Trikāṇḍī Explained

Trikāṇḍī ("Three books") is a Sanskrit treatise on the philosophy of language and grammar (vyakarana), written by the 5th-century Indian grammarian and philosopher Bhartṛhari. Some 19th-20th century printed editions refer to it by the title Vākyapadiya, which is actually the title of a part of it. Bhartṛhari's work is significant for its comprehensive treatment of the relationship between language, thought, and reality.

Naming

Trikāṇḍī which literally means three books, is the name of the works. However, the early printed editions of the work, such as those from 1888 and 1905, incorrectly presented Vākyapadiya as the title of the entire collection containing the three books. Vākyapadiya originally referred only to the second book of the collection, and later came to refer to the first two books.^[1]

Structure & content

The Trikāṇḍī, also known as Vākyapadīya, contains 3 kāṇḍas (sections): Brahmakāṇḍa (Book of Brahman), Vākyakāṇḍa (Book of Sentences), and Padakāṇḍa (Book of Words).^[2]

The first two parts are divided into kārikās (verses) and vṛtti (commentary). Since the earliest times, tradition attributes the authorship of the vṛttis to Bhartṛhari himself, although some manuscripts name Harivṛṣabha alias Vṛṣabha as their author.

The structure of the text provides a holistic view of language, encompassing its philosophical foundations, sentence structurer, and word formation.

Brahmakāṇḍa

The Brahmakāṇḍa discusses the concept of Brahman, stating that it "creates the diversity of the world out of language".^[3] It briefly discusses the Vedic branches and the Vedas as a source of rites, smṛti, schools of philosophy, and traditional knowledge. The author highlights the importance of the grammar (vyakarana), calling it "the door to liberation", and describing it as the first among the six auxiliary sciences, because other sciences can be understood only through it.^[4]

The text then discusses various topics, including words, meanings, and the relationship between them; the scope of grammar; linguistic forms; sphota; cognizance of the sound, etc.^[5] The author states that children understand language because of "dispositional tendencies" from their previous births; they attempt to speak out of intuition, not because they are taught to speak. In the vrtti, the author explains that something that exists is as good as non-existent unless spoken of using language; similarly, non-existent things become as good as real when language brings them to one's mind.^[6]

The author describes language as the basis of all branches of knowledge, and of all arts and crafts. He discusses the relationship between language and other concepts, such as cognition, consciousness, merit, spirituality, and scriptures. He also discusses the use of incorrect linguistic forms (apabhramsha).^[7]

Vākyakāṇḍa

The author lists various definitions of a sentence by different authorities, such as Katyayana, the Mimamsa school, and different logicians (nyaya-vadins).^[8] He then discusses the concept of sphota, and various views regarding the divisibility and indivisibility of a sentence and its meaning.^[9]

The author discusses 12 views regarding the meaning of linguistic forms. He lists six varieties of intuition, and discusses the role of intuition in understanding the meaning of a sentence. He then discusses constituents of words (such as prefix, suffix, stem, and roots); linguistic forms (nouns, verbs, prepositions, particles, and postpositions); phonemes; compound words; homophones; concatenations of words.^[10]

The author states that one must distinguish between the possible and intended meanings of the linguistic forms, and discusses various factors that determine the meaning. He also discusses various views on the relationship between language and meaning. For example, some people think that language only produces a memory, it does not establish the meaning: a burned man understands the meaning of burning when he comes in contact with fire, as opposed to learning the meaning of the word "burning" through language. The author also discusses other related topics, such as completeness of a sentence, emphasis, and related topics.^[11]

In the epilogue, the author talks about different grammar traditions of India, stating that his teacher had mastered all of them. He mentions several earlier scholars, including Panini, Patanjali, Chandra, Baiji, Saubhava, and Haryaska. He states that it is important to learn about various traditions and the works of earlier scholars.^[12]

Padakāṇḍa

The final book is focused on individual words, their formation, and their meanings. The rules governing the formation and interpretation of words is also discussed here.

Book 3 comprises 14 chapters (samuddeśas):^[13]

1. On Universal Property (Jāti-samuddeśa)
2. On Substance (Dravya-samuddeśa)
3. On Relation (Saṃbandha-parīkṣā)
4. More on Substance (Bhūyodravya-samuddeśa)
5. On Quality (Guṇa-samuddeśa)
6. On Spatial Direction (Dik-samuddeśa)
7. On the Means to Action (Sādhana-samuddeêa)
8. On Action (Kriyā-samuddeśa)
9. On Time (Kāla-samuddeśa)
10. On Person (Puruṣa-samuddeśa)
11. On Number (Saṃkhyā-samuddeśa)
12. On Aspect (Upa-graha-samuddeśa)
13. On Gender (Liṅga-samuddeśa)
14. On Linguistic Formations (Vṛtti-samuddeśa)

Commentaries

The following commentaries of the work are known:

Book 1

• Paddhati or Sphutakshara, a tika by Vṛṣabhadeva.^[14] Harivṛṣabha alias Vṛṣabha (c. 650 CE) was a son of Devayashas and a protege of king Vishnu-gupta; his Vakyapadiya-paddhati is the earliest known commentary on Bhartṛhari's work, composed by someone other than Bhartṛhari.^[15]

Book 2

• Original vritti by Bhartṛhari or Harivṛṣabha^[16]
• Vakyapradipatika, by Bhartrhari, provides an explanation of the kārikās^[17]
• A summary in verses of the tika by Punya-raja or Rajanaka-shura-varman; this was likely a summary of a now-lost commentary by Helaraja
• Vākya-padiya-prameya-samgraha, a summary of the tika, by an unknown redactor.

Book 3

• Prakirna-vrtti by the Yogachara teacher Dhrama-pala (6th-7th century); this work is now lost, and is known from the Chinese tradition and I-tsing. The title Prakirna-vrtti is known from Durveka Mishra's Dharmottara-pradipa.^[18]
• Prakirna[ka]-prakasha by Hela-raja, with two gaps filled by Phulla-raja (likely same as Punya-raja); this work contains an explanation of the kārikās

Notes and References

1. Book: Bhartṛhari: philosopher and grammarian ; proceedings of the First International Conference on Bhartṛhari (University of Poona, January 6 - 8, 1992) . 1997 . Motilal Banarsidass Publ . 978-81-208-1198-0 . Bhate . Saroja . Reprint der Aufl. 1994 . Delhi . 23-24 . Bronkhorst . Johannes . Bhartṛhari . International Conference on Bhartṛhari.
2. Book: Encyclopedia of Indian philosophies . 1977 . Princeton University Press . 978-0-691-07281-4 . Potter . Karl H. . Princeton, N.J.
3. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 126-127.
4. Book: Coward, Harold G. . The philosophy of the grammarians . Kunjunni Raja . Kumarapuram . 1990 . Princeton university press . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Encyclopedia of Indian philosophies . Princeton (N.J.) . 128.
5. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 128-134.
6. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 135.
7. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 135-138.
8. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 138.
9. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 139-142.
10. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 143-147.
11. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 147-152.
12. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 153.
13. Book: Bhartṛhari: philosopher and grammarian ; proceedings of the First International Conference on Bhartṛhari (University of Poona, January 6 - 8, 1992) . 1997 . Motilal Banarsidass Publ . 978-81-208-1198-0 . Bhate . Saroja . Reprint der Aufl. 1994 . Delhi . 14, 153-172 . Bronkhorst . Johannes . Bhartṛhari . International Conference on Bhartṛhari.
14. Book: Bhartr̥hari, philosopher and grammarian: proceedings of the First International Conference on Bhartr̥hari (University of Poona, January 6-8, 1992) . 1994 . Motilal Banarsidass Publishers . 978-81-208-1198-0 . Bhate . Saroja . 1st . Delhi . 33 . English . Bronkhorst . Johannes.
15. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 179.
16. Book: Bhartṛhari: philosopher and grammarian ; proceedings of the First International Conference on Bhartṛhari (University of Poona, January 6 - 8, 1992) . 1997 . Motilal Banarsidass Publ . 978-81-208-1198-0 . Bhate . Saroja . Reprint der Aufl. 1994 . Delhi . 33 . Bronkhorst . Johannes . Bhartṛhari . International Conference on Bhartṛhari.
17. Web site: Bhartrihari Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy . 2024-07-03 . en-US.
18. Book: The philosophy of the grammarians . 1990 . Princeton Univ. Pr . 978-0-691-07331-6 . Coward . Harold G. . The encyclopedia of Indian philosophies / gen. ed.: Karl Potter . Princeton, NJ . 177.