VĀKYAPADĪYA

Author(s): M. G. Dhadphale
Source: Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute , 2006, Vol. 87 (2006), pp.
259-266
Published by: Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute

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 VAKYAPADIYA

By

M. G. Dhadphale

A lot has been written and is being written about the grea
Grammarian philosopher Bhartrhari (hereafter abbr. B) and his Vãkyapadiy
(abbr. V).

The main questions discussed about the author are : 1) whether B

belongs to the Tri-muni - Vyãkarana school or falls outside its line
development. 2) Is he to be identified with the poet Bhartrhari, the auth
of Šataka-trayi ? 3)Is Svopajña gloss really written by B or is merely attributed
to him as an auto-commentary but is actually written by someone else ?
4) Was B a Buddhist by faith or was merely influenced by Buddhist tenets
neither of the case ?

As for the subject-matter of this paper I can afford to eschew the first
three issues but the fourth one, I cant afford to neglect.

Right from the scholars of the old generation like the late Mãnavallí,
the late Carudev Shastri, the late Prof. K. A. Subramania Iyer till those of
the present generation like Prof. A. N. Aklujkar, Prof. George Cardona,
Prof. Madhav Deshpande, Prof. Jan E. M. Houben and others have been writing
profusely and critically on almost every aspect of the study of B. and V. Yet
no one seems to have given a special attention to the title Vãkyapadiya. The
reason for this is not far to seek. These scholars perhaps find the title self-
explaining and, therefore, not needing any explanation. It consists of two
words Vãkya and pada (a sentence and a word, respectively). This gives us
the Itaretara-dvandva compound Vãkyapade, to which the regular lya (cha)
suffix is added with a view to expressing the intended meaning i.e. a treatise
dealing with vãkya and pada.

The Šrňgáraprakáša of Bhoja (p. 50) says the same thing karmanah
sambandhinã (yogo)-yathã - vãkyapade adhikrtya krto granthah
vãkyapadlyam .This passage was brought to light for the first time by Mãnavallí ,
the first editor of the V.

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260 Annals BORI, LXXXVII ( 2006 )

When the renowned Mimãmsaka Prabhãkara in his

p. 389) says ta ete'nvitä padãrthãh esãmabhidhãnãni pa
vãkyapadiyam - he is definitely not referring to a title of
meticulous commentator áãlikãnãtha, has also purposely avo
grant hah or prakaranam.

B was a staunch adherent of sphota theory of meaning.

analysis ( apoddhãra ) only he assumed different partial spho
of varna (letter) , pada (word) , etc . Y et the meaning , he always
is revealed only by the akhanda-vãkya-sphota. It is for this that
comes first and the word pada, later.

But for me the title is not that simple and straight-forward;

I, therefore, place my thoughts before the scholars for thei

1) Grammatically, I propose to dissolve the compounded

an itaretara dvandva but as a karmadhãraya, and 2) semanti
to describe this karmadhãraya as a 'Brahmo-Buddhisť compo
by my teacher the late Dr. T. G. Mainkar in explain
Brahmanirvãna used in Bhagavadgítã(BG.V. 24 & 25) as a 'Br
compound'. To make it still more easy to understand, I say that
exactly a 'sentence' as defined in English grammar but a 'u
a Brahmanical term while pada is a term used in Buddhist t
much the same as vãkya. Thus the compounded title like B
the Gïtâ, though not a bi-lingual translation-compound is al
traditional one or dvi-kula-ja- compound, a bikin (bringing
and Buddhist kula- s together.)

Perhaps even a single instance should suffice to carry h

In Pâli (and even in Sanskrit Buddhist tradition) 'Dhammap
Dhammavacana ( Dharnma - statements -vãkya-vacana, not d

The Vedic Brahmanical tradition deals with both the samhitã (a

connected text)and its pada-s. Thus we have the samhitãpãtha as also the
Pada-pãtha. The knower of the pada-s was known as padaka (just as the
knower of Siksã, a šiksaka; and that of Mlmãmsã, a Mimãmsaka). Padaka
occurs very often in the Pali Canon in a cliché describing a Vedic-Brãhmana
( tinnam vedãnam päragü, sa-nighandu ketubhãnam, padako veyyãkarano,
lokãyata-mahãpurisa-lakkhanesu anavayo. D. I. 88, etc. PTS. ed.).

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 M. G. Dhaphale : Vãkyapadiya 261

Following the two above mentioned pãtha-s in Vedic traditi

arose the two distinct schools in Sanskrit grammar known as pa
vãkya-vãdi (for which see. The Philosophy of Word and Meaning,
Shastri, Calcutta, 1959, P. 95).

The Sanskrit Grammatical tradition commenced with Panini

a Padašastra. It culminated as a Vãkyasãstra at the hands of B, w
may not be considered as belonging to the Pãninian tradition. Pãn
pada as suptiñgantam padam and though the concept of vãkya w
by him, he did not give a definition of it. It was Kãtyãyana wh
the anukta by placing before us a working definition such as ekat
This roused a good deal of discussion about whether according to P
could or could not be a purely nominal (and complete in itself) se
as Devadattah pãcakah odanasya. Amongst others I shall refer on
views expressed on this important aspect by Madhava Deshpande
and Johannes Bronkhorst. (For Bronkhorst see A BORI. LXXI pa
pp. 301-304.)

Bronkhorst disagreed with the view expressed by Kiparsky namely that

Pãnini did not have to provide deletion of the copula in a nominal sentence
and, therefore, Devadattah pãcakah odanasya is a complete sentence without
a finite verb. Bronkhorst maintained that for Kãtyãyana and Patañjali not all
the nominal sentences are complete in themselves and that according to
Patañjali in a seemingly nominal séntence such as vrksah plaksah (The Fig.
tree) a verb like asti or vidyate is supposed to be implied. Bronkhorst further
remarked that the view of Pãnini in this connection was not identical with
Kãtyãyana and Patañjali who firmly held that every sentence must have a finite
verb. Thus Bronkhorst does not consider a nominal sentence to be complete
in itself and finds out in the Paninian sütra III. 4. 21 a support for his arguement.
The said sütra points out two verbs used in the context of the same agent. This
serandipitical finding of Bronkhorst also may lead to further contraversy about
the presence of nominally complete sentence in Sanskrit speech. I for one
would like to be guided by Kätyäyana's view of a vãkya. We all know that the
cryptic sutra-s like those of Bãdarãyana wherein the texts though often formed
with nouns alone are invariably explained by the commentators with the word
iti vãkyasesah, This vãkyasesa is in most of the cases furnishes a finite verb.
Thus the commentarial supplement tacitly admits the view of Kãtyãyana that
every sentence for its compliance needs a verb to be supplied. Prof Madhav
Deshpande, however, maintains that it is not necessary to suppose that the

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262 Annals BORI , LXXXVII ( 2006 )

views of Kãtyãyana and Patañjali regarding this matter should a

of Panini. Deshpande says that confining ourselves exclusivel
can safely maintain that there can be a complete and purely no
without any implication of verbal supplement. In fact Patañj
Kâtyâyan's, definition of a vãkya or sentence emphatically sa
kriyate (i.e. Kãtyãyana has said something for which there is
Pãninian support) Deshpande adds. And thus Kãtyãyana, accord
ideas is supplying a deficiency in Pmnini by his anukta type
namely ekatiň väkyarh.

Now we should concentrate on the fact that in Buddhist tradition the

very word pada is seen used in the sense of a vãkhya and that B also uses the
word pada synonymously with vãkya with a view to bringing a compromise
between the Brahmanical and Buddhist grammatico-semantic schools.
B cleverly used what I shall prefer to name as a comprise-compound for the
title of his treatise fusing Buddhist and Brahmanical thought and terminology.

One more striking instance showing such a compromising attitude

according to me is a synonym compound used in Marathi namely guna-
dharma. Here guna is a Sãmkhyn term and dharma , a Buddhist one based on
the Sãmkhyan tradition. We should never fail to read the revealing article. The
Guna-s of the Sãmbhya and the Dharma-s of the Buddhists' written by
Stecherbautsky long ago. (Indian Historical Quarterly, 1934, p.751).

In the same way for knowing in all details the Vaibhasika theory of pada
meaning a vãkya we should carefully and sympathatically read an equally
searching article by Dr. Padmanabha Jaini - 'The Vaibhãsika theory of
Meaning."

For the convenience of the readers I shall note here in brief only the
outline of Jaini's article. 1) The Sautrãntika and the Vaibhãsika schools differ
on many points one of which is important from the grammatical and linguistic
point of viiew. It is about the cittaviprayukta-samskãra-s (translated by
Stecherbatsky as 'pure forces' in his Central Conception of Buddhism, p. 23)
The last three forces are nãmakãya (groups of words), vyaãjanakãya (group
of letters) and padakãya (group of sentences).

Thus in the Pãli-Nikãya-s and indeed in the Buddhist tradition as a

whole the word pada is used to denote a vãkya , the whole statement and just

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 M. G. Dhaphale : Vãkyapadlya 263

not its words or terms. My friend in Japan Prof. Hajime Nakamura (J

of the Ganganath Jha Kendriya Vidyapeeth, Allahabad, Vol. XXIX-Vo
1973. Centenary Vol. pp. 367-388.) has successfully demonstrated that
studied Buddhist thought and was influenced by its terminilogy
parikalpa, viparïta, vikalpita, a-vikalpita, adhyãropa, adhvan and many
The term pada itself meaning a vãkya as Dhammapada for Dhamma stat
must have trigerred Bhartrhari 's imagination so as to use it synonymously
vãkya in the title of his treatise so that his assertion vãkyãt padãnmmãtya
pravibhãgo na kašcana is implicity reflected in the title and the e
controversy between padavada and vãkyavãda is dissolved once for al
Buddhist term pada itself being considered as a vãkya. We can now say
B thus established a vãkyapada-vãda in his Vâkyapadïya by imply
compound vãkyameva padam iti vãkyapadam (not vãkyapadé) îadadikr
krto granthah)

Along with B we know Chandragomin a Buddhist grammari

Sanskrit and Dharmakïrti also, who is said to have been a Bu
philosopher, devoted some time to the study of Sanskrit grammar as p
authority of E. Obermiller. (History of Buddhism by Buston, part II.
Buddhist tradition, established a trend of Grammarian-philosophers an
anticipated centuries ago the trend of modern American Philosopher
based their findings on linguistic analysis.

My preceptor the late Dr. T.G. Mainkar while teaching us t

Kãrikã-s of Gaudapäda used to say that at a certain stage of the develo
of Indian philosophy it was not possible for any intellectual true to hi
to keep himself unimpressed by Buddhist thought just as in recent past
not possible for any thinker in socio-economic field to be uninfluen
Marxism. It is a palpable fact that Gaudapäda and Šamkara were influ
by Buddhist terminology and mode of thinking which they utilised to esta
firmly the Advaya doctrine of Upanisad-s. The term Advaya is of pred
recurrance in Buddhist philosophy and the Buddha himself is c
Advayavãdin. B belonged to the same orthodox Brahmanical Vedãnta tr
to which later Gaudapäda and Šamkara contributed richly.

One more distinguishing character of V is that it is thoroughly comp

in Kãrikã-s, a medium used by Nãgãrjuna (Múlamadhyamakãrikã), lat
Gaudapäda (Mãndukya-kãrikã) and still later by Išvarakrsna (Sãm
kãrikã). The Grammar in verses distinguishes V from the Tri-muni tra

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264 Annals BORI, LXXXVII ( 2006 )

of Prose-Grammar. The sütra-s, Värttika-s (except šlokavár

the Bhãsya and the later expositions are all in prose.

Here perhaps we should note the fact that Mammata in hi

quotes from Vàkyapadïya a prose sentence. 'Uktam hi Vãl
gauh svarüpena gauh. nãpyagauh, gotvãbhisambandhãttu g
a prose summary of a lost kãrikã which we on the model o
Sãmkhya-kãrikã" by the late B.G. Tilak restore in some
"Na casti gauh svarüpena, nãpyagaurvã bhavet tathã/
gotvasambandhamãtrena gaur gaurbhavati, nãnyathãll

At this stage it will be meet to recapitulate our argum

our finding that Vãkyapadiya is a 'Brahmo-Buddhisť
compound where two words from two different tradition
meaning are used to form the title Vàkyapadïya 1) Vãkyam
padam (Buddhist Vaibhãsilca and on the whole Nakãyika) t
tadhikrtya krto granthah. gunah ( Sãmkhya-term ) is dharm
gunadharmah or Brahm (Upanisadic) eva Nirvánám (Bu
Brahma eva nirvánám or even the farce (prahasana) writt
dramatist Bodhãyana namely Bhagavada jjukam or Bh
wherein the Bhagavan (philosopher-ascetic) becomes ajjukã
course the vice-versa. Hence the statement nãyam bhagav
bhagavadajjukiyam samvrttam which in the case of và
positive form, where we should say yadeva vãkyam tadev
padam tadeva vãkyam, much on the line of the Upanisadic
tadeva kham, yadeva kham, tadeva kam. (Chãndogya IV. 1

As for the Nikãyic reference (Samyuttanikãya Pàli (R

38) the following gãthã is important. It speaks about the
chando nidãnam gãthãnam, akkharã tãsarh viyañjanam
nãmasannisita gãthã, kavi gãthãnamãsayo//
(Metre is the origin of a verse, letters manifest the no
are taken recourse of in a gãthã and poet is the citadel of

This verse has become a bone of contention between the Vaibhasika-

s and Sauträntika-s. The Vaibhãsika-s admit the existence of nãma-samsakãra-
s which are not admitted by the Sautrantika-s. Buddhaghosa, the commentator
of the gãthã seems to be in favour of theVaibhãsika stand-point when he
explains nãma as samuddã - di paññatti i.e. the nouns or names like samudda
(the sea), jar ( ghata ) etc.

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 M. G. Dhaphale : Vãkyapadlya 265

The gãthã says : letters give manifestation (creation) to nãma-

pada-s). The Vaibhãsika-s explain padam gãtharh janeti as a pada
gãthã and pada is a synonym for vãkya. The kãrikã (see Padmanabh
P) clearly says padaparyãyo vãkyam. In the Pali canon too we find th
pada used in the sense of a vãkya. Thus in Sarhyuttanikãya it is said
padena sabbo attho vutto (by a single pada the whole meaning is exp
and what is that single padal phassapaccayã dukkhami, ti iminã ekena
(SA. I. 57 Roman, ed.) Thus a vãkya is cited under the name of p

Here there is a sentence formed of two words. Here in this sp

context it is extremely fruitful to read the following (which I am quotin
Pañcaskandha-prakarana of Vasubandhu, critically edited by Shanti B
Shastri. First ed. 1969 Kelaniya, Ceylon, pp. 14, 33).
44 nãmakãyah katamah? dharmãnãm svabhãvãdhivacanam" .
(What is a terminology? A designation of the very nature of th
"padakãyah katamah? dharmãnãm visesãdhivacanam" .
(What is a definition? A designation of the speciality of thing
"vyanjanakãyah katamah? aksarãni. tadubhayavyanjanatãm upãd
(What is a verbal expression? Letters; for, they express both
terminology and a definition]).
"vãkyam api tãni nãmapadãsrayenãrthavacanatãm upãdãya" .
(They are also called vãkya or sentence; for, they convey a (com
meaning by means of their depencence on terms and definitions.)
"aksaram punah paryãyãksaranatãm upãdãya" .
( And aksara (=letters) is termed so, because it causes no character

In classical Sanskrit too pada or pãda (-corana, a foot) is at tim

interchangeably (synonymously) with a vãkya and the benedictory s
a drama (Nãndí) is said to be compased of eight ot twelve pada-s
padairdvãdasabhirastãbhirvãpyalamkrtã). Then follows the wranglin
the meaning of pada or pãda. Some say that it means a foot of a vers
a prãtipadika or a dhãtu with nominal or verbal endings respectively. Obv
the Pãniníanas. Yet some others hold that it means the main senten
with its minor clauses :

slokapãdarh padam kecit, suptingantamathãpare /

pare' väntaraväkyaikasvarüparh padamücirell

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266 Annals BORÌ, LXXXVII ( 2006 )

The Mimãmsã system defines prakaranam (a means of det

sense of Vedic statements) as Vãkyaikavãkyatã and alter
padaikavãkyatã wherein pada is equated with vãkya.
hermeneutical grammar padakaya means vãkyakãya.

Coming to Sanskrit poetics we find Višvanátha using the

in his definition of a poem where Jagannatha uses its synonym š
Thus Sãhityadarpana defines a poem as Vãkyam rasãtmak
Rasagangädhara saying Ramaniyãrthapratipãdakah šabdhah kã
word cannot be a poem, nor even a single sentence for Višvan
explain in his gloss that by vãkya he does not mean a 'senten
in English grammar) but vãngmaya so that the great R
Mahãbhãrata are viewed as mahãvãkya-s. Mahãkãvya-s are
Hence Abhinavagupta speakes about Mahãbhãrata being a
repository of áãnta-rasa, originating from Nirveda (an entire
detached sentiment) caused by reading the sad destruction of
of the Kuru-s (and even that of the race of Yadü-s).

I am painfully conscious of the fact that I am not a comp

of Sanskrit Grammar. I, therefore, thought ten times before I se
present article. My interest in Buddhist literature urged me publ
and I shall most welcome any scathing criticism of what I have sa
that will be in the service of cti tical scholarship.

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