1. VAAK : A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
The literal meaning of the word 'Vaak' is 'speech' and it is derived from the root 'vac' meaning 'to speak'. It is an older term going back to Rg Veda, where it has assumed the form of goddess and has been described as the queen of the Devas [i]. The Devas created her and animals of all forms "speak" her.[ii] .
This Vaak is related to brahman as well, which is not a mere sacred formula but supreme word, and is also powerful activity. In Rg Veda, hymn 10.144.8, Vaak appears as co-extensive with it. "yaavad brahma viSTitam taavat Vaak'', It means: As much as brahman did expand as large is the word. This formula is implies a subordination of the word to brahman. In Rg Veda 1.164.46, Vaak is referred to as the one real "ekam sat". This formula will indeed be eventually interpreted as identifying brahman with word "brahmavai Vaak" (aitareya braahmaNa 4.21).
Even in the later Hindu scriptures, the ÀraNyaka and UpaniSadas there is a continued equation of speech and Brahman. As the BrhadaaraNyaka UpaniSad states: Vaag vai brahmeti, ' speech truly, is Brahman'.[iii]
2. CHANGE IN THE CONCEPTION OF VAAK
A great advance in the conception of Vaak is seen in the UpaniSad, where the syllable 'Om' is identified with Brahman. Omiti Brahma | Omiti idam sarvam "Om' is Brahman; 'Om is this all," says the TaittirIyopaniSad 1. 8.
Prof. W. Norman Brown in his article 'The creative role the goddess Vaak in the Rg Veda' has analyzed the various metaphysical concepts relating to Vaak and the means of realizing its essence and observed [iv]:
"Vaak produced the raw material of the universe, the means for organizing it and taught the gods how to use those means. The capstone of the process was the provision that the instruction should be imparted to men so that they could constantly renew creation and thus perpetuate the existence of the universe."
As per the PaaNinian grammatical tradition, PataNjali, in his MahaabhaaSya has praised speech as great god (maho deva) residing in immortals. [v]
3. BHARTRHARI ON VAAK
Bhartrhari portrays speech as everything in the universe. It is the speech, which is the basis of all science, arts and crafts. It has capacity to produce and classify everything [vi]; the same speech remains within and outside with all living beings in the form of consciousness. There is no living being without the speech [vii]. The speech prompts the human beings in different deeds, when the same speech is gone, human being looks like a log of wood or piece of stone [viii].
Speech regulates everything. Thus, the speech does not go beyond oneness; the speech is eye of speech; the speech is bound with speech, and the divisions of speech 'cow' etc., are seen differently [ix].
Speech has six doors, six places, etc. Those who are dead cannot reach to them [x]. In the state of dream, speech manifests itself in the state of subject, object and instrument [xi].
4. VAAK AND LANGUAGE
Bhartrhari has used the term Vaak in various senses. In Bk. 12 (yo vaacaH paramo rasaH) and 132, (vaagrUpataa cedutkraamedavabodhasya shaashvatI), Vaak is used in the sense of language. However in Bk.182 'daivI vaagavyatikIrNeyam ashaktairabhidhaatrbhiH,' Vaak is used in the sense of speech and language. On some other occasion, he used the term Vaak in the sense of sentence [xii]. Here it should be noted that apart from the term Vaak, Bhrtrhari used also the term shabda in the same capacity.
The relation between speech and language is a little confusing due to their overlapping nature. Speech is the medium to express the language. It is a series of sounds produced from the vocal organ. Commenting upon the root vac in DhaatupaaTha, Dhaatuvrttikaara [xiii] clearly mentions that 'bhaaSaa vyaktaayaam vaaci.' Language means uttered speech. Thus speech and language are the two sides of the same coin. However, the scope of the speech is wider than that of the language.
5. LEVELS OF SPEECH
From the standpoint of the philosophy of grammar, there are two traditions regarding the levels of speech, namely, Pre-Bhartrhari and Bhartrhari. The Pre- Bhartrhari tradition accepts four levels: paraa, pashyantI, madhyamaa, and vaikharI. According to this tradition, paraa is the ultimate reality. However, according to Bhartrhari, they are only three in number, namely, pasyantI, madhyamaa and vaikharI. For him pashyanti is the ultimate reality. See below for a brief description or definition of these levels.
The first reference regarding four different levels of speech is found in Rg. samhitaa:
"The four kinds of words form the constituent of speech; the learned BraahmaNas, who have got control over their mind know them thoroughly; three out of four stages of speech being closed in caves do not twinkle; it is the fourth one (vaikharI) that manifests in the talk of men" [xiv].
According to Tantraagama 2.13, these differences in speech are caused by the difference in the place of air. The different places are: mUlachakra for paraa, naabhi (navel) for pashyantI, hrud (heart) for madhyamaa and kanTha (throat) for vaikharI.
6. BHARTRHARI ON THE LEVELS OF SPEECH
As said earlier, Bhartrhari accepts only three levels of speech namely: pashyantI, madhyamaa and vaikharI. In this context, Satyakama Verma feels that, Bhartrhari has accepted these three only because they alone are the subject matter of the grammar [xv].
While expounding the sphoTa doctrine, Bhartrhari, gives a more penetrating and minute analysis of the speech.
At the first level there are audible sounds which are called vaikrta-dhvani, or secondary sound. They reveal permanent sounds, which are called praarkuta dhvani or primary sounds. The primary sounds are the abstraction from the various secondary sounds. They may also be considered as the linguistically normal forms devoid of the personal variations, which are linguistically irrelevant. This may be called the second level.
The third level is that of sphoTa which is the whole utterance considered as an integral unit as an indivisible language symbol. It is this sphoTa that reveals the meaning, which is in the form of an intuition. Strictly speaking both the sphoTa and meaning are different aspects of the same speech-principle.
Bhartrhari seems to be synthesizing these various aspects of speech with the three-fold nature of the revelation of speech. Thus, the three levels of speech, namely, pashyantI, madhyamaa, and vaikhari stages correspond respectively to sphoTa, praakrtadhvani and vaikrta dhvani [xvi].
7. ANALYSIS OF THE LEVELS OF SPEECH
A common man can never understand these categories of Vaak (speech). In fact, it is the subject matter of grammatical philosophy. The speech, which we utter, is the manifested form of speech, which undergoes many modifications. Some of them are visible but others are very subtle. This visible level of speech is called vaikharI. It is manifested in the form of phonemes and heard in the form of sounds [xvii]. Ancient thinkers recognized two or three stages prior to this visible stage.
8. FORM OF UNDERSTANDING
It is common experience that, in spite of the innumerable variations in the mode of utterance, the form of understanding remains the same. In order to explain this situation the ancient thinkers have proposed an existence of an abstract level of speech called madhyamaa Vaak [xviii], namely, intermediate speech. It exists in the mind of a speaker before the speech-process has started. At this level, both the word and its meaning have their own identity. For example, the word 'cow' denotes both word form as well as meaning. If someone asks, 'Write cow,' either the word 'cow' can be written in script, or the form of a cow can be sketched.
The fact that there are many words in our mind that are not heard outside, suggests the existence of another level of speech earlier to madhyamaa. This level is called pashyantI by the ancient thinkers. At this stage, word and meanings are inseparable. It is the most obscure and the subtlest form of speech. The vrtti states 'the pasyantI is that, in which sequence is merged and even though it is one, the power to produce sequence has entered it. It is restless and also still in concentration, hidden and pure; the forms of object of knowledge have entered it or merged into it, or it has no form at all. It has the appearance of limited objects or of connected objects or the appearance of all objects has come to an end in it. Thus it has infinite variety' [xix]. The vrtti further says, 'The supreme form of pashyantI is devoid of all correct forms; it is not mixed up, and it is beyond worldly use' [xx].
Vrtti again defines 'the pashyantI is indivisible and is entirely without sequence. It is the inner-light, the subtle word, and the imperishable' [xxi].
Thus, according to the vrtti, the pashyantI stage of speech is abstract in nature. It has no sequence and no form. It is invisible and beyond worldly use. But, even in this stage, yogins have an understanding of division of words.
9. PASHYANTI and Pratibhaa
A person, who has a desire of realizing the pashyantI form of speech passes through various stages [xxii] and ultimately arrives at an undifferentiated state known as pratibhaa. The pratibhaa is a means to attain the supreme good. It is derived from the word principle (shabdatattva). It is identical with being. It is the source of modification. It has the power of accomplishment and things to be accomplished [xxiii]. In an ordinary verbal communication one starts from pashyantI and goes up to vaikharI. But, in shabdapUrvayoga or vyaayoga, one has to commence from vaikharI and ascend up to pashyantI.
The vrtti states, 'After having reached the undifferentiated states of the word, in pratibhaa, one comes to the source of all differentiation. From that pratibhaa, in which all being is latent, and which, due to the repetition of the union, tends to produce its result, one (the aspirant) reaches the supreme source in which all differentiation is completely lost' [xxiv].
The pashyantI form of speech and pratibhaa are literally the same. The pratibhaa is undifferentiated form of speech. It is the source from all the differentiation of speech begins. It is identical with the prakrti or pashyantI, which is subtlest form of speech. But there is difference between pashyantI and pratibhaa [xxv].
Pratibhaa is a means whereas pashyantI is the end. By virtue of pratibhaa, the pashyantI form of speech is activated. Thus the relationship between pratibhaa and pashyanti Vaak is that of cause and effect.
10. SUMMARY
- To sum up, Vaak is an older term going back to Vedic period, where it has assumed the form of deity.
- Although grammarians like PataNjali and Bhartrhari have given it the same status, they, being grammarians, have taken steps further, by way of its analysis. Bhartrhari uses the term Vaak in various senses such as the speech, language, and even the sentence. Here it should be noted that the concept of language is wider than that of the sentence, whereas the idea of speech is still wider than it. Considering the Vaak from the holiest point of view, Bhartrhari has analyzed it into different levels of vaikharI, madhyamaa, and pashyantI.
- Though the idea of dividing speech into different levels has its root in Rg. samhitaa, it was Bhartrhari, who evolved it into the form of theory in order to solve some of the linguistic problems faced by him.
CITED REFERENCES
[i] raaSTree devaanaam Viii. 89.10
[ii] devI vaacamajayanta devaastaam vishvarUpaaH pashavo vadanti. viii. 89.11
[iii] BrhadaaraNyaka UpaniSad 4.1.2
[iv] Bishnupada Bhattcharya, Bhartrhari's VaakyapadIya and linguistic monism, BORI, pp.3-4.
[v] maho devo martyaam aavivesha. MaahaabhaaSya. 1.1p.3
[vi] saa sarvavidyaashilpaanam kalaanaam copabandhanI
tadvashaadabhiniSpannam sarvam vastu vibhajyate. Bk.133[vii] saiSaa samsaariNaam samjNaa bahirantashca vartate
tanmaatraamavyatikraanta caitanyam sarvajaatiSu. Bk.134
[viii] arthakriyAAsu Vaak sarvaan samIhayati dehinaH
tadutkraantau visajNo'yam drshyate kaaSThaku±ayavat. Bk.135
[ix] ekatvamanatikaantaa vaaÉnetraa vaaÉnibadhanaaH
prthak pratyavabhaasante vaagvibhaagaa gavaadayaH. Bk.137.[x] Sa±dvaaraam Sa±adhiSThaanaam ( SaTpra) bodhaam Saavyayaam te mrtyumativartante ye vai vaacamupaasate. Bk.138
[xi] pravibhajyaatmanaatmaanam srSTvaa bhaavaan prthagvidhaan. Bk.140.
[xii] Satyakaama Verma, BhaaSaatattva aur VaakyapadIya. p.22.
[xiii] ibid p. 23.
[xiv] catvaari Vaakparimitaa padaani
taani bidurbrahmaNaa ye maniSiNaH
guhaatreeNi nihitaa neNgayanti
tureeyaH vaacao manuSyaa vadanti. Rg Samhitaa 1.164.45[xv] Satyakam Verma, BhaSaatattva aur VaakyapadIya, p. 13
[xvi] Indian theories of meaning by K. Kunjunni Raja, Adyar Library and Sanskrit Research Centre. 1963)
[xvii] paraiH samvedyam yasyaaH shrotraviSayatvena pratiniyatam shrutirUpam saa vaikharI. vrtti on Bk. 159.
[xviii] madhyamaa tvantaHsamniveshinI parigrhItakrameva buddhimaatropaadaanaa
saa tu sUkSmapraaNaavrttyanugtaa
kramasamhaarabhaave'pi vyaktakramaparigrahaiva keSaaNcit. vrtti on Bk.159[xix] pratisamhrtakramaa satyapyabhede samaaviSTakramashaktiH pashyanI
saa calaacalaa pratilabdhasamaadhaanaa caavrtaa vishuddhaa ca,
sanniviSSajNeyaakaaraa pratilonaakaaraa niraakaaraa ca,
paricchinnaarthapratyavabhaasaa samsrSSaarthapratyavabhaasaa
prashaantasarvaarthapratyavabhaasaa cetyaparimaaNbhedaa. Vrtti on Bk. 59.[xx] parantu pashyantIrUpamanapabhramshamasamkIrNe lokavyavahaaraatItam. Vrtti on Bk. 159.
[xxi] avibhaagaa tu pashyantI sarvataH samhrtakramaa
svarUpajyotirevaantaH sUkSmaa vaaganapaayInI. Bk.167.[xxii] For details, see K. A. S Iyer, Bhartrhari, p.139-142.
[xxiii] tadabhyaasaacca shabdapUrvakam yogamadhigamya pratibhaam
tattvaprabhavaam bhaavavikaaraprakrti sattaam
saadhyasaadhanashaktiyuktaam samyagavabuddhya niyataa
kSomapraaptiriti. vrtti on Bk. 144[xxiv] so'vyatikIrNaam vaagavasthaamadhigamya vaagvikaaraaNaam prakrtim pratibhaamanuparaiti
tasmaacca sattaanuguNyamaatraat
pratibhaakhyaacchabdapUrvayogabhaavanaabhyaasaak
Sepaatpratyastamitasa
rvavikaarollekhamaatraam paraam prakrtim pratipadyate. Vrtti on Bk.14.[xxv] Coward H. G., Bhartrhari, pp.44-45.