Meaning in Bhartrhari’s Vakyapadiya

The study of grammar and linguistic philosophy had its origin in the Vedic period, at least in the second millennium bce. The VÀkyapadÁya of Bhart¦hari, an authoritative Sanskrit text written in the fifth century ce, contains reflections on the subject matter of language and grammar, thus the philosophy of language. Interpretation of communication is one of the principal objectives of Bhrt¦hari’s philosophy of language. His goal is to interpret the communication of all living things, be it a man or an animal, or a yogÁ or a baby.

Bharthari represents a rich tradition of Indian philosophy of language that he inherited from PÀõini and Pataðjali. The West, for all practical purposes, lagged behind in grammar, literary theories, philosophy of language and with the problems of meaning, even at the dawn of the twentieth century, when the Indian Grammarians made penetrating studies on the same even before the common era.

This volume delves upon “meaning” discussed in the VÀkyapadÁya as a continuity of the great Indian literary tradition, philosophy and grammar. In the process, it explores and analyses some issues such as meaning in Indian philosophy of language, theory of sphoÇa, and conditions and context of meaning.