Difference between revisions of "Vak (वाक्)"
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| − | Vak (Samskrit: वाक्) means speech. Language study has early been considered vital in India to understand knowledge and consciousness, which is considered one with the Supreme Being in many schools of Indian philosophy. | + | Vak (Samskrit: वाक्) means speech. Language study has early been considered vital in India to understand knowledge and consciousness, which is considered one with the Supreme Being in many schools of Indian philosophy. It is well known that the life of language has been given to us in the form of oral tradition, through the breath of utterance. The creative power of Vak is held in high esteem in Vedas. Upanishad uphold that the primordial Omkara, the Pranava represent all speech and it is that alone which manifests in different forms as all syllables. |
| − | + | Three words are used synonymously for language, namely bhasha (भाषा), vak (वाक्) and vaani (वाणी). | |
== Introduction == | == Introduction == | ||
| − | + | One scholar mentions that after going through all the passages referring to vak, it is possible to reduce the main shades of meaning to six:<ref>Narayanan, Sharda. (2012) ''Vakyapadiya, Sphota, Jati and Dravya''. New Delhi : D. K Printworld (P) Ltd.</ref> | |
# Vak as devata, | # Vak as devata, | ||
# Vak as a stuti (Prayer) | # Vak as a stuti (Prayer) | ||
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Vak (Samskrit: वाक्) means speech. Language study has early been considered vital in India to understand knowledge and consciousness, which is considered one with the Supreme Being in many schools of Indian philosophy. It is well known that the life of language has been given to us in the form of oral tradition, through the breath of utterance. The creative power of Vak is held in high esteem in Vedas. Upanishad uphold that the primordial Omkara, the Pranava represent all speech and it is that alone which manifests in different forms as all syllables.
Three words are used synonymously for language, namely bhasha (भाषा), vak (वाक्) and vaani (वाणी).
Introduction
One scholar mentions that after going through all the passages referring to vak, it is possible to reduce the main shades of meaning to six:[1]
- Vak as devata,
- Vak as a stuti (Prayer)
- Vak as human, everyday speech
- Sound of the non-human beings as of cattle, frogs, birds
- Sound of inanimate objects like dundubhi, aksa, etc.,
- Natural sound of water, thunder, etc.
There are many quotations from the Vedic literature that amply illustrate the high regard that vak was held in. It is said that omkara represents all speech; that alone is manifest in different forms as all the syllables.
omkara eva hi sarva vak I saisa sparsesvabhivyajyamana bahvT nanarupa bhavati I
Omkara is the source of all the Vedas, all knowledge. The word "Brahma" also refers to knowledge. It is recorded in the Vedas that vak has created this diverse Universe; there is nothing more primary than vak itself.
The Brhadaranyaka Upanishad has equated speech with Brahman.
वाग्वै सम्राट्परमं ब्रह्म । (Brhd. Upan. 4.1.2)[2]
In Rigveda (also in Atharvaveda, Taittriya Aranyaka and Shatapatha Brahmana) we come across the four fold division of Vak (वाक्) an important aspect of Vyakarana.[3]
चत्वारि वाक्परिमिता पदानि तानि विदुर्ब्राह्मणा ये मनीषिणः ।
गुहा त्रीणि निहिता नेङ्गयन्ति तुरीयं वाचो मनुष्या वदन्ति ॥४५॥ (Rig. Veda. 1.164.45)
- ↑ Narayanan, Sharda. (2012) Vakyapadiya, Sphota, Jati and Dravya. New Delhi : D. K Printworld (P) Ltd.
- ↑ Brhadaranyaka Upanishad (Adhyaya 4)
- ↑ Subramanya Sharma. V. M. (2012) Ph.D Thesis: The Notion of Word in Vakyapadiyam. Hyderabad : University of Hyderabad