Abstract
The aim of this article is to reconstruct the classical Sāṁkhya view on the relationship between a word and its meaning. The study embraces all the extant texts of classical Sāṁkhya, but it is based mainly on the Yuktidīpikā, since this commentary contains most of the fragments which are directly related to the topic of our research. The textual analysis has led me to the following conclusion. It is possible to reconstruct two different and conflicting views on the relationship between a word and its meaning from the classical Sāṁkhya texts. The first view, the source of which is the Yuktidīpikā, is that all words are conventional in their origin. It resembles the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika theory of the primary linguistic convention and the conventional origin of all words. The second view, which is the implication of the Sāṁkhya idea of the authorless Vedas we can reconstruct on the basis of the majority of the classical Sāṁkhya commentaries (including the Yuktidīpikā), is that the relationship between a word and its meaning is natural. This view is probably influenced by Mīmāṁsā. Both of these views are hardly compatible with the Sāṁkhya teaching. It seems like classical Sāṁkhya, not having created its own detailed theory, oscillated between different conceptions.
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References and Abbreviations
Sāṁkhya Sanskrit Texts and Abbreviations
GB. Sāṁkhyakārikābhāṣya, or Gauḍapādabhāṣya = The Sāṅkhya Kārikā with an exposition called Candrikā by Nārāyaṇa Tīrtha, and Gauḍapādācārya’s commentary (1883). Edited by Becanarāma Tripāṭhī. Benares: Messrs. Braj B. Das & Co. (Benares Sanskrit Series. No. 9.)
JM. Jayamaṅgalā = Sāṁkhyakārikā of Śrīmad Īśvarakṛṣṇa with the Māṭharavṛtti of Māṭharācārya and the Jayamaṅgalā of Śrī Śaṅkara (1970). Edited by Viṣṇuprasāda Śarmā [MV] and Satkāriśarmā Vaṅgīya [JM]. Varanasi: Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office. (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series. No. 56.)
MV. Māṭharavṛtti—see JM. Jayamaṅgalā.
P. The commentary translated into Chinese by Paramārtha = (1) La Sāṁkhyakārikā étudiée à la lumière de sa version chinoise (II). Traité sur les « Septante d’or » (Suvarṇasaptati) ou Traité sur la philosophie Sāṁkhya (Sāṁkhyaśāstra) traduit par Paramārtha (1904). Traduit de chinois par Junjiro Takakusu. Bulletin de l’Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient 4, pp. 978–1064. (2) Suvarṇasaptati Śāstra. Sāṅkhya-Kārikā-Saptati of Īśvara-Kṛṣṇa with a commentary (1944). Reconstructed into Sanskrit from the Chinese translation of Paramārtha and edited with English notes, introduction and appendices by N. Aiyaswami Sastri. Tirupati: Tirümalai-Tirupati Devasthanams Press. (Sri Venkatesvara Oriental Series 7). (3) The Sāṁkhya Kārikā studied in the light of its Chinese version (1932, 1933). Translated [from the French translation of Takakusu] by S.S. Suryanarayanan [known also as S.S. Suryanarayana Sastri]. Journal of the Madras University 4(Supplement); 5, pp. 81–114.
Sāṁkhyasūtras and Sāṁkhyasūtravṛtti = Aniruddha’s commentary and the original parts of the Vedāntin Mahādeva’s commentary to the Sāṁkhya Sūtras (1888). Edited with indices by R. Garbe. Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal.
SK. Sāṁkhyakārikā = Īśvarakṛṣṇa: Sāṁkhyakārikā (1998). Edited by Ferenc Ruzsa. http://gretil. sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/6_sastra/3_phil/samkhya/isvskaru.htm. Accessed 5 December 2011.
SSVṛ. Sāṁkhyasaptativṛtti = Sāṁkhya-Saptati-Vṛtti (V1) (1973). Edited by Esther A. Solomon. Ahmedabad: Gujarat University. (Bibliotheca Indica. New Series. No. 688.)
SVṛ. Sāṁkhyavṛtti = Sāṁkhya-Vṛtti (V2) (1973). Edited by Esther A. Solomon. Ahmedabad: Gujarat University.
TK. Sāṁkhyatattvakaumudī = Sankhyatatwa Koumudi by Bachaspati Misra (1871). Edited with a commentary by Taranatha Tarkavachaspati. Calcutta: Sucharu Press.
YD. Yuktidīpikā = Yuktidīpikā. The most significant commentary on the Sāṁkhyakārikā (1998). Critically edited by Albrecht Wezler and Shujun Motegi (Vol. I). Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag. (Alt- und Neu-Indische Studien 44.)
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Łucyszyna, O. Classical Sāṁkhya on the Relationship between a Word and Its Meaning. J Indian Philos 44, 303–323 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9264-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10781-014-9264-1