Vakyapadiya 1.137-141

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As meaning is expressed in differentiated speech, words have a power

that directs the attention of a listening mind, through arguments and

inference. Through this power, learning is continually renewed, from

generation to generation. But it is renewed in the course of changing

circumstance, by a variety of different people, so that old texts are

liable to be interpreted in different ways. This changing use of

texts is described in stanzas 1.137-141.

 

 

1.137

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shabdAnAm eva sA shaktis tarko yaH puruShA-'shrayaH .

 

shabdAnAm(of words) eva(only, nothing but) sA(that) shaktiH(power)

tarkaH(argument, inference) yaH(which)

puruSha(intelligence)-AshrayaH(dependent) .

 

All arguments and inference

depend upon intelligence.

They're nothing but the power of words.

 

shabdA-'nugato nyAyo 'nAgameShv a-nibandhanaH ..

 

shabda(speech)-anugataH(following, imitating, mimicking)

nyAyaH(formal logic) anAgameShu(not in authentic texts)

a-nibandhanaH(not tying down, not recording) ..

 

Where formal logic blindly follows

words expressed in outward speech,

it's just a verbal mimicking

that ties no concrete meaning down.

It cannot record anything.

Such logic is not found in texts

of genuine authority.

 

Here, it is pointed out that reasoning is an essentially practical

capability, depending on intelligence and carried by the power of

words. Accordingly, authentic texts cannot be effective merely by

passing on their outward forms, through a mechanical mimicking in the

external world.

 

For any text to record an authentic meaning, there must be a

reflection back, from outwardly mimicked form to an inner principle

of intelligence. No matter how an argument or inference may be

expressed in outward form, its practical effectiveness depends

essentially upon that inner principle -- which has to be drawn upon,

reflectively.

 

 

1.138

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rUpA-'dayo yathA dRShTAH pratyarthaM yata-shaktayaH .

 

rUpA(forms, appearances)-AdayaH(and so on) yathA(just as)

dRShTAH(seen) pratyarthaM(in each case)

yata(inherent, special)-shaktayaH(capabilities) .

 

As shapes and forms and colours seen

and other sights have, each of them,

their special capabilities,

 

shabdAs tathai 'va dRshyante viShA-'paharaNA-'diShu ..

 

shabdAH(words) tathA(so) eva(also) dRshyante(are seen)

viSha(contaminating waste)-apaharaNa(elimination)-

AdiShu(in such things) ..

 

so also words are each perceived

to have their own particular

effects, like the elimination

of contaminating waste.

 

Here we are told that words have each their particular effects, like

other shapes and forms and qualities perceived by outward sense. But

the example given of these particular effects is very telling. The

example is that a word may have a purifying effect, as it serves to

eliminate contaminating waste. This is not merely a mechanical

result, but rather a decidedly organic cleansing that must draw

reflectively upon a living sense of value from subjective

intelligence.

 

 

1.139

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yathaI 'ShAM tatra sAmarthyaM dharme 'py evaM pratIyatAm .

 

yathA(just as) eShAM(of these [words]) tatra(there)

sAmarthyaM(accordance) dharme(in virtue) api(also) evaM(thus)

pratIyatAm(of these [words] leading into) .

 

Just as these words accord with virtue

so they also lead to it.

 

sAdhUnAM sAdhubhis tasmAd vAcyam abhyudayA-'rthinAm ..

 

sAdhUnAM(of honest people) sAdhubhiH(by good people)

tasmAt(from that, therefore) vAcyam(to be spoken)

abhyudaya(uplifting, improvement)-arthinAm(of those aiming for) ..

 

They are the words of honest people,

to be spoken by good people

aiming to improve their state.

 

Here the effectiveness of words is explicitly associated with a

living sense of value that is cultivated reflectively, by drawing

upon a subjective ground of correct intelligence from where good

people may proceed towards improvement.

 

 

1.140

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sarvo 'dRShTa-phalAn arthAn AgamAt pratipadyate .

viparItaM ca sarvatra shakyate vaktum Agame ..

 

sarvaH(everyone [in common]) adRShTa(unseen)-phalAn(effects)

arthAn(are achieved) AgamAt(from sacred texts)

pratipadyate(acknowledges) .

viparItaM(the contrary) ca(also) sarvatra(always)

shakyate(one is able) vaktum(to speak of)

Agame(in the sacred texts) ..

 

It's commonly acknowledged that

unseen effects may be achieved

by chanting from the sacred texts.

But it is always possible

to say conflicting things about

what's in the texts and what they mean.

 

 

From 1.140 vritti (last sentence)

--------------------------------

 

tasmAd AgamaM ki~ncit pramANI-kRtya vyavasthite tasmin yA

kAcid upapattir ucyamAnA pratipattAv upodbalakatvaM labhate .

 

tasmAt(therefore) AgamaM(sacred text) ki~ncit(whatever, some)

pramANI(authoritative standard)-kRtya(having made)

vyavasthite(a stand is taken on) tasmin(on that)

yA(that which) kAcid(whatever) upapattiH(conclusive reasoning)

ucyamAnA(fit, proper) pratipattau(in reaching, coming to)

upodbalakatvaM(confirmation) labhate(is obtained) .

 

Therefore, some sacred text is made

authentic, and a settled standpoint

is established. There, according

to whatever reason may

determine to be fit and proper,

confirmation is obtained.

 

 

Now, in the above stanza 1.40, the Vakyapadiya turns specifically to

the interpretation of texts that are regarded as authoritative. The

word that is used for such a text is 'agama' (with the first 'a'

pronounced long as in 'father'). This word 'agama' is derived from

the root 'gam', meaning to 'go' or to 'move'. To this word is added

the prefix 'a-' (long 'a'), meaning 'near' or 'back'. So 'agama'

implies a coming back, near to a source of origin.

 

In fact, the word 'agama' is often used to mean a 'source'. And when

a text is treated as a source of traditional authority, it may be

called an 'agama'. It is thus considered near to an ultimate origin,

of which it is a close representation. In listening to the text and

following its meaning, one is meant to experience a coming back,

towards the final source that is expressed.

 

But here, in this stanza 1.40 and in its vritti, two specific

allowances are made. First, in the stanza itself, an allowance is

made for conflicting interpretations of the text. And then, in the

vritti, a further allowance is made even in choosing which text is

taken to be authentic.

 

It's thus made quite explicit that interpretation and authenticity

are not outwardly determined. The interpretation of a text has to be

investigated reflectively, in ways that may objectively conflict. And

the authenticity of a text has to be realized subjectively, by

returning through some way of interpretation to that true source of

clear knowing that alone is impersonally authentic and authoritative.

 

In its mere outward or objective form, no text can ever be authentic

or authoritative. All authenticity and authority belong to that one

subject which alone knows all experience, in any personality.

 

 

1.141

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sAdhutva-j~nAna-viShayA sai 'ShA vyAkaraNa-smRtiH .

 

sAdhutva(straightness, correctness)-j~nAna(knowledge)-

viShayA(object, aim) sa(that) eShA(this)

vyAkaraNa(linguistics)-smRtiH(tradition, discipline) .

 

Linguistics is a discipline

whose aim is knowledge, clarified

from errors of mistaken use.

 

avicchedena shiShTAnAm idaM smRti-nibandhanam ..

 

avicchedena(through an uncut [continuity])

shiShTAnAm(of learned people, successful learners)

idaM(this) smRti(calling to mind, remembered learning)-

nibandhanam(recording) ..

 

It is recorded through an

uncut continuity -- of learning

that is called to mind, by those

who've learned it well and hand it down.

 

 

1.141 vritti (last sentence)

---------------------------

 

Passed down through a succession that

remains unbroken, the intent

remembered is reconstituted,

over and over again.

 

Where a tradition of established

common practice carries on

without recording it in words,

what gets to be remembered is

no more than the unbroken practice

of successful practitioners.

 

For original Sanskrit and translation method see:

http://www.advaitin.net/Ananda/VakyapadiyaExcerpts.pdf

 

 

Now, having previously acknowledged that texts may be differently

interpreted and used, the Vakyapadiya goes on (in stanza 1.41 above)

to the continued practice of learning that is handed down from

generation to generation. Such practice aims essentially at a renewal

of knowledge, by clarifying errors of mistaken use.

 

And that renewal cannot be maintained, essentially, by passing on

objective texts. Instead, it is maintained through an uncut

succession of living practitioners -- who each reflect to knowledge

shown by their predecessors, without necessarily having to record

that knowledge through objective texts.

 

It is clear knowledge alone that maintains a living tradition; not

any texts that may get damaged by forgetfulness, mistaken copying,

corruption and decay.

 

Ananda