stance in that they hold that Sound is eternal, since it is not produced but only manifested by the contact of two bodies.

व्युत्पत्तिः ॥ Etymology

According to Panini's dhatupata, the word शब्दः is derived from the dhatu श॑ब्दँ॑ used in the meaning of भाषणे शब्दक्रियायाम् उपसर्गादाविष्कारे च (speaking, in sound utterances, and revealing the meanings of upasargas)

Shabdakalpadruma defines the word शब्दः as श्रोत्रग्राह्यगुणपदार्थ-विशेषः। that padartha having the quality of being captured (heard) by the ear. The synonyms for Shabda according to Amarakosha are

१ निनादः २ निनदः ३ ध्वनिः ४ ध्वानः ५ रवः ६ स्वनः ७ स्वानः ८ निर्घोषः ९ निर्हादः १० नादः ११ निःस्वानः १२ निःस्वनः १३ आरवः १४ आरावः १५ संरावः १६ विरावः इत्यमरः।

Shabda is two-fold as word (padam) and sentence (vakyam). A word is defined as that which has the meaning or signifying power (sakti). It is also defined as a unity of articulate letter-sounds having a (verbal or case-) ending.

शब्दलक्षणम् ॥ Shabda Lakshana

Mahabhashya addresses the definition of "what is Shabda?"

अथ गौरित्यत्र कः शब्दः ? ...... कस्तर्हि शब्दः? येनोच्चारितेन सास्नालाङ्गूलककुदखुरविषाणिनां सम्प्रत्ययो भवति स शब्दः ।। अथ वा प्रतीतपदार्थको लोके ध्वनिः शब्द इत्युच्यते।

Summary: Now, when one says गौः (cow), what is Shabda?... Shabda is that on whose manifestation the correct knowledge of the object (Cow) which has dew-lap (सास्ना), tail (लाङ्गूल), hump (ककुद), hoof (खुर), horns (विषाण) etc, is produced; or, the sound which has a decisive meaning is said to be shabda in the world.

When a word like गौः is pronounced, the following concepts appear in the mind of the hearer :—the species cow, her action, her qualities, genus cow, the shape of the cow—and also the word made up of ga, au and visarga strikes his ear. The hearer begins to doubt whether on pronouncing गौः the Shabda refers to the species cow, her actions etc. According to Vaiyakaranas the relation (sambandha) of शब्दः (word) and अर्थः (its meaning), गुणम् (attribute) and गुणिन् (object having the attribute), क्रिया (action) and क्रियावान् (performer of action) is identity (samavaya sambandha). However none of these are the connotation of shabda and true connotation, according to Vaiyakaranas, is Sphota, which, when manifested, enables the hearer to have a clear knowledge of the object cow. They admit that every letter that is pronounced makes an impression in the mind and the sum total of the impressions made by all the letters of the word suggest the sense. Hence Shabda is not what we hear, but it is that, Sphota or sound-essence, which is manifested in the mind after the whole word is pronounced.

शब्दभेदाः ॥ Classification of Shabda

One finds interesting classifications of shabda expounded by various Siddhantakaras such as Vaiyakaranas, Naiyayikas, Mimamsakaras, Vedantins and each of them play a significant role in understanding the role of Shabda in verbal comprehension.

Vaidika (वैदिकाः) and Laukika (लौकिकाः)

Mahabhashyam the celebrated text of vyakarana, given to the world by Maharshi Patanjali, gives an in depth analysis about the development of language and the siddhantas to be considered from the vyakarana standpoint. It describes about which shabdas should be studied (and understood) and classifies them as Vaidika and Laukika. Maharshi Patanjali says,

केषां शब्दानाम्?

लौकिकानां वैदिकानां च। तत्र लौकिकास्तावत् - गोरश्वः पुरुषो हस्ती शकुनिः मृगो ब्राह्मण इति। वैदिकाः खल्वपि- शन्नो देवीरभिष्टये (अ.सं.1,1,1), इषे त्वोर्जे त्वा (तै.सं.1,1,1,1), अग्निमीले पुरोहितम् (ऋ.1,1,1), अग्न आयाहि वीतये (सा. सं. 1,1,1) इति ।। (Maha. Pushpashahnika)

Summary : Of which shabdas? Of those current in the world and in the Vedas. Among them the Laukika shabdas are गौः (cow), अश्वः (horse), पुरुषः (person), हस्ती (elephant), शकुनिः (bird), मृगः (deer), ब्राह्मणः (brahmana) etc. The Vaidika shabdas are शन्नो देवीरभिष्टये [Let the waters bring us happiness (so that we may perform sacrifice); इषे त्वोर्जे त्वा [(I cut) you for food and vitality]; अग्निमीले पुरोहितम् (I invoke Agni, the divine priest).

The Vaidika shabdas are considered to be more prominent than the laukika shabdas, since the latter should not be mispronounced only in Yajnas and the former on no occasion.

The laukika shabdas are illustrated by गौः (cow), अश्वः (horse) etc. It is worthy of note that the list of words given by Yaska in his Nirukta commences with the same words. The Vaidika shabdas are illustrated by the sentences शन्नो देवीरभिष्टये etc. This clearly shows that, in Vedas, the order of words should not he changed, that they should be pronounced with their respective svara and that the sentence accent is more powerful than the word accent.

Study of vyakarana as per Mahabhashyakara, is clearly applicable to only speech-words and not to the Shabda produced by birds or animals. One can correct the Apashabdas (अपशब्दाः) or incorrect expressions in usage by the knowledge of the science of language.

Dhvani (ध्वनिः) and Varna (वर्णम्)

According to Nayyayikas, Shabda (Sound) is of two kinds, namely, Dhvani (ध्वनिः) and Varna (वर्णम्).

शब्दो ध्वनिश्च वर्णश्च मृदङ्गादिभवो ध्वनि:।।164।।

कण्ठसंयोगादिजन्या वर्णास्ते कादयो मता: सर्व: शब्दो नभोवृत्ति: श्रोत्रोत्पन्नस्तु गृह्यते।।165।। (Nyayasiddhanta Muktavali 164-165)

A dhvani is an inarticulate sound, e.g. the sound of a bell or a drum. It has no fixed nature of its own, nor any fixed relation to other similar sounds. This Dhvani is thus incapable of forming parts of a language. From a linguistic standpoint, the cries of birds, and beasts and even newborn babies are considered inarticulate. They are as variable and disorderly as sounds produced by physical things and do not lend themselves to any use as alphabet of a language. It is clear from the fact that he who makes noise is told: "Make shabda", "Do not make shabda" etc, thus Dhvani is Shabda.

A varna is an articulate sound produced by the action of the vocal organ of humans, e.g. the alphabet a letter. A varna is a letter or syllable which has a fixed character and a definite place in the alphabet of any language. All varnas or letters are constituents of human speech but they independently do not have a specific meaning. These varnas are either spoken or written. Spoken letters are perceived by auditory sensation and written letters by visual sensation.