6 ways to understand a book-Sandharbha

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SIX WAYS TO UNDERSTAND A BOOK Srila Jiva Goswami’s Paramâtma Sandarbha 105.6

 

upakramopasahârâv abhyâso ‘pûrvatâ phalam arthavâdopapattî ca liga

tâtparya-nir aya [The six ways to understand the meaning of a book are:] 1)

upakrama, the author’s preamble; 2) upasahârau, the author’s concluding words;

3) abhyâsa, what is repeated by the author again and again in the course of the

book; 4) apûrvatâ-phalam, or what is unique to the book and not found in other

books; 5) artha-vâda, the author’s own declaration of his intent in writing the

book, and; 6) upapattî, the application of logic to understand the author’s

intention.