Sabdaloka: The World of Words in Indian Tradition

SABDALOKA
THE LIGHT OF THE WORDS
SUNIL SONDHI
Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3955113

SABDALOKA: T HE LIGHT OF THE WORDS
The monograph is a mid-term report for the ICSSR-IMPRESS project on ‘Culture and Communication in
India: Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts’. It contains research articles published in
Kalākalpa: IGNCA Journal of Arts during 2020-21.
Project
Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts
Funding Institution
Indian Council for Social Science Research
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi-110067
Affiliating Institution
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts
Janpath, New Delhi-110001
Project Director
Prof. Sunil Sondhi
Back Cover: Vāk, Madhubani Painting by Manisha Jha & Others (Courtesy: Janpada Sampada Archive,
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This monograph is based on the research work for the project on ‘Culture and Communication in India:
Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts’. I am grateful to the Indian Council for Social Science
Research for accepting the project proposal and providing funding for research work. I am also grateful to
the Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts for granting me affiliation and access to its extensive collection
of source materials for the research project.
I am deeply grateful to Dr. Sachchidanand Joshi, Member Secretary, IGNCA, for his consistent support for
the project and for his insightful guidance regarding the underlying concepts and ideas of this research
work. I am also grateful to Prof. Radha Banerjee Sarkar, Dr. Sushma Jatoo, and Dr. Sudhir Lall, at
Kalakosha Division of IGNCA for sparing their valuable time to help me in clarifying several aspects of the
research work. Many of the ideas in this research originated and were refined in my interactions with
them. I am thankful to Mr. Mohit Joshi for his help in data collection and to Ms. Rachana Rana for her help
in editing and publishing the articles and the monograph.
My experience in pursuing this research project has been quite holistic, which is participatory
epistemology at its best. Several individuals have joined me along the way, whether in the form of
comments on parts of the text, or random discussions on India’s intellectual tradition. By no means has
everyone agreed with me, but their comments were largely constructive. I have not been able to include
all the inputs in my writing so far, but a substantial part has been enfolded in one form or another in the
contents of this monograph.
Our collective debt to the authors of the Indian classical texts is immeasurable. Just one Asya Vāmiya
Sūkta of Ṛgveda (1,164) inspired Prof. Vasudev Sharan Agrawal to write his classic book The Thousand
Syllabled Speech, in which he observed that the dictionary meanings are quite all right as found in the
works of modern scholars of the East and West, and also in the writings of ancient commentators. But the
understanding of the ideas of the Vedic thinkers has to go beyond words to do full justice to those authors
endowed with the power of thought. Each author in the Vedas spoke an idiom of which the meaning was
understandable to those who were prepared to experience the vision of the Absolute Reality. There are
thousands of such hymns in the Vedas, and thousands of classical texts in the Indian intellectual tradition.
Any study of such texts must commence with the head bowed in deep gratitude.

Vāk Sūktam
(I TRAVEL with the Rudras and the Vasus, with the Ādityas and All-Gods I wander.
I hold aloft both Varuṇa and Mitra, Indra and Agni, and the Pair of Aśvins.)
(I cherish and sustain high-swelling Soma, and Tvaṣṭar I support, Pūṣan, and Bhaga.
I load with wealth the zealous sacrificer who pours the juice and offers his oblation.)
(I am the Queen, the gatherer-up of treasures, most thoughtful, first of those who merit worship.
Thus Gods have stablished me in many places with many homes to enter and abide in.)
(Through me alone all eat the food that feeds them,—each man who sees, brewhes, hears the word outspoken.
They know it not, but yet they dwell beside me. Hear, one and all, the truth as I declare it.)
(I, verily, myself announce and utter the word that Gods and men alike shall welcome.
I make the man I love exceeding mighty, make him a sage, a Ṛṣi, and a Brahman.)
(I bend the bow for Rudra that his arrow may strike and slay the hater of devotion.
I rouse and order battle for the people, and I have penetrated Earth and Heaven.)
(On the world's summit I bring forth the Father: my home is in the waters, in the ocean.
Thence I extend o’er all existing creatures, and touch even yonder heaven with my forehead.)
(I breathe a strong breath like the wind and tempest, the while I hold together all existence.
Beyond this wide earth and beyond the heavens I have become so mighty in my grandeur.)
(English Translation: Griffith, R. T. H., 1897, Hymns of the Rigveda, Vol. II. Benares: E.J. Lazarus and Co.)

INDIAN COUNCIL OF SOCIAL SCIENCE RESEARCH
(ICSSR)
T
he Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) was established in the year
of 1969 by the Government of India to promote research in social sciences in the
country. ICSSR provide grants for projects, fellowships, international
collaboration, capacity building, survey, publications etc. to promote research in social
sciences in India. Documentation center of ICSSR - National Social Science
Documentation Centre (NASSDOC) - provides library and information support services
to researchers in social sciences. ICSSR has developed ICSSR Data Service to serve as a
national data service for promoting powerful research environment through sharing
and reuse of data among the social science community in India.
Indian Council for Social Science Research has provided funding for the present
research work on Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary Relevance of
Indian Classical Texts.

INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL CENTRE FOR THE
ARTS (IGNCA)
T
he Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) is an autonomous Trust
set up by the Govt. of India under the ministry of culture. It has been established
in the memory of Smt. Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India, and it is a
premier resource centre engaged in research, documentation, publication, and
dissemination of knowledge of the arts. It is visualised as a Centre encompassing the
study and experience of all the arts, each form with its own integrity, yet within a
dimension of mutual interdependence and inter-relatedness with nature, social
structure and cosmology. Through diverse programmes of research, publication,
training, creative activities and performances, IGNCA seeks to place the arts within the
context of the natural and human environment. In the conventional sense of research
discipline, it relates to indology, philosophy, anthropology, archaeology, and history.
The fundamental approach of the Centre in all its work is both multidisciplinary and
interdisciplinary. The work of the Centre is carried by five divisions, viz. Kalā Nidhi,
Kālakośa, Janapada Sampadā, Kalā Darśana and Sutrādhāra. It has a well developed
Media Unit for audio-visual documentation and filmmaking; Cultural Informatics Lab for
production of CD-ROM’s, DVDs and developing National Digital Data Bank on Culture.
Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts has provided affiliation to carry out the
present research work on Culture and Communication in India: Contemporary Relevance
of Indian Classical Texts.

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………..………………………..
ŚABDA BRAHMA ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Science and Spirit of Language in Indian Culture
ŚABDA ŚAKTI ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Power of Words in India’s Linguistic Tradition
ŚABDĀNUSĀNAM…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
The Integral View of Communication
BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………………………………………………………….

ii

INTRODUCTION
T
his monograph is a compilation of my three articles published in Kalākalpa:
IGNCA Journal of Arts during 2020-21. The articles are based on research work
for the ICSSR-IMPRESS project on ‘Culture and Communication in India:
Contemporary Relevance of Indian Classical Texts’. It is the premise of this project that
problems in language and communication within and between different cultures and
societies emerge from a complex web of linguistic, social, and cultural factors that go
beyond any individual, or event. The hypothesis is that to resolve this problem we need
to look within the individual and the society and examine the disconnect between
language and culture. India’s rich linguistic heritage is embedded in its composite and
integrated culture. It is therefore imperative that problems in language proficiency and
competence in India should be resolved on the basis of cultural foundations of Indian
languages.
The nature of language and communication as an important concern and linguistics

analysis as a cognitive method became established in Western philosophy only in the
twentieth century. This celebrated ‘linguistic turn’ had happened in classical Indian
philosophy at least two thousand years earlier. A strong tradition of linguistic analysis
that developed in India in the first millennium BCE has continued uninterrupted to
modern times. The fields of phonetics and grammar were recognized first. By the fifth
century BCE Pāṇini composed a complete grammar o ans rit that generated
utterances from basic elements under semantic and co-occurrence conditions. Paninian
grammar utilized sophisticated techniques of reference, a formal meta-language, and
abstract principles of rule precedence. The long tradition of grammatical commentary
that followed Pāṇini’s wor investigated subtleties o verbal cognition in discussion
with well-developed philosophical disciplines of logic and ritual exegesis. Linguistic
analysis o ans rit inspired similar analysis of other Indian languages.
The study of language and communication in India was never a monopoly of the
logicians or the rhetoricians, as it was in Greece. Almost all schools of thought in India

Introduction
began their discussions from the fundamental problem of communication. The scholar-
saints of the Vedic age were greatly concerned with the powers and limitations of
language as a means of communicating their personal experiences of a visionary nature
to their kinsmen, and they tried to exhibit the power of language by various means.
They praised the power of language by identifying it with the powerful goddess
arasvatī, ready to give desired results to her devotees. The entire creation was
attributed by some sages to divine language, and it was generally accepted that ordinary
speech of mortals was only a part of that language.
The Indian communication model to a large extent is shaped by the Vedas and
Upaniṣads, the diverse philosophical schools and traditions, and a treasure of ideas and
practices stemming rom India’s composite cultural heritage. This legacy contributes to
a diverse and yet coherent Indian way of communication in a flowing movement. While
the seeds of the study of speech and language in India may be traced in the Ṛgveda, and
the study of the structure of language as authoritatively established in the Pāṇini’s
Aṣṭādhyāyī, and Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya, a full-fledged statement and discussion of
science and spirit of language was given in Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya in the fifth century.
Only a few of such classical texts have been studied so far with regard to their
contribution towards the evolution of an Indian communication model. Towards this
end, the Indian classical texts relating to language need to be explored further, and
relevant ideas stemming from them adopted for integrative and accommodative
language and communication in India and the world.
The goal of Indian thought on language and communication is not mere rational
knowledge but also experience of the Absolute Reality or Brahma. The knowledge of
language resulting in correct speech not only communicates meaning but also enables
one to experience the Absolute Reality. This is the meaning of the Indian term darśana,
which literally means ‘vision’ and which corresponds to the highest level of language
termed as paśyantī. It is this feature that sets the Indian linguistics apart from the
modern western perspectives on language. From the early Vedas and Upaniṣads, the
Indian approach to language and communication has never been limited to composition
and transmission of information about the objective world. All aspects of human
experience were regarded as open to expression through language. Linguistics in India
always had and continues to have both phenomenal and metaphysical dimensions.
The Indian communication model is based on the structure of language as an ascending

hierarchy of conceptual abstraction between the base level of physical reality, through
intermediate levels of abstraction, to the highest levels of abstraction - Śabda Brahma –
where linguistic form merges with formless Absolute Reality beyond language and
thought. While the connection of the basic linguistic terms with sense perceptions of
everyday experiences is of fundamental importance, comprehension of the connections
between our sense perceptions in their totality require logically derived concepts at
different levels of abstraction. The concept of Śabda Śakti symbolizes the creative
xii

Introduction
energy of language in the Indian tradition that connects and integrates the highest and
lowest levels of abstraction seamlessly, gracefully, and holistically, not losing touch with
reality at different levels.
Bhartṛhari begins his Vākyapadīya with metaphysical enquiry and then goes on to
empirical study of phenomenal language. In the first section of the work called
Brahmakāṇḍa, are given the basic ideas concerning the concept of Śabda Brahma. In the
second section called Vākyakāṇḍa, the fundamental idea of the integral nature of the
sentence is discussed. The third section is the largest, in which grammatical topics
mostly concerning words and their meaning are discussed. This section is called
Prakarankāṇḍa. All the sections are interrelated and connected and form an integral
whole.
Bhartṛhari’s enquiry into the relationship o word and meaning in the Prakarankāṇḍa
includes a clear analysis of the limitations and inadequacies of ordinary or secondary
words to communicate all dimensions and levels of the Absolute Reality. Secondary
words express only segments of Absolute Reality which are autonomous and yet
integrated with the Absolute reality which in its undivided wholeness and flowing
movement can never be expressed by the words and concepts of human language. As
the well-known Rigvedic hymn says, speech merely recognizes and gives meaning to
manifold forms arising out of the waters of the infinite ocean of ultimate reality.
Taittirīya Upaniṣad completes the message when it says:
yatovaconivartante, aprapyamanasasaha, anandambrahmanovidvan, nabibhetikadacana.
(From where the words return along with the mind, only the one who knows that
undifferentiated Brahma attains supreme bliss.)
For Bhartṛhari, the child and the scholar are in the same position as far as limitations
and inadequacies of understanding and communication are concerned. Both understand
and communicate only a part of the reality. The common words, therefore, are unable to
express the absolute nature of reality. Words express the reality of any object or event
in a manner that is only an interpretation and representation of the reality of the object
or event. Words are based on cognitions which do not reveal the full reality and so
present things in another form, not determined by their real form. Bhartṛhari
emphasizes that in ordinary cases of language use, the literal form may not convey the
intended meaning. In such cases, a thorough understanding of the context is required to
avoid confusions and misunderstanding in communication.
In practice, the words are used on the basis of bounded sense perception and
rationality. Common people may not be able to reach the level of consciousness that
may have been reached by scholars and sages. They understand things in a limited
manner and engage in communication on that basis. The Prakarankāṇḍa was an attempt
xiii

Introduction
to explain and organize words as used by the common people. The notions of action,
substance, and quality and so on used by the science of grammar are all worldly and
secondary notions. Ordinary words can express only those aspects of reality which
appear in our cognition. They do not touch the undifferentiated and un-manifest reality,
but move about in the world of differentiated and manifest reality. In a sense, we create
some form of reality, for ourselves, by thinking and speaking about it. Speech is
uncertain and ambiguous, like the Absolute Reality. Therefore, it is free and creative.
Just as different perceptions reveal an object in a different form, similarly, meaning is

understood from words in various forms. A word-meaning intended in a certain way by
a speaker takes different shapes in different hearers depending upon the
comprehension of each. Although the same object is perceived, its perception varies
from person to person, and even the same person perceives the same object in a
different form on another occasion. The same person at different times and different
persons at the same time understand the meaning of the same word in different forms
due to the different ways of understanding. All human language is by nature, fluid,
flexible, and dynamic. Meaning tends to be a problem of probability rather than perfect
exactitude.
When a word can give different meanings, how does one decide the most appropriate
word in a particular context? The Indian classical texts refer to a list of factors which
can help in making a proper decision with regard to the meaning of a word. The list
includes complementary aspects, unrelated aspects, relevance, contradiction, the
meaning of another word, situation-context, evidence from another sentence, and the
proximity of another word. From this, it is evident that the form of a word by itself is not
sufficient to provide the most appropriate meaning in all contexts. Meaning lies in the
intention behind the spoken word and the context in which it is communicated and
heard.
The innovative aspect of the present research is exploration of complementarity

between the Indian communication model and the modern science in what may be
termed as a quantum turn in linguistics. In quantum mechanics, observation is what
brings about objective and measurable reality. It is inherently a contextual process that
involves first deciding what particular aspects to observe in nature and then preparing
the perceptual means in such a way that observation can be made. If these steps are
done differently, then different results will be obtained. Similarly, in language what
brings about the transformation of ideas or impulses from potential meanings into an
actual one is the speech act, which is intentional, an act of will. This speech act is
contextual, as it is related to other words and particular listeners. Language emerges
from the spea er’s intention to try to communicate one meaning rather than the other
out of the several meanings in the mind. While the intention to communicate
determines the effect in a certain way, the meaning that is actually communicated
depends also on the listener whose comprehension will depend on how what is said is
xiv

Introduction
interpreted in the context of listeners’ memory and experience. So the idea common to
Indian communication and quantum mechanics is that intention and context relate to
language in the same way as observation and measurement devices in physics relate to
quantum reality.
The essential message of the Indian classical texts with regard to language and
communication is that there are different levels of language between the two extremes
termed as paśyantī and vaikharī, which correspond to different levels of consciousness
of the Absolute Reality. The highest level of language emerges more from insight and
intuition rather than sense perception, while the lowest stage of common or secondary
language relates to the level of perceptible objects and events. The Absolute Reality of
nature lies outside human perception of space and time, and therefore, is not
expressible in ordinary language. The experience of that reality can only be indicated by
words that try to go beyond words. However, the Absolute Reality creates objects and
events that can be located in space and time of human sense-perception. All human
language and communication relates primarily to the spectrum of relative realities of
the objective world. Yet, it possesses unexplored powers that can create untried and
unknown pathways of language which a creative and ingenious person can follow to
illuminate hidden dimensions of reality by breaking open and extending the horizons of
expressibility.
xv

ŚABDA BRAHMA
SCIENCE AND SPIRIT OF LANGUAGE IN INDIAN CULTURE
Sunil Sondhi
ABSTRACT
S
tudy of language and communication has been an important concern in India’s intellectual and cultural tradition.
All streams of Indian philosophical thinking included in their considerations the basic problem of language and
communication.
While the seeds of the study of language in India may be traced in the Ṛgveda, and the study of the structure of language
as authoritatively established in the Aṣṭādhyāyī, a full-fledged statement, and discussion of science and spirit of language
was given in Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya. It was Bhartṛhari who first systematically equated Brahma (Absolute Reality)
with Śabda (language), going on to argue that all languages arise as a manifestation of the Śabda Brahma.
From the early investigations in the Veda, Prātiśākhya and Śikṣā, through the grammar of the language in Aṣṭādhyāyī
and Mahābhāṣya, to the highest levels of consciousness of Śabda Brahma in Vākyapadīya, and Spanda in Tantrāloka,
India’s linguistic tradition bears the clear imprint of the recognition that while grammar is important for good language,
the righteous language is good for coordination and integration in human communication. The connective potential of
insightful language needs to be used to address the manifold problems of communication in interpersonal and
intercultural relations. Enormous creativity is enfolded in the concept of Śabda Brahma. A deeper and wider
understanding of the concept can help to establish a framework for further research and applied work in this direction.
Keywords: Indian culture, Vedic heritage, Cultural linguistics, Applied linguistics

The research paper has been published in Kalākalpa: IGNCA Journal of Arts,
Volume V, No. 2 (2021).

Sabdaloka: The Light of the Words
INTRODUCTION
T
he study of language and communication has been an important concern in
India’s intellectual and cultural tradition. It has received serious attention from
sages and scholars from the earliest times. All the streams of Indian
philosophical thinking included in their discussions the basic problem of language and
communication. Indian approaches to the study of language and communication were
characterized by both analysis and synthesis. On the one hand, systematic attempts
were made to analyse language in terms of sentences, words, stems, morphemes, and
phonemes. On the other, rules of coherence between these various elements were not
only systematized but also integrated with the laws of nature (Coward & Kunjunniraja,
1990, p. 4). The studies were undertaken in terms of a general scientific methodology
which was remarkably consistent, explicit, and open to critical review. From the
beginning, linguistics in India has occupied the centre of its scientific tradition (Staal,
1974, p. 71).
Recent researches have further added convincing evidence to show that even as Indian
scholars went deeper into the scientific analysis of language and communication, they
kept their sights steady on the broad and important lines of synthesis and the order of
nature (Singh, 1986, p. 452). Joseph Needham, a pioneer of the study of scientific
development in the non-Western civilizations observed that one of the most striking
experiences of his life was connected with the ethical values to be attached to science,
and he considered ethics to be needed today more than ever. He believed that the Vedic
concept of ṛta, the order of nature, its pattern and organization, and its self-originating
character underlying all phenomena, could be of much value in furthering the
understanding and application of science for the benefit of humanity (Chattopadhyaya,
1986, p. vii). Needham seemed to have echoed Einstein’s belief that all the systematic
thinking of human beings pales into insignificance when compared with the superiority
of intelligence revealed in the harmony of nature (Einstein, 1952, p. 40).
The present article explores the development of the study of linguistics in India as a
field of scientific and cultural inquiry. From the early investigations in the Veda,
Prātiśākhya and Śikṣā, through the grammar of the language in Aṣṭādhyāyī and
Mahābhāṣya, to the highest levels of consciousness of Śabda Brahma in Vākyapadīya,
and Para Vāk in Tantrāloka, India’s linguistic tradition bears the clear imprint of the
recognition that while grammar is important for better language, the righteous language
is valuable for coordination and integration in human communication. Very few
countries can claim to have produced such a consistent and integrated tradition of
holistic studies in language and culture. The insights of India’s sages and scholars are
now being understood and appreciated better in the light of scientific advances made
since the twentieth century.

Śabda Brahma
SCIENCE AND SPIRIT

The general trend of Western thinking in the nineteenth century had been toward an
increasing faith in the scientific method and its mechanistic, logical worldview. It led to
a general disbelief regarding those concepts and languages which did not fit into the
closed frame of experimental science. In the mechanistic view, the progress of science
was pictured as a crusade of conquest into the material world. The utility was the
watchword of the time, and human attitude toward nature changed from a
contemplative one to the utilitarian one.
This frame of enquiry was so narrow and superficial that it was not easy to find a place
in it for the many concepts of human language that always belonged to its very
substance, for instance, the concepts of mind, of the eternal spirit, or life. One of the
extreme consequences of this rigid frame of thought was the open hostility of science
toward religion and philosophy and its loss of touch with that part of reality which is
beyond the objective and material world (Heisenberg, 1962, p. 137).
This mechanistic view of classical science was reflected in linguistics, where the
dominant view was and continues to be, to consider language as being in the heads of
individuals, whether as ‘mental organ’, ‘computational devise’, or even ‘instinct’ (Wendt,
2015, p. 210). In this mainstream view which for long considered as Compositionalism,
linguists saw the meaning of a whole sentence or paragraph as a function of the
meaning of its constituent parts or forms and the way in which they were combined.
The resulting image of language and communication is one of the mechanical processes,
which is materialistic, well-defined, and deterministic. It sees communication as
transmission and as a transaction in which meaning is built out of smaller semantic
forms with intrinsic content. Steven Pinker and Noam Chomsky have argued that
linguistic competence is not a cultural creation, and it can be defined in terms of the
deep structures of rule-based universal grammar.
In the twentieth century, path-breaking scientific research showed that there was a
reality beyond the apparent, objective, and mechanistic forms. The conventional or
classical way is to see reality as a three-dimensional space in which objects change over
time. Quantum reality is a four-dimensional space called spacetime that simply exists,
unchanging, never created, and never destroyed (Tegmark, p. 270). Spacetime does not
exist in space and time, rather space and time exist within it. Concepts of past, present,
and future have no objective meaning in spacetime. Description of the spacetime tests
the limits of our cognitive and linguistic competence because our words and concepts
have been shaped by our bounded perceptions of the apparent reality (Einstein, 1952;
Bohr, 1958; Heisenberg, 1962; Schrodinger, 1967; Prigogine, 1977).
The penetration of modern science into the world of atoms confirmed the relational or
contextual view of reality. At the ultimate core, at the heart of the world, and the

universe, there is no fixed form, no solidity. Inside the atom, the nucleus is nothing more
than a formless oscillating field, waves of rhythm in emptiness. Even the speed and
position of subatomic particles are unclear. Entities like quarks have up-ness, down-
ness, strangeness, charm, beauty, truth, but no matter. They are formless and exist only
when they interact with something else. They have only relationship and pattern of
vibration, shadows dancing in pure rhythm (Leonard, 1978, p. 34). A few types of
elementary particles combine together to infinity like the letters of the cosmic alphabet
to tell the story of galaxies, stars, light, heat, earth, and life. Physical space and form are
the fabric made by this web of interactions (Rovelli, 2017 p. 150). These insights of
science have far-reaching ontological and epistemological implications for our
understanding of the world around and within us, as highlighted by several Nobel
laureates, renowned physicists, and social scientists (Bohr, 1958; Heisenberg, 1962;
Charon, 1977; Bohm, 1980; Spariosu, 1989; Smith, 2014; Capra, 2015; Wendt, 2015;
Burgess, 2018).
In Ṛgveda, believed to have been composed around 1500 BCE, the tenth chapter has a
compilation of several hymns devoted to fundamental concepts of creation of existence
from non-existence. Hymn 10.72, attributed to sage Bṛhaspati, is one of such hymns and
it gives an insightful account of creation. In this hymn, called Devah Sūkta, the lord of
sacred speech is seen as the craftsman who created the manifest reality from the un-
manifest Absolute Reality. The manifest universe is seen as clouds of infinite particles of
cosmic dust splashed out in the limitless sky by the dance-like movements of the
Creative Lord. Cosmic dust plays an important part in creation by virtue of its formless
fluidity and creativity, mediating between matter and spirit (Doniger, 2000, p. 39).
The Kauṣītaki Upaniṣad complements the knowledge of the Absolute Reality in terms of
a thin essence, as minute as a hair divided a thousand fold, flowing in waves through
strings extending from the heart to the surrounding body, as sparks proceeding from a
blazing fire, from vital breaths to the sense organs, and from the sense organs to even
hairs, and nails and to the worlds beyond. In this essence of life-breath alone, a person
becomes one with the Absolute Reality. The speech together with all names, the sight
together with all forms, the ear together with all sounds, and the mind together with all
thoughts, arise from and exist in this life-spirit. He who understands this very life-spirit,
overcomes all difficulties, attains pre-eminence among all beings, and supremacy in all
situations (Radhakrishnan, 2007, pp. 790-91). Tantrāloka says that ‘one’s own nature
consists of this one nature which is the nature of all things’ (Furlinger, 2009, p. 48).
Rabindranath Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, expressed the
vision of the Upaniṣads in his collection of poem Gītāñjali:
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day runs through the world
and dances in rhythmic measures. It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of
the earth in numberless blades of grass and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and
flowers. It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean cradle of birth and of death, in ebb

Śabda Brahma
and in flow. I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life. And my
pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood this moment (2018, p. 91).
It is an open secret that the pioneers of quantum mechanics, Bohr, Oppenheimer,

Heisenberg, Einstein, de Broglie, and, in particular, Schrödinger were fascinated and
inspired by Vedantic philosophy. Schrödinger essentially regarded the Vedantic
worldview as an adequate theory for quantum mechanics, ‘The unity and continuity of
Vedanta are reflected in the unity and continuity of wave mechanics. This is entirely
consistent with the Vedanta concept of All in One’ (Burgess, 2018, p. 137). It was the
integral vision of Vedantic scholars that made their philosophy comprehends several
sciences which have become differentiated in modern times (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p.
11). This does not of course mean that the Vedantic worldview is identical with the
quantum view of reality. There is a world of difference between the two approaches. At
the same time, the complementarities between the two are too significant to be
overlooked.
In the 1920s and 1930s, American linguists Sapir and Whorf proposed a ‘principle of
linguistic relativity’ with an explicit reference to Einstein’s theory of relativity (Leavitt,
2019, p. 18). In the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis:
every language is a vast pattern-system, different from others, in which is culturally

ordained the forms and categories by which the personality not only communicates, but
analyzes nature, notices or neglects types of relationships and phenomena, channels his
reasoning, and builds the house of his consciousness (2010, p. 251).
While this doctrine was new to Western science, it stood on unimpeachable evidence of
the philosophical investigations known to exist in Indian culture (Whorf, 2010). In
recent years a growing mass of research on linguistic relativity has developed in
linguistics, allied fields of psychology, neuroscience and anthropology (Evans, 2010;
Leavitt, 2011; Lee, 1996; Lucy, 1992; Sharifian, 2011; Wilce, 2017).
Application of new scientific knowledge in social science, and particularly in linguistics,

emphasizes the social and contextual character of the language. Language is not a
mechanical instrument that can be put on and off. It develops with the thinking process,
and thinking develops with communication in context. In the ultimate analysis, in terms
of quantum reality, language and thought may be seen as ‘entangled’, ‘non-local’, and
‘inseparable’. Language is therefore essentially uncertain, probable, emergent, and
always in a state of making or ‘languaging’ even when it appears to be formal and
definite. Contextual factors are inextricably bound together with language in ways that
are enriching, complex, and dynamic (Massip, 2011, p. 57). Words do not have
autonomous objective identities prior to their use in sentences. Every word that we use
in real-world situations usually has several synonyms or related words in grammar
which have a similar meaning and which could have been used in context.

Western linguists from Humboldt, Boas, Sapir, and Whorf onwards all have highlighted
the ways in which the language is constituted and regulated by norms shared by a
community of speakers and seen as social interaction and coordination rather than
mere transmission and transaction (Wendt, 2015, p. 210). In recent years, cultural
linguistics has emerged as a subfield of the discipline of linguistics to develop a
framework that is particularly sensitive not only to the role of culture in linguistic
choices, but also to the role of language in maintaining and transmitting the cultural
concepts and values. The need to bridge the gap between ‘language’ and ‘cultural
context’ has brought together researchers from a variety of fields to focus on problems
of mutual concern from a new perspective and discover solutions that until now have
not been visible (Frank, 2019, p. 507).
A distinguished contemporary Western scholar has observed that:
In spite of the importance of language as the distinguishing feature of human

consciousness and the medium through which all human knowledge passes, the study of
linguistics and philosophy of language in the West has only been seriously pursued in
recent times. Today’s modern scientific study suffers from focusing on the outer words,
especially in the written words. Even a cursory look at the long and fully developed
Indian study of language strongly suggests that the nature of the language may be more
complex and powerful than the modern thought would lead us to suspect (Coward, 1980,
p. 15).
SCIENCE OF RITUAL
The Vedas are often regarded as abstract and mysterious sacred books. If there is one
thing the Vedas are not, it is books. Vedas are oral compositions in a language that was
used for ordinary communication; and were transmitted by word of mouth like that
language itself (Staal, 2008, p. xv). The Vedic mantras are patterns of human speech
devised to assist the human mind to reach transcendental consciousness. The mantric
compositions or formula-language is specialised to create a type of energy
manifestation by activating and amplifying the vibrations in the subtle fields of energy
or ‘atoms of space’ in the nervous system and the physical bodies. The resulting rhythm
with the Absolute Reality streamlines the human organism to control, increase, and
transmit manifold energies which the human organism normally transmits only at
unobservable low intensities (Whorf, 2010, p. 248). Mantra is a concentrated form of
speech, endowed with special potency and efficacy as it arises from more intense and
one-pointed thought (Padoux, 1990, p. 373).
In the Vedic age, pure ecstatic practice and contemplation of phonetic sound echoing in
the atmosphere through the sacred chant merged easily with the flow and sound of the
river, on the banks of which such chanting and contemplation took place. ‘With the
river’s raging as the background to the rhythmic recitation of inspired hymns on the
banks of Sarasvatī, the association with speech on the one hand and music on the other

Śabda Brahma
can hardly be overlooked’ (Ludvik, 2007, p. 35). The consonance of sound waves of
nature and the sound waves of Vedic chanting creates a rhythmic state of energy and
consciousness. The resonance of chanting in chorus came to be called nada, and the
river flowing by alongside came to be known as nadī (Berendt, 1991, p. 16). These
names are cultural concepts which carry the contextual meaning in which socio-cultural
reality is embedded. Sarasvatī is the goddess of the river of life-giving energy, and also
of the coherent flow of insightful speech. As the river flows from the mountains to the
ocean, it becomes identified with song, dance, and speech of the communities living by
the riverside. The transformative aspect of rituals is firmly grounded in the Vedic
tradition of oral recitation (Beck, 1995, p. 23).
The high degree of perfection achieved in the control of human voice by the poets and
scholars in India produced the ability to differentiate and produce minutest intervals in
speech sounds, to synchronize with the rhythm and harmony in nature.
The hymns of the Ṛgveda as recited by the trained priest have such power, because they
consist of the right sounds in the right combinations uttered in the right sequence and
with the right intonation; and when they are so recited and accompanied by the right
manual actions, they are irresistible. They are sure to accomplish the reciters purpose
(Brown, p. 245).
This sensitivity to microtones is an indication of the care with which the ‘culture of
sound’ was developed in India. It is still believed that such precision in the repetition of
exact intervals, over and over again, permits sounds to act upon internal personality,
transform sensibility, way of thinking, state of consciousness, and even moral character.
In order to explain their visionary experiences of the Absolute Reality, the Vedic
thinkers chose the style of symbolism. The Vedic mantras use the names and forms of
objects of creation to suggest the essence of the Absolute Reality.
The Ocean, Sky, Air, Water, Fire, Sun, Mountains, Rivers, Trees, Animals, Humans, Clouds,
Rain and many more are objects in nature which stand out as alphabets of world
language robed in silence, yet eloquent with exploding meaning that can be deciphered
according to the intellectual attainment of each individual. The human body, eyes, ears,
hands, feet, in-breath, out-breath, light, sound, movement - all these introduce us to a
rich world of symbolical significance (Agrawal, 1953, p. iv).
The objects of Absolute Reality are an integral and essential part of all Vedic rituals, and
they are considered as the connecting points of the relative and the Absolute Reality.
The idea that nature and language are integrated has been well-known for ages in
Indian culture which has maintained historical continuity much longer than Western
culture (Whorf, 2010, p. 249).
This linguistic and cultural tradition in India established that the integration of the
physical and mental, rational and spiritual, individual and social can be achieved
through the development of sensitivity towards phonetic elements. The underlying

Absolute Reality behind all immanent objects is the same as the hidden reality behind
spoken words, it is the transcendental Absolute unconditioned by all forms and names.
Knowledge of correct speech not only conveys conventional meaning but also enables
one to ‘see’ the Absolute Reality. This is the meaning of the term darśana which literally
means ‘sight’. This insight into reality sets Indian philosophy of language apart from
modern Western perspectives on language which emphasize composition more than
contextual relations (Coward, 1980, p. 33).
The Vedic rituals required the composition of a padapāṭha or ‘word for word recitation’
corresponding to the saṃhitāpāṭha or ‘continuous recitation’ of the Veda. This may have
taken place between the tenth and the seventh century BCE. Its primary aim was to
preserve the Vedic heritage, which in turn was required for recitation at the ritual
(Staal, 1974, p.63). In the Vedic ritual, language appears in relation to gods as well as
humans, and occupies the entire width of a spectrum from being a divinity herself to
being a means used by gods to create the world, and ultimately to being a means in the
hands of human beings to achieve their own ethical as well as social purposes. The
priest-philosophers of the Vedic age were deeply concerned with the powers and
limitations of speech as a means of communicating their visionary experiences, and this
led them to think and discuss about the fundamental question of communication.
Specific hymns dedicated to Vāk or speech in Ṛgveda mention three stages in the
development of language: (I) inarticulate speech, (II) primitive articulate speech, (III)
language proper (Verma, 2016, p. 1). In Ṛgveda, several hymns indicate the power of
speech foreseen in Vedic times. In particular, in the Vāg Sūkta in the tenth chapter of
Ṛgveda, speech is considered as an unseen, all-pervading, creative, and liberating energy
producing, sustaining, and extending all creation. It defends the cause of righteousness
and freedom, removes ignorance, confronts and overcomes evil, and rewards the
meritorious with riches (Doniger, 2000, pp. 62-63). It is remarkable that in these hymns
of the Ṛgveda a semi technical vocabulary was already developed to deal with such
linguistic matters as grammar, poetic creation, inspiration, illumination, and so on
(Coward, 1980, p. 33).
In quantum science, waves or fields of energy are the substratum of all existence. Such
concepts in modern physics seem to be complementary to the concept of Vāk in the
hymns of Ṛgveda. If we replace the word Vāk with the word ‘energy’ in these hymns, we
can almost reaffirm these statements from the point of view of modern science. Energy
is in fact the essence that sustains life, is a source of all material things, and maybe
called the imperishable and fundamental cause for all change in the world. Energy is
that which moves the air, the water, the sky, the earth, and the sun. It can be changed
into motion, into heat, into light, and into sound. This comparison, however, does not
mean that the insights of Indian scholars were the same as knowledge acquired in
modern science after centuries of experiments and mathematical calculations
(Heisenberg, 1962, p. 29).

Śabda Brahma
The intellectual roots of the science of linguistics in India lie in the methods developed
for framing rules for complex Vedic rituals. On a philosophical level, ritual is probably
also the origin of a leading idea behind grammar as well as other disciplines such as
yoga in ancient India: that human activities can be analyzed and explained by explicit
rule systems, and that performing those activities in awareness of the rules that govern
them brings merit. These initial phonetic and phonological observations, which were
piecemeal and ad hoc, were supplemented with similar observations pertaining to
morphology, syntax and semantics, and all combined in a single generative grammar of
spoken Sanskṛta. The main innovation was a methodology that applied the concept of
the rule to the study of categories of words, word systems and word order, which
corresponded to mathematical formalization (Staal, 1996, p. 43). The conditions of
empirical adequacy, generalization, consistency, and methodology are easily met in the
case of Vedic rituals, and these should be regarded as experiments and works of science
(Staal, 1982, p. 31).
The major works on phonetics in ancient India fall into two main categories of linguistic
texts, Prātiśākhyas and the Śikṣās. The former are phonetic treatises relating to the
pronunciation of the four Vedas during the rituals. The Śikṣās on the other hand, are
with some exceptions, less specifically related to a particular Veda, but in many cases
supplement the teaching of the Prātiśākhyas. While it is likely that the Prātiśākhyas are
based on an early Śikṣā, some of the available texts of the latter appear to be of later
date than the former (Allen, 1953, pp. 6-7). It seems there was a correlation between
Śikṣā and Prātiśākhya, leading to the advancement of both. Apart from these specific
phonetic works, numerous observations on phonetic matters are to be found in the
grammatical works, more specifically in Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī and Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya.
Very early in their explorations, the Indian phoneticians looked into the mental or
neural bases of speech. The introductory stanzas of the Pāṇinīya Śikṣā are
representative:
The soul, apprehending things with the intellect, inspires the mind with a desire to
speak; the mind then excites the bodily fire which in turn impels the breath. The breath,
circulating in the lungs, is forced upwards and it impinges upon the head, reaches the
speech-organs and gives rise to the speech sounds. These are classified in five ways - by
tone, by length, by place of articulation, by process of articulation and by secondary
features. Thus the phoneticians have spoken: take careful heed (Ghosh, 1938, p.54).
In his pioneering study of the Phonetic Observations of the Indian Grammarians,

Siddheswar Varma (1961) concluded that:
 The views of Indian phoneticians were not fanciful, but on the whole, sound and
accurate observations, some of which may be helpful to modem philology.
 The language which they dealt with was not a grammarian’s language but a living
language which was in close touch with the experienced reality.

 The empirical adequacy of their observations regarding the pronunciation of

Sanskṛta is generally corroborated by (a) the phonetic structure of Sanskṛta, (b)
the evidence of inscriptions, (c) parallel linguistics.
 The Prātiśākhyas were not ‘dead Prātiśākhyas’ composed for priests who had to
be drilled into a proper recital of the sacred texts but manifest a thrilling interest
in the living phenomena of the language.
The Śikṣās and Prātiśākhyas received the attention of various later commentators. In so
far as they were the bearers of a continuous tradition, they were able to augment and
elucidate the laconic brevity of the aphorisms. With the benefit of hindsight it seems
that these early Indian phoneticians spoke in fact to the twentieth century rather than
to the Middle Ages or even the mid-nineteenth century, and many a statement in these
texts makes sense to the linguists, the physicists, and the neuroscientists today.
GARLAND OF LETTERS
The word used for the Sanskṛta and Hindi alphabet is Varṇmālā, or garland of letters. In
Kashmir Śaivism, the word for phonemes is mātṝkā or mother, and Varṇmālā for the
garland of the mother (Woodroffe, 2019, p. 227). The contextual meaning of these
words conveys the cultural aspects of the concepts. It also shows that the Cartesian
partition between science and spirit, which is based on the two-valued certainty of
Aristotelian logic, is misleading. The processes of both art and science include formal
rules, classification, generalization, and consistency. Therefore, the two processes, while
not strictly similar, are not very different either.
Both science and art form in the course of centuries a human language by which we can
speak about the more remote parts of reality, and the coherent sets of concepts as well
as the different styles of art are different groups of words in this language (Heisenberg,
1962, p. 65).
Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī (ca. 500 BCE), while providing a complete, maximally concise, and
theoretically consistent analysis of Sanskṛta grammatical structure, is valued more
because it reveals the spirit of India. (Feddegon, 1963, p. 68). Aṣṭādhyāyī is considered
as the foundation of all traditional and modern analyses of Sanskṛta, as well as having
great historical and theoretical interest in its own right. Western grammatical theory
has been influenced by it at every stage of its development for the last two centuries.
The early nineteenth-century comparativists learned from it the principles of
morphological analysis. Bloomfield modelled both his classic Algonquian grammars and
the logical-positivist axiomatization of his postulates on it. Modern linguistics
acknowledges it as the most complete generative grammar of any language yet written,
and continues to adopt technical ideas from it (Kiparsky, 2002, p. 1).
10

Śabda Brahma
Aṣṭādhyāyī is formulated in a morphologically, syntactically, and lexically organised

form of Sanskṛta. To maximize brevity with a minimum of ambiguity, rules are
compressed by systematically omitting repeated expressions from them, according to a
procedure modelled on natural language syntax. From the viewpoint of their role in the
linguistic system, rules can be divided into four types: (I) definitions, (II) metarules, (III)
headings, and (IV) operational rules. All the individual metarules in the Pāṇinīan system
are part of a larger whole, they all come together in the larger domain of language. Co-
ordination and certain types of compounding are assigned standardized interpretations.
And the nominal cases of the language are used in a conventional way to designate the
elements of grammatical rules.
Pāṇini gives a note of warning against extreme theorists who thought that grammatical
rules cannot be applied in the absence of exact knowledge of events. He strongly
defends the current social and linguistic usage as the best guide to decide theoretical
definitions and questions. For him, the authority of usage of words must always
supersede that of meaning dependent on derivation. Thus, instead of limiting himself to
the treatment of accentuation, letter-coalescence, and declension of nouns and verbs,
Pāṇini reached out to the wider context of the language in use at all levels of the society.
He thus made social usage in all its comprehensiveness as the source material for living
grammar (Agrawal, 1963, p. 349).
Pāṇini’s grammar describes language as a little drama of life consisting of action with
different participants, which are classified into role types called karakas, which include
actor, goal, recipient, instrument, locative, and source (Kiparsky, 2002, p. 16).
Pāṇini’s system envisages the structure of language as an evolving hierarchy of inter-

category and intra-category relations, from the base of physical reality, the materiality
of language, the intermediate levels of increasing consciousness till one reaches the
highest level of consciousness - Śabda Brahma - where the linguistic phenomenon loses
its autonomy and merges in the Absolute Reality. The Pāṇinian system symbolizes the
perfect blending of science and spirituality in India’s linguistic tradition (Kapoor, 2010,
p. 86). All words and meanings are different aspects of one and the same thing, strung
together to form a beautiful garland of letters.
For the Śabdikas (grammarians), both the Śabda Brahma, and the conventional language
are real. The former is logically prior to the latter. The latter emerges from the former, is
sustained by it, and eventually merges into it. This process is not a metaphysical
imagination but a physical reality. The substratum of both is the same, not just similar.
Human beings have the potential and competence to be fully conscious of the Absolute
Reality, the single universal substratum of all that exists, perceptible, and imperceptible.
Generally, however because of inherently limited sense perceptions, human
consciousness remains at the level of the objective universe which is a manifestation of
the underlying Absolute Reality. In the Indian linguistic tradition, there is a persistent
11

refusal to take the objective language and the world it identifies and communicates as
final. The enfolding and unfolding of the Absolute Reality in language and
communication is a distinctive characteristic of India’s linguistic tradition and culture.
A remarkable example of such cultural conceptualization in the language is the

definition of the word Indriyam in Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī. Pāṇini derives Indriya, ‘sense
organs’ from the word Indra, the name of the famous Vedic deity, in a short and
beautiful sūtra, ‘Indriyam, Indralingam, Indradrishtam, Indrasrishtam, Indrajushtam,
Indradattam, Iti, Va’ (Vasu, 1988, p. 928). It means Indra symbolizes senses, Indra
observes senses, Indra created senses, Indra celebrates senses, and Indra assigns
senses. Thus, Indriya, the senses, are called so because Indra, the ātma or soul is
inferred by the existence of the senses. Iti Va means that Pāṇini approves any other
aspects of the concept given by learned sages which have not been included in the sūtra
(Agrawala, 1963, p. 396). Such openness with regard to the observations of scholars and
sages is found in Mahābhāṣya, Nāṭyaśāstra, and Vākyapadīya also, and it shows the
scientific nature of India’s linguistic tradition.
Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya, believed to have been composed around 150 BCE, discusses in
detail the rules from Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī and Kātyāyana’s comments on them given in
his commentaries. Mahābhāṣya is a classic text in India’s tradition of dialogue and
discussion on the meaning and purpose of language. It analyses each rule of Aṣṭādhyāyī
into its elements, adding comments necessary to the understanding of the rule. It
attempts to bring out the full significance of Pāṇini’s sūtras and explains the usages not
covered by the rules or against the rules. Patañjali emphasizes that the purpose of
studying grammar is to speak the correct language to achieve an understanding of the
Absolute Reality, and also to achieve dharma (righteousness) in practice. Through the
medium of grammar and the use of correct words, it is possible to be conscious of and
become one with the Absolute Reality (Sastri, 2015, p. 28).
Similar integration and evolution from the particular to the universal can be seen in
Bharat Muni’s Nāṭyaśāstra. It is believed to have been composed around 100 BCE,
Nāṭyaśāstra is a theatrical and literary composition that reflects a worldview and
fundamental ideas which drew upon the well-articulated discourse in language and
communication in the Indian intellectual tradition. Nāṭyaśāstra helps us to identify the
sources on which the composition was based and the state of knowledge of linguistics at
the turn of the millennium. Bharat Muni was not only familiar with the Vedas and their
status in the Indian tradition but was well aware of their content, substance, and form.
Nāṭyaśāstra traces both the spoken word and the idea of the word from the Ṛgveda.
Nāṭyaśāstra begins with a salutation to Brahma and Śiva, and the principles of theatrical
presentation are attributed to Brahma. Several chapters in the Nāṭyaśāstra are devoted
to verbal presentation, local usages, rules on the use of language, metrical patterns,
gestures, and emotions etc. The language of Nāṭyaśāstra shows an understanding of the
12

Śabda Brahma
use of different languages and dialects by different groups of people and throws light on
recognition and acceptance of diverse people, languages, and dialects. The ethno-
linguistic data in Nāṭyaśāstra is an important source for tracing the development of
Indian languages from Vedic Sanskrit to Classical Sanskrit, Prākrit, and the dialects. It
treats the subject of language and communication, like Pāṇini, as rules, and each section
is detailed in a very refined analytical manner. The whole is analysed into parts, and
each part is examined in depth with a view to create an interconnected and
interpenetrated whole again.
The presentation of the theatre was compared in Nāṭyaśāstra with the performative act
of Vedic yagna. The mention of sattva or mindfulness, and the importance of musical
sounds, during the presentation, are an instance of drawing upon the living and
vigorous tradition of Vedas at that time. The smoothness and flow are representations
considered so important that it is even mentioned that there is no word without rhythm
and no rhythm without a word. Combined with each other they are known to illuminate
the representation (Ghosh, 2016, p. 359). Elsewhere, the specific qualities of good
composition and representation are described in detail and include focus, simplicity,
precision, relevance, cohesion, agreeableness, and smoothness. A representation
containing simple words, intelligible to the common man, using emotions and
accommodating, and integrating people is considered good to be shared with people
(Ghosh, 2016, p. 434).
The integral unity of the manifest and the unmanifest world, and its communication
through a presentation is the core content of the Classic text. It integrates the world of
essence, the world of reflection and feeling, with that of structure and grammar. In
Nāṭyaśāstra, universality and specificity, abstraction and generalization, structured and
flexible are seen as interdependent and interpenetrating levels of communication. It
considers a presentation good if it can communicate at varying levels to different
audiences in culture-specific and transcultural contexts. At the same time, while being in
a finite time and place, it must have the power to communicate beyond time and place
(Vatsyayan, 2016, pp. 89-90).
It is evident that Indian scholars postulated that communication has both phenomenal
and metaphysical dimensions. Etymologists like Yāska, and grammarians like Pāṇini
and Patañjali, and playwrights like Bharat Muni were clearly concerned with the context
of real-life situations, but they did not overlook the umbilical relationship of the
empirical, and the spiritual. Bhartṛhari began with a metaphysical inquiry into the
nature and origin of language in relation to the Brahma but also explored technical
grammatical points in popular language.
For Bhartṛhari, grammar is the remedy for all the impurities of language, the purifier of
all the sciences, and the illumination of every branch of knowledge. By using correct
speech, the mind becomes free of all subtle impressions of incorrect speech, and it
13

gradually rises to the level of pratibhā or direct and pure awareness. Such awareness is
the essence of all phenomenal creation, and in such a state, all the differences and
contradictions in the relative world are seen in the wider context of the Absolute Reality
(Bhattacharya, 1985, p. 34).
These scholars avoided two reductionist mistakes that Western scholars like Aristotle
made. First, they did not reduce language to the condition of merely a convention based
on factual referents. Second, they did not resort to metaphysical reductionism that so
devalues human language that it becomes obscure mysticism. In the Indian linguistic
tradition, the study of a particular phenomenon and its exploration as a nouménal unity
are not mutually exclusive. They are both considered as parts of a system’s view of life
and language (Coward & Kunjunniraja, 1990, p. 34).
SPIRIT OF LANGUAGE
While the seeds of the study of phonetics in India may be traced in the Ṛgveda, and the
study of the structure of language was authoritatively established in the Aṣṭādhyāyī, a
full-fledged statement and discussion of a science and spirit of language was given in
Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya (Pillai, 1971, p. 12). Bhartṛhari begins his Vākyapadīya with
metaphysical enquiry and then goes on to the empirical study of phenomenal language.
In the first section of the work called Brahmakāṇḍa, are given the basic ideas concerning
the concept of Śabda Brahma. In the second section called Vākyakāṇḍa, the fundamental
idea of the integral nature of the sentence is discussed. The third section is the largest,
in which grammatical topics mostly concerning words and their meaning are discussed.
This section is called Prakarankāṇḍa. All the sections are interrelated and connected
and form an integral whole.
There are rudiments of the doctrine of Śabda Brahma in Sanskrit texts right from the
Vedas and the Upanishads, but an exhaustive postulation and discussion of Śabda
Brahma are given in Vākyapadīya. It was Bhartṛhari who first systematically equated
Brahma (the Absolute) with Śabda (language), going on to argue that everything arises
as a manifestation of the Śabda Brahma (Coward & Kunjunniraja, 1990, p. 34). Śabda
Brahma has also been defined as Communicative Brahma (Wilke, 2011, p. 629).
Bhartṛhari harmonized the speculations of the Sabdikas with Advaita philosophy. He
believed that grammar gives the foremost spiritual training and is the most important
subsidiary text of the Veda. Grammar is a gateway to liberation, a cure to the blemishes
of speech, and a purifier of all other disciplines. It is the first step on the ladder towards
liberation and is the straight Royal Road for those desirous of that goal. The soul which
has passed beyond errors in grammar can observe Brahma in the form of Om (Pillai,
1971, pp. 2-4).
In Ṛgveda, Brahma is used in the sense of sacred knowledge, or a hymn, or speech, the
manifest expression of the character of spiritual consciousness. Sometimes speech is
14

Śabda Brahma
personified as the Brahma. In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Brahma is seen as the Real
of the real, the source of all existing things. Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad says, ‘Brahma is the
principle which unifies the world of the physicist, the biologist, the psychologist, the
logician, the moralist, and the artist’ (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 59). ‘Brahma is the basic
element and active force of all-natural and historic things and events’ (Berendt, 1991, p.
17). Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad says that the four principles of Absolute Reality are Brahma
the Absolute, Īśvara the Creative Spirit, Hiraṇya-garbha the World spirit and Virāj, the
World. This is a logical succession and not a temporal one.
The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad speaks of ‘two forms of Brahma, the formed and the
formless, the mortal and the immortal, the moving and the unmoving, the actual
(existent) and the true (being) (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 192). In the Maitrī Upaniṣad,
language is seen as indistinguishable, uncharacterized, and unmanifest non-sound of
Brahma. The differentiated sounds and words emerge and merge in the Supreme, the
non-sound, the unmanifest Brahma. Thus, there are two Brahmas to be known, the
sound Brahma and the non-sound Brahma, which is higher. Those who know the sound
Brahma get to the higher Brahma (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 833).
Continuing in the Vedantic tradition, Bhartṛhari sees Brahma as the imperishable

Absolute Reality which is beginning-less and endless. The essence of the Śabda or
language is derived from this Absolute Reality. The differentiated forms and names that
derived from the Śabda constitute the objective world (Pillai, 1971, p. 1). Brahma and
the Śabda are integrated. Brahma is in the Śabda, it is the Spirit of the Śabda. It is the
Spirit that makes speech pervasive, powerful, and creative. It is the Spirit of the Śabda
that makes the Vedas the Śabda of God. It is the Spirit of the Śabda that makes the
speech move with gods and brings the knowledge to the sages. It is the Spirit of the
Śabda that brings riches and successes to people in their lives. The Spirit of the Śabda is
Śabda Brahma.
Bhartṛhari’s enquiry into the relationship of word and meaning in the Prakarankāṇḍa
includes a clear analysis of the limitations and inadequacies of ordinary or secondary
words to communicate all dimensions and levels of the Absolute Reality. Secondary
words express only segments of Absolute Reality which are not autonomous, and the
Absolute Reality in its undivided wholeness and flowing movement can never be
expressed by the words and concepts of human language (Iyer, 1971, p. 105). As the
well-known Ṛgvedic hymn says, speech merely recognizes and gives meaning to
manifold forms arising out of the waters of the infinite ocean of ultimate reality
(Kapoor, 2010, p. 5). Taittirīya Upanishad completes the message when it says, ‘yato
vaco nivartante, aprapya manasa saha, anandam brahmano vidvan, na bibheti kadacana’.
From where the words return along with the mind, only the one who knows that
undifferentiated Brahma attains supreme bliss (Radhakrishnan, 2014, p. 545).
For Bhartṛhari, the child and the scholar are in the same position as far as limitations
and inadequacies of understanding and communication are concerned. Both understand
15

and communicate only part of the reality (Iyer, 1971, p. 107.). The common words,
therefore, are unable to express the cosmic nature of reality. Words express the reality
of any object or event in a manner that may be a misinterpretation and
misrepresentation of the reality of the object or event. ‘Words are based on cognitions
which do not reveal the full reality and so present things in another form, not
determined by their real form’ (Iyer, 1971, pp. 105-107). Bhartṛhari emphasizes that in
ordinary cases of language use, the literal form may not convey the intended meaning.
In such cases, a thorough understanding of the context is required to avoid confusion
and misunderstanding in communication (Pillai, 1971, p. 108).
In practice, words and language are used on the basis of bounded rationality. Ordinary
people do not follow the understanding that may have been reached by scholars and
sages, they understand things superficially and accordingly engage in communication.
The Prakarankāṇḍa was an attempt to explain and organize words as used by the
common people. The notions of action, substance, and quality, and so on used by the
science of grammar are all worldly and secondary notions. Ordinary words can express
only those aspects of reality which appear in our cognition. They do not touch the
undifferentiated and un-manifest reality but move about in the world of differentiated
and manifest reality (Iyer, 1971, p. 120). In a sense, we create some form of reality, for
ourselves, just by speaking about it. This reality too, like the one created by sight, is
relative. However, unlike sight, speech is uncertain and ambiguous, and therefore, it is
free and creative, like the Absolute Reality (Ellul, 1985, p. 12).
Just as different perceptions reveal an object in a different form, similarly, meaning is

understood from words in various forms. A word-meaning intended in a certain way by
a speaker takes different shapes in different hearers depending upon the
comprehension of each. Although the same object is perceived, its perception varies
from person to person, and even the same person perceives the same object in a
different form on another occasion. The same person at different times and different
persons at the same time understand the meaning of the same word in different forms
due to the different ways of understanding (Pillai, 1971, pp. 69-72).
When a word can give different meanings, how does one decide the most appropriate
word in a particular context? Bhartṛhari refers to a list of factors which can help in
making a proper decision with regard to the meaning of a word. The list includes
complementary aspects, unrelated aspects, relevance, contradiction, the meaning of
another word, situation-context, evidence from another sentence, and the proximity of
another word. From this, it is evident that the form of a word by itself is not sufficient to
provide the most appropriate meaning in all contexts. Meaning lies in the intention
behind the spoken word and the context in which it is communicated and heard (Pillai,
1971, pp. 108).
16

Śabda Brahma
When the word-meanings in a sentence are placed in a wider verbal and situational
context, then a flash of insight, pratibhā, may be produced out of such a wider
correlation. That flash of insight caused by a new connection or interrelation of word-
meanings is described as the most appropriate meaning of the sentence. It is by no
means describable to others in such terms as ‘it is like this’. Having been formed out of
the functioning of one’s thinking, its nature is not known beforehand even to the person.
The meaning is emergent from the contextual relationships and not inherent in the
word.
Pratibhā or insight emerges from the combination and fusion of the different word-
meanings, without being logically and rationally thought out in precision, and it is
comprehended as seemingly taking the form of the holistic connection of the word-
meanings. The interconnection has no defined form, and may be known as having a non-
existent structure in the ultimate analysis. Such a flash of insight arises from
recollection based on past experiences and its connection with the current experience.
This recollection could be invoked by introspection, practical activity, or by advice from
learned scholars.
In Kashmir Śaivism, Vāk is identified with Kuṇḍalinī or cosmic and human energy
(Padoux, p. 125). Abhinavagupta considered Śabda Brahma the cosmic evolution of the
Supreme energy Kuṇḍalinī, which emerges from the union of Śiva-Śakti. Śiva’s energy
manifests itself in mātṝka or phonemes. Language is the binder of the absolute and
relative worlds, and the link between them because it shares the essence and nature of
both which consists of spanda or vibration of Śiva’s energy (Isayeva, 1995, p. 135).
Language is both bondage and liberation, from ordinary and local to the universal
Absolute Reality because it is a form of vibration of energy fields. Language is thus the
power of insightful speech accessing the Absolute Reality from the diversity of
manifestation (Kuanpoonpol, 1991, p. 70). Spanda connects the particular with the
Absolute Reality. As an individual recognizes the presence of Absolute Reality, he ‘sees’
himself as the Absolute Reality (Pandit, 1997, p. 70).
The concepts of pratibhā and spanda even though not empirically or logically defined,
seem to be more effective in communicating the nature of the Absolute Reality than the
concepts of scientific language, which are derived from only limited groups of
phenomena. In the scientific process of experimental verification and definition, the
integral connection with the multidimensional and multilevel reality may be lost. On the
other hand, natural language may represent some parts of reality much more clearly
than by the use of scientific language because it can influence thought in ways which are
not always logical and analytical, and also because of inherent limitations of logical
reasoning (Heisenberg, 1959, p. 139).
An indirect and secondary meaning of the word which passes through the mind only
momentarily may contribute essentially to the understanding of its meaning. The fact
17

that every word may cause many such diverse movements in our mind can be used to
correlate different aspects of the reality and get clearer understanding then is possible
by the use of strictly and narrowly logical reasoning (Heisenberg, 1959, p. 115).
Poets have often objected to the emphasis on logical reasoning which makes language
less suitable for its purpose. Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel laureate in literature, believed
that all poetry is full of symbolic expressions which communicate through suggestion all
that is ineffable. If language were merely for expressing grammatical rules, then using
such a language would be fruitless pedantry without a spirit. Since language has for its
ultimate purpose the expression of ideas, our minds gain freedom through it, and the
knowledge of grammar is help towards that freedom. When language assumes the
harmony of forms and the balance of flow, it hints at the limitless that transcends words,
‘like a lamp revealing light which goes far beyond its material limits, proclaiming its
kinship with the sun’ (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 944). Creative and ingenious thinkers
like the Ṛgvedic and later Upanishadic sages, employed poetic language to break open
and extend the boundaries of expression to successfully communicate the hidden
dimensions and levels of the ultimate reality (Matilal, 2014, pp. 151-155).
In recent years, researches in neuroscience have further confirmed the importance of

broad concepts of natural language, rather than more logical and precisely composed
definitions, in providing insights into the nature of reality. Neurological evidence has
shown that when listeners encounter a word or concept, a semantic field related to the
word is activated in the brain in which features properties and associations of that
world are connected. In the left hemisphere of the brain, a relatively smaller semantic
field of associations is strongly activated which closely relates to the dominant
interpretation or the current context. On the other hand, the right hemisphere weakly
activates a relatively broader semantic field that includes associations distantly related
to the word or context. In this way, semantically distant words needed to understand
metaphors, draw inferences and appreciate the many nuances of discourse can be
accessed and integrated (St. George et al., 1999, p. 1324).
The broader semantic relationship in the right hemisphere has one big advantage: The
less sharply each word’s meaning is specified, the more likely it is to connect with other
words and concepts. This is a key ingredient for drawing inferences, extracting the
essence, and comprehending symbolic language, and for insight and awareness of
wholeness and integrated nature of reality (Kounios & Beeman, 2014, p. 6). Harmony
between the ‘left brain’ and the ‘right brain’ provides an overall grasp of what is known
in formal, logical terms, and also intuitively, in vision, feelings, and imagination etc.
(Bohm, 1980, p. xvi). Original and creative ideas emerge from the coordination of well-
structured language and concepts contained in the field of the empirical study with less
sharply defined words and concepts in the field of philosophy and arts. Science and
spirit are then in harmony, as they are different yet complementary ways of considering
18

Śabda Brahma
the ultimate reality which is an undivided wholeness in flowing movement (Bohm,

1980, p. 33).
In Japan, the concept of Kotodama has been an important feature of the native Japanese
language since ancient times (Miller, 1977, p. 262). To put it simply, Kotodama means
‘Word Spirit’ or ‘Word Soul’. It shows that the ancient Japanese too believed that words
had magical powers, and by uttering appropriate words all things in the universe could
be controlled. The belief in Kotodama indicates people’s faith in words and sounds,
which is expressed in praying for good fortune or for the prevention of undesirable
events. Verbal messages stemming from Kotodama belief are often seen in daily
Japanese interaction, and people’s interpersonal sensitivity leads them to be careful of
their word choice and speech in verbal communication. Japanese people’s use of
pleasant language and gestures as a display of caring for others’ feelings reflects the
Kotodama belief in which they feel some kind of spirituality (Hara, 2002, p. 286).
In the modern age, rationalism makes it hard to understand just how the correct use of
words can bring pratibhā or mystical insight, create moral power, and bring merit and
success. Today we live in a world from which the spirit of the word has been abstracted,
and in a sense, dehumanized, and therefore we experience some difficulty in
understanding how powerful the spirit of words and sounds was for the deep and subtle
oral culture of Vedic India. For Bhartṛhari, for Vedic sages, Sabdikas Pāṇini and
Patañjali, and playwright Bharat Muni, when speech is purified by the established
correct forms and all deficiencies in the form of incorrect use are removed, there results
spiritual righteousness which brings the experience of well-being and moral power
(Coward & Kunjunniraja, 1990, p. 45).
CONCLUSION
The concept of Śabda Brahma enfolds a fundamental idea running through India’s
linguistic and spiritual tradition. This is the idea of the umbilical relationship of
language and the Absolute Reality. Śabda or language belongs to the realm of the
Absolute Reality, Brahma. As Rabindranath Tagore put it, ‘the consciousness of the
reality of Brahma is as real in Indian tradition as a fruit held in one’s palm’
(Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 941). The Absolute Reality is knowable not on the basis of
mere words, but on the basis of pratibhā or insight into the essence of words. Patañjali
considers learning words without understanding as the dry logs on extinguished fire
(Sarup, 1966, p. 19). Śabdānusānam or grammar as established in the texts by learned
scholars of language in use is seen as a means to achieve consciousness of the Absolute
Reality.
Śabda Brahma emphasizes that freedom and creativity of language are rooted in the
Absolute Reality. This cultural conceptualization of the nature of language has far-
reaching implications for our language and communication. Whatever the particular
19

language and the linguistic community, the spirit, and sound of the word emerge from
and merge into Absolute Reality. Since language arises from and exists in Absolute
Reality, it gains its power, freedom, and creativity from that source. When language is
illuminated with the light of the Absolute Reality, then the limiting aspect of its
separateness loses its locality, and our communication with others is not in a
relationship of competition and conflict but of accommodation and integration in
conformity with the order of nature. Language stemming from an awareness of the
source of all speech, Brahma, the Absolute Reality, unfolds and uses complete
awareness to create consensual and integrative communication.
The contemporary relevance of the concept of Śabda Brahman can be seen in the
context of the social, economic, political, and ecological problems of our time which
require solutions at the global level through mutual interaction and communication.
Śabda Brahma is the language of the dynamic and interconnected Absolute Reality.
Every nation, every government, every society, every race, every culture, every religion
is essentially a manifestation of the Absolute Reality. Language and communication
which is of the nature of the Absolute Reality connect them all. Śabda Brahma is infinite
and uncertain, and this uncertainty is the source of its freedom and creativity. It has the
power to fill the gaps that separate nations, communities and people. Enormous
creativity is enfolded in the concept of Śabda Brahma. A deeper and wider
understanding of the concept can help to establish a framework for further research and
applied work in this direction.
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23

ŚABDA ŚAKTI
POWER OF WORDS IN INDIA’S LINGUISTIC TRADITION
SUNIL SONDHI
ABSTRACT
L
anguage is always cultural, it is shaped by and in turn, shapes the cultural context from which it emerges. In
H B h Ś h b c
concept since the Vedic age. ‘Th w w c y h h
“P w ”’ (W 2019 p. 17). h b Ś b Ś h ‘P w h W ’
seen from the earliest times as creative power both at cosmic and human levels. Modern science sees energy as the
ultimate form of reality. In India, language has been worshipped and used as a manifestation of the energy of the
goddess Saraswati since the Ṛgveda.
This article traces the evolution of the c c p Ś b Ś h cc h Ṛgveda. This cultural

conceptualization of language continues later in the Atharva Veda and Yajur Veda in the form of religious and cultural
practices. The development of the concept continues in h c c x h B āh ṇas, the Ā ṇyakas,
and the Upaniṣads wh Ś b Ś h h wh h b c hp h
c c y h p ch c . Th c Ś b Ś w h
developed in Kashmir Shaivism in the tenth and eleventh centuries. While the Vedas and Upanishads emphasized the
c p p c Ś b Ś h Ś x c a moralized power which is active and
can be used for action. The study of the Indian concept of Ś b Ś as a cultural schema can be helpful in better
understanding of cultural roots of language and communication in India and can contribute to further research in the
field of cultural linguistics.
Keywords: Veda, Upaniṣads, Cultural Linguistics, Indian Culture, Intercultural Communication

Volume VI, No. 1 (2021).

INTRODUCTION
I
n recent years, there has been a trend of scholars’ call, especially from the non-
Western world, against the domination of Western paradigms in social sciences,
particularly in linguistics and communication studies. Recent works in this field
have questioned the appropriateness of the Western social science paradigms for the
non-Western societies (Alatas, 2006; Chen, 2018; Glück, 2018; Gunaratne, 2010; Li,
2020; Miike, 2019, 2017, 2016; Mowlana, 2019). The main concern of these scholars is
the unequal intellectual dominance of the ‘professional center of gravity in the USA’,
and, to a lesser degree, European academics. As Western theories and concepts do not
always reflect the issues and debates in developing countries, critics propose an
epistemic shift toward a greater diversity of academic perspectives, leading to a greater
diversity of fundamental theories, approaches, and concepts worldwide (Glück, 2018, p.
2).
Eurocentrism, a term often used for Westernism, has been defined as:
procrustean forcing of cultural heritage neatly into a single paradigmatic perspective in

which Europe is seen as the unique source of meaning, as the world’s center of gravity.
Eurocentric thinking attributes to the “West” an almost providential sense of historical
destiny (Shohat & Stam, 2014, p. 2).
As another contemporary scholar further elaborates:
The idea behind Eurocentricity in its most vile form, whatever its theoretical
manifestation is that Europe is the standard and nothing exists in the same category
anywhere. It is the valorization of Europe above all other cultures and societies that
makes it such a racist system (Asante, 2014, pp. 6-7).
In the Indian context, the assault on its cultural traditions was first officially announced
by William Wilberforce in his 1813 speech to the English Parliament in which he argued
that the English must ensure the conversion of the country to Christianity as the most
effective way of bringing it to ‘civilization’. In 1835, Governor-General Macaulay
knocked down the entire intellectual output of India in his absurd statement that, ‘a
single shelf of good European library was worth the whole native literature of India...’
(Alvares, 2011, p. 73). It is distressing that even as India approaches seventy-five years
of independence from British colonialism, so many educated segments and educational
institutions in the country still continue to sustain the ‘apemanship and parrotry’
knowledge structure of the West (Alvares, 2011).
In a recent in-depth study on Eurocentrism, specifically focussing on Hegel’s views on

Indian culture and philosophy, Signoracci (2017), observes that Hegel ‘had more to do
with the suppression or exclusion of the Indian traditions from the history and practice
26

Ś b Ś
of philosophy in Europe and elsewhere than may be thought, and there is much to do to
reverse this trend’ (p. 253). He further observes that Indian philosophy’s ‘historical
prominence and continuing vitality show its considerable sophistication and render it -
perhaps not solely, but certainly uniquely – capable of posing a challenge to the
assessment Hegel delivers’ (Signoracci, 2017, p. 233).
J. S. Yadav, former Director of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, has observed

that Western communication models and methodologies do not really help in
understanding and explaining communication events, phenomena, and processes in the
context of Indian society and culture. Western models and methodologies are not very
appropriate for Indian conditions. He has emphasized the need to develop and refine
the Indian or Eastern way of looking at language and communication and use
appropriate research methods for studying communication events and processing
(Yadava, 2018, p. 191). In Indian culture, saints and sages have traditionally been
opinion leaders communicating the norms and values for righteous social behavior on
the part of individuals. Their role as communicators who influence communication at
various levels is important even today and needs to be studied to bring the Indian
communication model closer to the lived reality of the people of India (Yadava, 2018, p.
194).
This article presents a conceptualization of language-culture relation in a combined

cultural-linguistic perspective in the Indian context. The main perspective is cultural,
and it draws on the religious and philosophical dimensions of Indian culture. The
secondary perspective is linguistics, and it focuses on the linguistic flows as cultural
flows globally (Palmer, 1996, p. 87). The Indian concept of Ś b Ś is a cultural
schema which is relevant for better understanding of the cultural roots of
communication in India and in promoting intercultural communication.
CULTURED LANGUAGE
The relationship of language and culture has been at the center of the philosophical and
linguistic conceptualizations in the Indian tradition since ancient times. These
conceptualizations were never organized into a separate discipline, and these concepts
were never explicitly formulated. ‘It was essentially an interdisciplinary scholarship
which either postulated common explanatory categories or developed parallel
constructs with the same significance to make the models functionally optional and
efficient’ (Kapoor, 2010 p. 4). It is therefore most surprising that we find an almost total
disjunction between the study of classical Indian philosophical and linguistic tradition
and the modern theories of language and communication. Only recently have we seen a
revival of interest in India in the heritage of our traditional knowledge (Kapoor, 2010;
Matilal, 2014; Swarup, 2001; Tripathi, 2018; Vatsyayan, 2016).
27

A strong tradition of linguistic analysis developed in India in the first millennium BCE
and has continued uninterrupted to modern times. The fields of phonetics and grammar
were recognized at first. By the early fourth-century BCE, Pāṇini composed complete
grammar of Sanskrit that generates utterances from basic elements under semantic and
co-occurrence conditions. The grammar utilizes sophisticated techniques of reference, a
formal meta-language, and abstract principles of rule precedence (Allen, 1953; Vasu,
1988; Kiparsky, 2002; Deshpande, 2011). The long tradition of grammatical
commentary that followed Pāṇini’s work investigated subtleties of verbal cognition in
discussion with well-developed philosophical disciplines of logic and ritual exegesis.
Linguistic analysis of Sanskrit inspired similar analysis of modern Indian languages.
The study of language and communication in India was never a monopoly of the
logicians or the rhetoricians, as it was in Greece. Almost all schools of thought in India
began their discussions from the fundamental problem of communication (Coward &
Kunjunniraja, 1990, p. 3). The scholar-saints of the Vedic age were greatly concerned
with the powers and limitations of language as a means of communicating their
personal experiences of visionary nature to their kinsmen, and they tried to exhibit the
power of language by various means. They praised the power of language by identifying
it with the powerful goddess Saraswati ready to give desired results to her devotees.
The entire creation was attributed by some sages to divine language, and it was
generally accepted that the ordinary speech of mortals was only a part of that language.
The goal of Indian thought on language and communication is not merely rational
knowledge but also experience of the Absolute Reality. Knowledge of language resulting
in the correct speech not only communicates meaning but also enables one to
experience reality. This is the meaning of the Indian term ś which literally means
‘vision’. It is this feature that sets Indian linguistics apart from modern Western
perspectives on language. From the early Vedas and Upaniṣads, the Indian approach to
language and communication has never been limited to composition and transmission.
All aspects of the mundane world and human experience were regarded as enlightened
by language. Linguistics in India always had and continues to have both phenomenal
and metaphysical dimensions (Agrawala, 1953, 1963; Jha, 2010).
Interest in studying the relationship between language and culture in the West emerged
three thousand years later, in the eighteenth century. William Jones, Charles Wilkins,
Franz Bopp, and Wilhelm von Humboldt were among the early scholars in Europe who
became aware of the relationship of Sanskrit with the languages of Europe (Staal, 1996,
p. 36). They explored the relationship between language, reality, and culture, and
emphasized that diversity of language was one of the central facts about human
civilization and potentially, at least, had implications for natural and social situations.
In the nineteenth century, the idea of ‘linguistic relativity’ was first clearly expressed by
German linguists, Humboldt, and Herder who saw language as the expression of the
28

Ś b Ś
spirit of a nation, and the diversity of languages as the diversity of views of the world.
This principle was further developed in the twentieth century with an explicit reference
to Einstein’s theory of relativity. This amounted to maintaining that the differences
between the languages of the speaker and the listener had to be taken into account in
any analysis of social and cultural life. Just as in Einstein’s theory of relativity, the
velocity and the direction of the observer had to be taken into account to determine
those of any other person or object. Neither in the language nor physical reality, there
was a fixed point or center from where everything else could be judged (Einstein, 1952;
Heisenberg, 1962; Bohr, 1958; Bohm, 1980; Prigogine, 1997; Rovelli, 2017).
Around the same time, Franz Boas came up with the idea of cultural relativity, which
holds that cultures cannot be objectively ranked as higher or lower, or better or more
correct, but that all humans see the world through the lens of their own culture and
judge it according to their own culturally acquired norms (Leavitt, 2019). Cultural
relativity stresses the equal worth of all cultures and languages; it sees no such thing as
a primitive language and considers all languages capable of expressing the same
meaning through widely differing structures. Boas saw language as an inseparable part
of the culture, and he was among the first to study and document verbal culture in the
original language.
Different orientations adopted to study the relationship between language and culture
are partly due to the difficulty in defining the terms language and culture. Views on
language in recent years have ranged from language as action, language as social
practice, language as a cognitive system, and language as a complex adaptive system.
Culture has similarly been viewed differently by different schools of thought. It has been
seen as a cognitive system, as a symbolic system, as social practice or as a construct
(Sharifian, 2019, p. 3). These orientations are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The
boundaries between theories, and between disciplines of study are always porous and
dynamic, as indeed all aspects of reality are.
In the West, since the time of Aristotle, a view has been widespread that all humans
think in the same way, and that language merely serves to code and communicate
already formed thoughts. Such a view is fundamental to philosophical systems such as
Cartesian rationalism, Locke’s empiricism, and Kant’s idealism. This kind of
universalism is carried on today by the dominant mode of linguistics. People trained in
linguistics and communication studies tend to see culture through the lens of language.
Culture is typically seen by linguists as a kind of extension of language. Among the

people trained in fields like cultural studies, this language- determined view of culture is
considered biased. From a cultural studies perspective, many features of human
languages are entrenched in cultural concepts, including cultural frames, models, or
schemata (Palmer, 1996; Sharifian, 2011). In his path-breaking book Toward a Theory of
Cultural Linguistics (1996), Palmer observed that ‘It is likely that all native knowledge of
29

language and culture belongs to cultural schemas and the living of culture and the
speaking of language consist of schemas in action’ (p. 63).
ABSOLUTELY REAL
India is the one country in the world, best exemplifying an ageless, unbroken tradition
of speculations about language and communication (Padoux, 1992, p. 1). This linguistic
tradition includes extensive explorations and rules of phonetics and grammar; diverse
philosophies on the value and nature of language; and the phenomenal and
transcendental power of language and communication. At one level, language has been
identified in the Indian tradition with the Absolute Reality, the Brahma, and at another
level, it has been identified with meaningful and disciplined speech, b ā ā .
Throughout the ages, theories and practices of language have evolved in India, elements
of which can be identified, at different periods in time, in almost all of the thought
systems that arose here (Staal, 1996, p. 2).
In India conceptualizations about language and communication constitute an
intellectual tradition in which speech emerging at the time of creation is seen as creative
and efficient power, the energy (ś ), which is both cosmic and human. This creative
power can be accessed by human beings through structured language, which serves as a
medium or channel through which knowledgeable and skilled persons can reach the
higher levels of coherence and cohesion of language and reality. These
conceptualizations are present as early as the Vedas and maintain continuity through
texts on phonetics (ś ṣā and p ā śā hy ), the epics (M hābhā ), the works of
grammarians (Ś b ā ā ), the Upaniṣads, the philosophies ( ś s), and the
texts on the arts (Varma 1961; Sastri, 2015; Ranganathananda, 2015; Tagore, 2018;
Tripathi, 2018).
The earliest conceptualization of language as ś can be found in the Vedas, where the
notion of the creative role of language is present widely, most significantly in Ṛ veda
Book X. Hymn X.71 which speaks of rare and shining treasures hidden in language
which are disclosed to those who have the insight and affection in their speech. When
language is used with insight and care, it wins the cooperation of other persons
(Saraswati trans., 2015, pp. 809-15). But only those who make the effort and have the
right intention can speak and comprehend language in the right way. A person who has
not understood the essence of the spoken word can only use language that is superficial
and hollow. Good communication skill comes to those whose words are trustworthy
and reflect the integrity of the person. People have similar sense organs, but their
comprehension and expression are not the same. Knowledge and experience enable a
person to use the power of words to understand and conceptualize reality in the most
beneficial way. An energized, dynamic, and knowledgeable person is successful in
practical life and wins goodwill and admiration in society (Sondhi, 2020, p. 6).
30

Ś b Ś
Hymn X.125 goes further and extols the powers and grandeur of the speech goddess in a
lengthy Vā ū . It identifies and glorifies ā or speech as supreme power which
supports the gods and the sages, and their position in the cosmic and the phenomenal
world. It gives strength and treasures to the faithful ones who perform their duties. In
this hymn, speech is identified with the cosmic energy and at the same time with the
voice of the people of knowledge and action in human society. While the power of the
speech is considered to be of the nature of cosmic energy, and which resides with the
gods, at the same time, this power and energy is within the reach of people who have
faith and whose knowledge and action make them trustworthy (Saraswati trans., 2015,
pp. 1113-1117).
In these two hymns, one can see the seeds of later flowering of Indian
conceptualizations of language and communication in connection with both the
absolute and the apparent reality. The integrative and flowing movement of language
between the grossest and subtlest levels of reality is the core of the Indian concept of
communication.
The Upaniṣads continue the Vedic tradition of recognizing the value of language for
human beings for realizing their material and spiritual goals. While references to speech
and language can be found in most of the Upaniṣads, two representative selections from
B h ā ṇyaka Upaniṣad and h Upaniṣad beautifully sum up the conceptualization
of language as cosmic energy in these texts. In Chapter VI.2, speech is considered as the
abode of the Absolute Reality, Brahma. The Absolute Reality resides in speech; it is
supported by space, and deserves to be honoured as consciousness. By speech alone,
one identifies the people with whom one can cooperate, acquire the knowledge that is
in the texts, interpretations, and activities. The Absolute Reality is, in truth, speech. By
recognizing and imbibing the true value and energy of speech, one can even become a
god (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 246).
In h Upaniṣad, in Chapter II.16, the essence of all the Vedic texts is said to exist in
the syllable Om. It can be compared with the metaphor of the seed given in Chā y
Up ṣ to indicate that the essence of the tree exists inside the invisible depths of the
seed. Similarly, a single syllable, indestructible ṣ , is seen as the microcosmic
formless essence of the Absolute Reality. Knowledge of this everlasting spirit gives the
capability to a person to achieve all that he desires in life (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 616).
Words are a real spacetime sample of illimitable and dimensionless cosmic energy,
constituted of matter, radiation, light, consciousness, and action. This text from h
Upaniṣad asserts that there is nothing that an insightful person cannot achieve through
the knowledge and use of proper language, which is a symbol of the divine energy
(Padoux, 1992, p. 18).
From the Vedic times, the language had divine and human quality at the same time.
There is no contradiction here. Indian conceptualizations of language and
31

communication are holistic and practical, and they are far from being mere
imaginations unrelated to objective reality. This is brought out even more clearly in the
texts of Bhartṛhari and Abhinavagupta in the later periods (Iyer, 1971, 1992; Pillai,
1971; Furlinger, 2009). These texts are based on the integral relationship established
between language, the Absolute Reality and objective reality. The Absolute Reality or
divine energy or Brahma, and Śiva in its essential nature are speech, and activity
through speech. Everything related to language, communication and objective reality
has an umbilical relationship with the Absolute Reality. Since the Absolute Reality is all-
pervasive and omnipresent, and since everything emerges from it, language is a
manifestation of the un-manifest Supreme reality.
The ancient Indian notions about the nature and power of the word or speech appearing
in the Vedas, Upaniṣads, and the Grammatical texts are further developed with identical
or very close meanings in h Ś texts (Padoux, 1992, p. 5). In these texts, such
as P ā-T ś ā-V ṇ and Ś ū the essentially symbolic role of ṇ alini as
energy that is both cosmic and present within human beings is repeatedly emphasized
to emphasize the correspondence between human and the cosmic levels (Jaideva trans.,
2017, 2017b). From this energy, which is all-pervading and is of the nature of
Ś b b h , a familiar concept in Bhartṛhari’s Vā y p y (Iyer 1992; Pillai, 1971),
Ś or phenomenal power is generated, which in turn leads to the four levels of
speech: P ā, P śy , Madhyama, and Vaikhari. It is in the last stage of Vaikhari, that
human language and communication become manifest. Language is made of three
powers of will, cognition, and action, and it is endowed with the properties of created
things, which include the cycle of birth, growth, and transformation. Language thus
becomes an integral part of the Absolute Reality, conceptualized as Ś b Ś .
Śakti is the cosmic energy that manifests the general potential creativity of Śiva into
specific names and forms of ś b or sound. The most pervasive principle that
Abhinavagupta uses in his texts is sarvam sarvatmakam, variously translated as
‘everything is related to the totality’, ‘every part is related to the whole’,
‘omnifariousness’, and ‘omnipresence of all in all’, ‘everything is of the nature of all’. This
doctrine has antecedents going back to Atharva Veda, where Indra’s Net symbolizes the
cosmos as a web of connections and interdependences (Malhotra, 2016, p. 4).
Abhinavagupta not only espouses and applies this principle, but he also goes into an
extensive interpretation of a verse from M hābhā which exemplifies this Omni-
pervasiveness (Baumer, 2011, p. 270). The Śā p verse 47.84 says that ‘Everything
is in you. Everything is from you. You Yourself are Everything. Everywhere are you. You
are always the All. Salutations to you in your form as Everything’ (Shastri trans., 2011, p.
146). An earlier verse, 47.47 of M hābhā , throws more light on deeper roots of the
concept of Ś b Ś . It says:
32

Ś b Ś
Roots with all kinds of affixes and suffixes are your limbs. The sandhis are your joints. The
consonants and the vowels are your ornaments. The Vedas have declared you to be the
divine word. Salutations to you in your form as the word (Shastri trans., 2011, p. 143).
Ś , the divine power, is the essential nature of the Absolute Reality itself. It is the
radiating, pulsating, vibrating, brilliant, dynamic, and absolute free power, which is
essentially pure light and supreme joy, the core, the heart of Reality, of everything. In its
different forms and stages, it is the essential nature of all that exists in the world. Ś is
in a blade of grass, a dust particle, humans, rocks, water, trees, animals, a spiral nebula
in the sky, an atom, a thought, a sensation, and in akṣara and Ś b - and at the same
time, it transcends the world and is in Brahma. In this way, the Kashmir Advaita notion
of Ś b Ś is closer to the V ś ṣ A of Ramanuja than the A V ā of
Śaṅkara (Furlinger, 2009, p. 249).
Abhinavagupta’s conceptualization of language and reality in T ā makes it

abundantly clear that unity and diversity are the aspects of the same integrated
wholeness which is in a state of constant vibration or pulsation (spandan), and change.
In verse III.100 of T ā , Abhinavagupta explicitly says that if the Absolute Reality
did not manifest itself in infinite variety, but remained enclosed in its own singular
unity, it would neither be the supreme power nor awareness. It is the nature of the
Absolute Reality to expand and diversify in infinite forms. Incessant creativity is the
essence of its absoluteness, and this is the eternal source of all linguistic forms and
constructions (Jaideva, 2017b, p. xxi).
From the foregoing, it is evident that the primary concern of Indian thought on language
and communication has been its efficient and discerning use for human good, and this
does not exclude divinity. The original word identical with the divine energy is seen in
this perspective as phonic energy, which is eternal, indestructible, subtle, and
illimitable, which, however, evolves and unfolds through different stages and forms, and
brings forth, names, or identifies, minutely and precisely various kinds and dimensions
of objects. Language, then, is inherently endowed with creative energy. The creative
energy precedes the object, it is the creative energy of the Absolute Reality in the form
of speech that defines and upholds the objects, their relations, and the entire order of
nature.
MORALIZED POWER
Ethical and practical issues in the process of intercultural communication have received
significant scholarly attention in recent years. From a review of recent works in this
regard, Miike (2019) has formulated five principles of communication ethics from a
practical perspective: mutual respect; reaffirmation and renewal; identification and
indebtedness; sustainability; and openness. The Indian linguistic and communication
33

tradition is a testimony of the abiding value of these principles, both in theory and
action.
At the outset, we must know that the word Ś comes from the root Śak which means
‘to be able’, ‘to do’. It indicates both activity and the capacity to do so. In a sense,
everything exists in the world, and its each constituent element is Śakti. But this activity
is not random, anarchical, or disorderly action. The concept of Ṛta in the Indian
tradition stands for order and coexistence. Everything that exists in the world and
beyond is in an order which sustains the system and its parts at the same time. Power
translated to the material plane is only one, and the grossest aspect of Śakti. But all the
material aspects are limited forms of the great creative and sustaining power of the
Absolute Reality, the Brahma or Śiva. Śakti is moralized by the essential unity and
coexistence of all diverse forms in the Śiva the Absolute Reality, which is inclusive,
interrelated and interdependent. Śakti is, therefore, always in the service of the right,
the good, and the moral (Woodroffe, 2019, p. 122).
In the Indian linguistic and cultural tradition, goddess Saraswati is a symbol of Śakti or
creative energy at both cosmic and human levels. Sarasvati is the most important
cultural symbol and source of all thoughts, insights, speech, and learning. Meanings,
meaningful language, names, forms, and objects are also believed to have originated
from her. She is the creator of all arts and music too. Above all, she is the source of life-
giving perennial rivers which sustain all creation on earth (Ludvik, 2007). This Ṛ vedic
ideal of language, thought, and action runs through Pāṇini’s Aṣ ā hyāy Patañjali’s
M hābhāṣya, Bharatmuni’s Nā y śā Bhartṛhari’s Vā y p y and Abhinavagupta’s
T ā , to name just a few of Classical texts in India’s long and insightful linguistic
tradition which is the core of Indian culture (Agrawala, 1963, 1953; Ghosh, 2016; Iyer,
1971, 1992; Baumer, 2011). This tradition is the reverse of trying to have control or
command over the language to ‘accomplish some tangible business goal’ or change the
way others think and feel (Garcia, 2014, p. 235). Language and communication in the
Indian tradition is considered as divine energy to be used in speech with utmost care
and affection to bring people together for the collective good, or Dharma and keep them
away from evil or Adharma.
This practical and ethical view of language and communication is most clearly brought
out in the concluding verses of the Ṛgveda,
The light of lights which illuminates all life and elements, which enlightens speech in the
form of supreme word “Om”, may bring prosperity to all. Let us all walk together, talk
together, and think together to acquire knowledge, and live together like knowledgeable
people for the common good. Let our meetings, thoughts, feelings, and consciousness be
for common objectives. Let us all have the collective determination to bring our hearts
and minds together so that we can live together in harmony (Saraswati, 2015, pp.1265-
66).
34

Ś b Ś
The Sanskrit root Sam, which means together or common, is writ large over all the
prayers in Ṛgveda and other Classical texts and even in modern Indian languages. Two
words iti, and it, may be translated as culture and language. The root for
both words is Sam. Both culture and language are thus understood in India in terms of
common creation or heritage. Even the word ṁ which means communication has
the same root, Sam, and the same essence - togetherness. The Indian parliament,
Samsad, is again, togetherness.
Nirukta, considered the oldest Indian treatise on etymology, philology, and semantics
believed to have been composed around 500 BCE (Sarup, 1966, p. 54), maintained that
the Vedic language was the only language that corresponded very closely to the
composite and dynamic nature of the reality at both absolute and apparent levels. Since
the Absolute Reality is both integrated and dynamic, the k yā, denoting karma, or action
is the primary part of the sentence and all other parts of the sentence - the subject, the
object, etc. - are only modes of the word (Raju, 2009, p. 66). The words denoting activity
are to be considered as primary and the rest as secondary. Words, sentences, and
language asking us to act in order like cosmic energy are important and other sentences
are subsidiary (Raju, 2009, p. 67).
Pāṇ y Ś ṣā mentions six merits of a good speech that connects the speaker and the
listener in the right manner politeness, clarity, distinctive words, right accent, and time
adherence. The six demerits are singsong manner, nodding of head, too fast speed,
written script, low voice and ignorance of meaning. Speech that is made with defective
accent or pronunciation is considered poor and not capable of connecting with the
listener in the right manner. In fact, it may convey a wrong meaning that will do more
harm than good to the speaker. A good and effective speaker should observe proper
accent and places of articulation, use proper gestures, and above all know the meaning
of what he is saying (Ghosh, 1938, pp. 72-79). These fundamental rules of good speech
formulated by Pāṇini continued to be followed by Patañjali, Bharatmuni, Bhartṛhari, and
Abhinavagupta, and are considered crucial for good communication even today.
M hābhā mentions politeness in language as one thing that can bring glory and
success to a person who practices this communication skill (Shastri, 2011, p. 271). In
Bhaga ā which ‘coined hundreds of the words that we use in daily life’
(Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 9), learning from Classic texts and practice of disciplined
speech is advocated for communication that is truthful, beneficial, and polite. The Indian
Classical texts formulated these principles of good communication more than three
thousand years before Dale Carnegie wrote the bestseller, How to Win Friends and
Influence People. The Indian view of language and communication is a holistic and
dynamic that joins, links, coordinates and brings people together. Not in the sense of
monotonous uniformity, and not in the sense of erasing all the differences but in the
sense of unity in diversity, shared commonalities along with differences. This tradition
35

of insightful, accommodative, and integrative speech is India’s major contribution

towards building ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam’ or a global family (Sondhi, 2017).
In the Upaniṣads also, this practical and ethical aspect of language is re-emphasized. The
Chā y Up ṣad says that ‘if there were no speech neither right nor wrong would
be known, neither the true nor the false, neither the good nor the bad, neither the
pleasing nor the unpleasing Speech, indeed, makes all this known’ (Radhakrishnan,
2007, p. 470). In Taitti y Upaniṣad, after teaching the Veda, the teacher instructs the
pupils to speak the truth, practice virtue, practice welfare, achieve prosperity, continue
study and discussion, and perform duties to gods and parents (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p.
537). The importance of activity is stressed in Isa Upaniṣad when it says that one should
wish to live a hundred years, always performing works (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 569).
The Upaniṣads generally conceive the Absolute Reality as the light of lights. Light is the
principle of communication. In this sense, language is the expression of the character of
the Absolute Reality (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 62).
The Indian communication model may be seen as holistic, innermost, and

multidimensional coordination through the creative power of language. That is,
language and communication that originate from all dimensions of being – physical,
emotional, rational, cultural, and spiritual, and seeks to reach out to as many aspects as
possible of the listener. Inherently, then, language evolves out of clear understanding of
the wider social, universal and cosmic context of the speaker and the listener. A primary
assumption of this view is that the coordination we so earnestly seek does exist in all
languages. Our ideas, feelings, and language spring from the rich foundation of our
common human and cosmic identity, at the most fundamental level, we are part of the
same fabric of being amidst all existence.
CONCLUSION
Problems in language and communication within and between different cultures and
societies stem from a complex web of linguistic, social, and cultural factors that go
beyond any individual or situation. To find a solution to this problem, we need to look
within a society and examine the disconnect between its language and culture. India’s
rich linguistic heritage is embedded in its composite and integrated culture. It is,
therefore, imperative that problems in language proficiency and competence in India
should be resolved on the basis of the cultural foundations of Indian languages.
The Indian communication model is based on the structure of language as an ascending

hierarchy of connections between the base level of physical reality, the materiality of
language, through intermediate levels of conceptual abstraction, to the highest levels of
abstraction - Ś b B āh ṇ or P ś – where linguistic merges with Absolute
Reality. While the connection of the elementary linguistic terms with sense perceptions
of everyday experiences is established in practice, comprehension of the connections
36

Ś b Ś
between our sense perceptions in their totality require logically derived concepts at
different levels of abstraction, based on primary concepts. The concept of Ś b Ś
symbolizes the creative energy of language that connects and integrates the grossest
and subtlest levels of abstraction with agility, ingenuity, and beauty.
This communication model to a large extent is shaped by the Vedas and Upaniṣads, the
diverse philosophical schools and traditions, and a treasure of ideas and practices
stemming from India’s composite cultural heritage. This legacy contributes to a diverse
and yet coherent Indian way of communication in a flowing movement. Only a few of
such classical texts have been studied so far with regard to their contribution towards
the evolution of an Indian communication model. Towards this end, Indian Classical
texts relating to language need to be explored further and relevant ideas stemming from
them adopted for integrative and accommodative language and communication in India
and the world.
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41

ŚABDĀNUSĀNAM
THE INTEGRAL VIEW OF COMMUNICATION
SUNIL SONDHI
ABSTRACT
T
he rationale for this paper is that the negative trends in present-day communication in media and
public language in India seem to have formed a complex web of social and political factors in
certain sections of society that go beyond any individual, ideology, or situation. To find a solution to
this problem, we need to look within and examine the disconnect between the roots of language in the
Indian society and the use to which language is being put by people in certain sections who are not
connected with India’s linguistic tradition of the discipline of words. It is in this context that the classical
texts on communication in India need to be explored and relevant ideas adopted for integrative and
accommodative communication. Exploration of the Indian intellectual tradition in communication is also
relevant in the context of the emerging trend of scholars’ challenges from the non-Western world against
the appropriateness of the Eurocentric paradigm of communication. It is argued that the entire focus in
India’s linguistic tradition has been on restraint and discipline of words ‘Śabdānusānam’ in accordance
with prescribed norms derived from wider social context to achieve meaningful and harmonious
communication in the society.
Keywords: Linguistics, Communication, Vedic, Śabda, Vākya

Volume IV, No. 2 (2020).

INTRODUCTION
S
cholars have written about three idioms of Indian society: the modern, the
traditional, and the saintly. The modern signifies the language of constitutional
politics and administration. The traditional refers, in contrast, to religion and
community and to the language of rural India. The saintly represents the language of
Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave, and Anna Hazare- ahimsa, bhoodan, swadeshi and seva. In the
first few decades of independent India, all three idioms co-existed. Today, a fourth idiom
has been added to sections of our society, and, sadly it seems to have eclipsed the other
three. This is the language of disharmony.
This language of disharmony is divisive and disintegrative, for it has crossed the red line
of inclusion. In addition to the culture of inclusion that is undermined by such language,
it also leads to a culture of violence. When language is filled with courtesies, replete
with the protocols of respect, it produces restraints on bad behavior in the mind.
Although we may have the inclination to hurt an opponent, when the speech culture is
respectful, it will psychologically restrain the inclination to hurtful speech or action. In
contrast, the spread of abusive speech weakens such restraints.
Today, fury and incomprehension of words have eroded the minimum standards of
courtesy and mutual respect in communication, especially in cyberspace. We seem to be
increasingly unwilling to even try to find common ground with which to engage with
people whose views differ from ours. Such violent language achieves its impact by
denying any complexity, conditionality, or uncertainty. It exaggerates wildly to make its
point. It is built on a presumption of bad faith on the part of the other person. It accepts
no responsibility to anyone to explain anything to anybody but instead treats the facts
as they were a matter of opinion (Thompson, 2016, p. 17).
In still many more cases, when the words are not violent or offensive, they are still
inane. People merely gossip and chat. Though they talk so much, they have little to say.
This is true particularly of academicians and journalists in urban India. They speak
compulsively, mechanically, in jargon. They use many and big words for a few and small
things. Their debates, seminars, and writings are nothing but words reacting to words
with little sense of relevance and reality (Swarup, 2001, p. 91).
A healthy language knits people together and, ultimately, it leads to a better and more
inclusive society. But when communication loses its power to explain and engage, it
endangers the bond of trust between people. The critical risk from bad communication
is not only in the realm of culture but also in the legitimacy and sustainability of social
and political cohesion. When the public discourse of a country gets vicious and partisan,
44

Śabdānusānam
democratic society as a whole start to fall apart. The loud-mouthed rhetoric based on
half-truth instead of bringing people together breeds anger, hatred, and division in
society.
An integral view of communication, on the other hand, is one that joins, links,
coordinates, and brings people together. Not in the sense of monotonous uniformity,
and not in the sense of erasing all the differences, but in the sense of unity in diversity,
shared commonalities along with differences. One way we can frame integral
communication is to describe it as a holistic, innermost, and multidimensional exchange.
That is, communication that originates from all dimensions of being – physical,
emotional, rational, cultural, and spiritual, and seeks to reach out to as many aspects as
possible of the listener. Inherently, then, integral communicators will use inclusive
approaches and language that evolve out of clear understanding of the wider social and
universal context of the speaker and the listener. Integral communication could be the
bridge between the traditional and modern idioms of Indian and society.
A primary assumption of this view is that the Sahridyata or identity we so earnestly

seek does exist in all exchanges (Mishra, 2005, p.93). Our ideas, feelings, and beliefs
spring from the rich foundation of our common humanity and cosmic identity; at the
most fundamental level, we are part of the same fabric of being amidst all existence.
Conflict may, therefore, be due to misperception between different manifestations of the
same unmanifest reality, and communication can be viewed as coordination to
accommodate and integrate multiple manifestations of the ultimate reality. However,
regardless of how that accommodation and coordination are defined, the commonality
principle has been understood and practiced by very few, and there is instead a strong
tendency to put people into different, hierarchical, and even opposing categories. The
objective of integral communication is to understand and appreciate the universal
aspect of being, and the interdependent nature of everyone and everything.
It is the argument of this article that the negative trends in communication stem from a
complex web of social, political, and cultural factors that go beyond any individual,
ideology, or situation. To find a solution to this problem, we need to look within and
examine the disconnect between the roots of language in the Indian society and the use
to which language is being put by people who are unaware of India’s linguistic tradition
of Sabdānusānam – the discipline of words. It is in this context that the Classical texts on
communication in India need to be explored, and relevant ideas need to be adopted for
integrative and accommodative communication. Exploration of the Indian intellectual
tradition in communication is also relevant in the context of the emerging trend of
scholars’ challenge from the non-Western world against the appropriateness of the
Eurocentric paradigm of communication being used in non-Western societies (Miike,
2002; Servaes, 2000; Dissanayake, 2003, 2009; Yadava, 2008; Chen, 2003).
45

SACRED SPEECH
Language has been one of the fundamental issues of concern in India’s intellectual
tradition over the ages. It has received due attention from thinkers since ancient times.
The study of language has occupied the minds of not only grammarians and literary
figures but also of poets, philosophers, and playwrights. All schools of thought in the
Indian philosophical tradition began their discussions from the fundamental problem of
communication. Generally, the approach to the study of problems of language and
communication has been characterized by both analysis and synthesis. Whereas
systematic efforts were made to analyze words in terms of stems and suffixes, sounds
and elements, at the same time, rules of joining the elements and the words in a
compound word or sentence were learnt from usage and organized.
The need to interpret and preserve the vast oral Vedic literature of great antiquity
required linguistic thought and analysis. This literature had been transmitted through
generations by a strong tradition of verbal communication. The reliance on orality was
motivated in part by the power of spoken words to invoke the intervention of the gods.
In the Vedic tradition, if the text has been learned in the proper way, and by the proper
person then the power of the word, when spoken, is irrevocable - the gods must act, and
will act. The utterance of an invocation was thus automatically what modern speech-act
theorists would call a performative speech act. In the saying of the word, something is
also done, and cannot be undone. The Indian literature is full of tales in which a word
was misused, uttered capriciously or wrongly with mischievous or even disastrous
consequences. The term ‘magic’ comes to mind here, and in some ways, the power of
words can be seen as magic; but this is not mere magic.
Maintenance of pre-eminent Vedic texts in the oral tradition depended a great deal on
the sound pattern, word structure, and understanding of meaning. This led to the
development of thinking about language in the pre-Pāṇinian period. That the thinking
about language, its structure, and meaning began very early in India is proven by the
fact that the Vedic literature has several references to thoughts on speech, language, and
meaning. The Vedic thinkers considered language to be a very important factor as a
source of bringing happiness and togetherness in human life. It was considered as a
means of understanding the true meaning of objects and attaining the desired
objectives. The results attained by the Indian thinkers in the systematic analysis of
language have surpassed those arrived by any other nation.
The Sanskrit grammarians were the first to analyze the word forms, to recognize the
difference between the root and suffix, to determine the functions of the suffixes, and on
the whole to elaborate grammatical system so accurate and complete to be unparalleled in
any other country (Macdonell, 1927, p. 136).
46

Śabdānusānam
The Vedic literature clearly identifies Brahma (the Absolute) with language (Śabda). The
Asyavamiya Hymn in Chapter One of Ṛgveda states that the ultimate abode of language is
Brahma. Language is described as being the peak of the universe. It also says that
‘Speech has been measured out in four divisions, the Brahmans who have
understanding know them. In that three divisions are of hidden speech, men speak only
the fourth division.’ Here language is related to cosmic order and is understood as the
idea of the word as distinct from the spoken word. The spoken word is a limited
manifestation of the inner word that reveals the truth (Harold Coward, 1990, p. 35).
In Chapter Ten of Ṛgveda, hymns seventy-one and one hundred twenty-five establish
the significance of speech and language for the thinkers in Vedic times. Hymn seventy-
one speaks of the excellent and spotless treasures hidden in speech which are disclosed
when there is affection in the utterances. People with wisdom use speech that wins
them friends. Only those who make effort can speak and hear good speech. A person
who has not understood the essence of speech can only utter words that are hollow. A
good speech comes to those whose action is good and who do not disown friends.
People have similar eyes and ears, but they do not have similar qualities. People who
are neither knowledgeable nor hard-working can only have meaningless speech. An
energetic, dynamic and knowledgeable person succeeds in society and wins praise from
friends (Saraswati, 2015, pp. 809-15).
In Hymn 125, the speech goddess celebrates her own power and grandeur in a lengthy
Vāk Sūkta:
I. I move with the Rudras, with the Vasus, with the Adityas and all the gods and sages. I am in both air
and water, both energy and fire, and both earth and sky.
II. I carry the flowing Soma, and Sun, and energy and riches. I bestow wealth on the pious sacrificer
who presses the Soma and offers the oblation.
III. I am the queen, the confluence of riches, the wise and industrious one who is first among those
worthy of worship. The gods divided me into various parts, and I enter in many places and many
forms and give them strength.
IV. The one who eats food, who truly sees, who breaths, who hears what is said, does so through me.
Though they do not realize it, they dwell in me. Listen, what I tell you should be heeded.
V. I am the one who says, by myself, what gives joy to gods and men. Whom I consider worthy by
knowledge and action I make great; I make him a sage, a wise man, a Brahmana.
VI. I stretch the bow for unleashing storm, so that it will strike down the hater of prayer. I arouse and
enact the battle for people against evil and I pervade earth and heaven.
VII. I establish the guardian on the head of this world. My origin is within the ocean. From there I spread
out over all creatures and touch the very sky with the crown of my head.
VIII. I am the one who blows like the wind, embracing all creatures. Beyond the sky, beyond this earth, so
much is my greatness.
(Saraswati, 2015, pp.1113-1117)
47

In this extensive hymn dedicated to the speech goddess, language is considered worthy
of worship, and it is seen as energy co-existent with every object in this universe. It is
considered as a sustainer of life, a source of success and riches. It brings knowledge and
wisdom and is the force behind the power of goodness.
This identity of Brahma with language is also found in the Upaniṣads. In the
Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, Brahman is identified as the one reality, without a second one,
which is identified with language. The Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad links the unspeakable
absolute with the speakable word through the symbol of Aum. Aum is described as
connecting the manifest world with the Supreme Reality. Brahma is identical with
language, the basic manifestation of which is the Aum (Coward, 1990).
To understand whatever Indian grammarians said about language and communication,

one has to remember this philosophical background in which the grammarians made
their observations. In this metaphysical background, all language and communication
are a manifestation of the ultimate reality, the Śabdatattva, the essence of the word. The
speaker, the words which he utters, the objects which the words denote, and the
listener are all emanations from the ultimate word-essence. ‘The cosmic process with its
names and forms arises from the subtle essence of Pure Being’ (Radhakrishnan, 2007, p.
462). This fundamental concept of the identity of the universal and the particular has
been validated by modern science which has shown that every particle in the universe
takes its characteristics from the pitch and pattern and overtones of its particular
frequencies in a vibrating universe (Leonard, 1978; Charon, 2005; Berendt, 1991).
Yāska’s Nirukta composed around 600 BCE may be regarded as a link between the
earliest Vedic tradition and the later Pāṇinian system of language and communication in
India (Belvalker, 2015, pp. 5-9). Yāska’s primary objective was to interpret the Vedic
texts correctly so that the benefit of the knowledge of the Vedas could accrue to both the
speaker and the listener. In the Vedic tradition, knowledge of the Vedas required the
ability to speak the words in the right accent and rhythm. To keep the oral form pure
and disciplined in its presentation, it was necessary to use the words precisely and
effectively. Only thus could the words become a part of one’s consciousness in the act of
speaking.
Yāska sought to establish the correct meaning of the words used in the Vedic texts by
tracing them back to the “verb roots” (Kapoor, 2019, p. 151). He believed that without
this exercise the exact meaning of the Vedic mantras cannot be known. He said that if
anything was learnt without being understood, it was meaningless and was like trying
to ignite dry logs of wood by placing them on ashes of extinguished fire. For him,
meaning was the flower and fruit of speech. Yāska’s major contribution was in his
attempt to specify the meaning in terms of the root verb or activity. In determination of
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Śabdānusānam
meaning, he took into account the rich context of historical, geographic, cultural, social,
psychological, and philosophical factors of the time. The factors involved in the process
and their correlation constituted a whole theory of meaning and power of the words
(Kapoor, 2019, p. 155).
LIVING LANGUAGE
Pāṇini marks the watershed period in the evolution of India’s intellectual tradition in
the field of grammar and linguistics. Before Pāṇini, the study of language was primarily
descriptive, concerned with an empirical analysis of language usage and language
structure. It culminated in Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī , subtitled Sabdānusānam in Patañjali’s
Mahābhāṣya, translated as discipline or system of words, which was composed around
the fifth century BCE. It is an explicit, rule-based, comprehensive description of both the
spoken language and the compositional language (Kapoor, 2010, p.10).
Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī represents perhaps the first attempt in the history of the world to
describe and analyze the components of a language on scientific lines. It has not only
been universally acclaimed as the first and foremost specimen of descriptive grammar
but has also been the chief source of inspiration for the linguists engaged in describing
languages of different regions. ‘A very remarkable work it is, providing a model for
recent and contemporary work in descriptive linguistics that can stand with the best
efforts of modern analysts’ (Coward, 1990, p. 15). After Panini, there was development
of grammatical thought in India into areas beyond description, from theory of grammar
in Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya, to the use of language and communication in performing arts
in Bharat Muni’s Nāṭyaśāstra, to the philosophy of grammar and of language in relation
to thought and reality in Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya.
Pāṇini undertook an exhaustive investigation of the spoken and the living languages of
his times. He applied the inductive method in finding, collecting, and classifying his
materials for developing his grammatical system. As an untiring and trustworthy
witness of linguistic data, he reached out so far and wide that almost every kind of word
in use during his time was brought in for analysis. He had sharp insight into the true
meaning of words in all their aspects and bearings as they were being used in different
localities, Vedic schools, families, trades and social classes of his times. The Gaṇa-Pāṭha,
as an accessory treatise to the Aṣṭādhyāyī introduced a comprehensive principle of
classification by which a large mass of linguistic data was reduced to order, system and
simplicity. By this method Pāṇini was able to integrate comprehensive social, economic,
political, cultural and geographical details with grammatical rules.
Pāṇini had explored and taken into consideration vast sources of linguistic material in
the country including the dialects, folklore and local custom, names of places, eastern
49

sports, names of coins, weights and measures, etc. Pāṇini’s travel across the length and
breadth of the region in search of data from the living language and the method of
personal interaction to get information was marked by an intensely practical approach
in the pursuit of knowledge. It was more than clear from his approach that he looked at
language and communication as social processes and not merely as tools of the learned
people (Agrawala, 1953, p. 19).
Pāṇini’s work was considered by Patañjali’ as a vast ocean of science. Patañjali’ also
described how Pāṇini’s work was based on the materials and sources available in the
different schools of learning, and it was recognized as a further development of all of
them. He pointed out that for Pāṇini to have such an authority among the grammarians,
his works must have been vastly superior to all the numerous treatises which were in
existence before Pāṇini’s time. These included works of renowned scholars of anskrit
like Śākaṭāyana, Gārgya, Yāska, Śaunaka, ākalya, Bhārdwāja, Āpiśali, and Audavrji, who
had significantly contributed to the study of language during that time.
It is thus evident that Pāṇini’s approach was accommodative and integrative, and he
was able to acknowledge and appreciate the views of others in a spirit of recognition
and inclusion. He avoided extreme views and positions and preferred a path of
synthesis between conflicting theories. For example, it is well-known that the question
whether a word denotes a whole category (jāti) or only an individual (vyakti) was being
debated amongst the grammarians at an early stage. This became a subject of sharp
controversy subsequently, but Pāṇini clearly showed in his work that he held both
views, one in one context and the other in another (Shastri, 2011, p. 41). Similarly,
Pāṇini took a practical view in the discussion of time on the exact definition in which
subtle and elaborate arguments were often given by his contemporary grammarians.
Pāṇini maintained that it was not within the purview of grammarians to lay down rules
about particulars of time and tense durations. For such regulations, one must depend on
the usage of the day.
What mattered more to Pāṇini was the total, real social environment in which the
language developed and worked. The practical and the ideal, the particular and the
general, and the transient and the permanent existed side by side in Pāṇini’s analysis as
he viewed language as a system of meaningful sound and a practical tool of
communication in a community structured as a social organization. The scope of
language use was vast, it could be used to communicate and coordinate experiences in
the inner and outer worlds. Language mapped by Pāṇini was open and flexible,
governed as it was by the context of its usage.
Pāṇini’s travels in search of facts from the living language and method of personal
discussion and interrogation to elicit information were in the true manner of the
50

Śabdānusānam
Takshasila style, which was marked by a practical bias in the pursuit of academic studies
(Agrawala, 1953, p. 17).
Pāṇini’s goal was building up of anskrit words from their root forms, affixes, verbal
roots, and their function in a sentence. The underlying principle of Pāṇini’s work was
that nouns are derived from verbs. Patañjali had also maintained that a sentence cannot
be framed without a verb. He explained kriya as a transaction or interaction. According
to him, the basic linguistic unit is a word – provided it generates a meaning. Following
the view of Patañjali, Bhartṛhari defined kriya as ‘made up of all actions, whether
accomplished or unaccomplished, which are expressed as being accomplished because
they have a definite sequence.’
Patañjali’s Mahābhāṣya, a commentary on Pāṇini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī , commences with the

statement ‘atho sabdanushasanam’: here begins the discipline of words (or, here begins
the rules governing the words). The three important subjects that Patañjali deals with
are all concerned with words: formation of words; determination of meaning; and, the
relation between a word (speech sounds – Śabda) and its meaning. He also stressed the
need to learn grammar and use correct words; to understand the nature of words
whether or not the words have fixed or floating meanings and so on.
The Pāṇinian system was analyzed and developed by both Kātyāyana and Patañjali. In
fact, Pāṇini, Kātyāyana, and Patañjali are known as the ‘three sages’, munitṛayam, who
gave the rules of discipline of words. ‘Each took for his study the whole field of living
language, and the contribution made by each to the stock of inherited knowledge and
ideas is quite considerable’ (Belvalker, 2015, p. 22). All the three sages were of the view
that the word, its meaning, and their relation could be analyzed and standardized from
their usage in the world. When the standard meaning of word is prescribed in Śāstra
and word is used in practice only in such meaning, it supports in upholding the
established system of social order (Subrahmanyam, 2008, p. 3).
INTEGRAL HARMONY
Bharat Muni’s Nāṭyaśāstra is believed to have been composed around 100 BCE, reflects a
world view and fundamental ideas which drew upon the well-articulated discourse in
language and communication in the Indian intellectual tradition. The Nāṭyaśāstra helps
us to identify the sources on which it was composed and the state of knowledge of
linguistics at the turn of the millennium. Bharat Muni was not only familiar with the
Vedas and their status in the Indian tradition, but was well aware of their content,
substance and form.
Nāṭyaśāstra traces both the spoken word and the idea of the word from the Ṛigveda.
The integral unity of the spoken world and the undifferentiated word, and its
51

communication is the foundation of the Classic text. It integrates the world of essence,
the world of reflection and feeling, with that of structure and grammar. Thus,
universality and specificity, abstraction and generalization, the structured and flexible
are seen as interdependent and interpenetrating levels of communication. Language
must communicate at varying levels to different audiences in culture-specific and trans-
cultural contexts. While being in finite time and place, it must have power to
communicate beyond time and place (Vatsyayan, 2016, pp. 89-90).
The presentation of the theatre was compared in the text with the performative act of
Vedic yagna. The mention of sattva or mindfulness, and the importance of musical
sounds during the presentation are an instance of drawing upon the living and vigorous
tradition of Vedas at that time. The language of Nāṭyaśāstra shows understanding of the
use of different languages and dialects by different groups of people and throws light on
recognition and acceptance of diverse people, languages and dialects. The ethno-
linguistic data in Nāṭyaśāstra is an important source for tracing the development of
Indian languages from Vedic Sanskrit to Classical anskrit, Prākrit and the dialects. It
treats the subject of language and communication, like Pāṇini, as rules, but each section
is detailed in a very refined analytical manner. The whole is analyzed into parts, and
each part is examined in depth with a view to create an interconnected and
interpenetrated whole, again.
A whole chapter is devoted in the Nāṭyaśāstra on verbal representation which speaks

about the nature of verbal representation as well as rules of grammar. At the outset, the
importance of words is emphasized as these are considered to be the body of the
expression. At the same time, gestures and emotions are considered important for
clarifying the meaning of words. The smoothness and flow in representation is
considered so important that it is even mentioned that ‘there is no word without
rhythm, and no rhythm without a word. Combined with each other, they are known to
illuminate the representation’ (Ghosh, 2016 p. 359). Elsewhere, the specific qualities of
good composition and representation are described in detail and include focus,
simplicity, precision, relevance, cohesion, agreeableness, and smoothness. A
representation containing simple words, intelligible to the common man, using
emotions and accommodating, and integrating people is considered good to be shared
with people (Ghosh, 2016, p. 434).
The integral view of communication that emerges from Nāṭyaśāstra is most clearly
visible in the theory and practice of rasa or taste and bhāva or attitude which is
developed as a psycho-somatic system by establishing coordination between the mental
and physical. Here Bharat Muni shows a deep understanding of the integration of mind,
body, and speech (Ghosh, 2016, pp. 684-87). This is the foundation of the entire work.
There is an intrinsic relationship and coordination of mind, body, and speech. Different
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Śabdānusānam
combinations emerging from this relationship lead to different states of mind which are
manifested in various emotive states. These states of mind of the speaker and the
listener are the major determinants of the connectivity in communication. Integral and
harmonious communication depends on combination of speech, gestures, and mind. For
this, one should take special care about the focus of the mind. It cannot be produced in
an absent minded man. This is something invisible, but it helps to control emotions and
state of mind. An ideal performance depends on coordination of all acts (Ghosh, 2016, p.
584).
Bharat Muni’s assertion that Nāṭyaśāstra is the fifth Veda which will be open to all
castes and classes, and would include all levels of time and place, all spheres of
knowledge, and all crafts and arts, shows the integrating role of communication in the
society. He seeks to integrate not only diverse disciplines but also bring together all
aspects of life - mental, physical, and even metaphysical. All this is sought to be achieved
through the refinement of the senses and sense perception. Although Bharat Muni
speaks of the theatre, it lays the foundation of integral communication which is not
restricted to any particular area of social interaction.
The integrative and interpenetrative nature of the physical, psychical, individual, social,
horizontal, and vertical aspects of the Supreme Reality accounts for a very distinctive
attitude writ large in Nāṭyaśāstra of the interdependence and interconnection of body,
speech, and consciousness. Nāṭyaśāstra provides the clear framework for an integral
harmony in which equilibrium, balance, and harmony of the physical, linguistic,
emotional, cognitive, and spiritual levels is considered essential. In composing
Nāṭyaśāstra, Bharata Muni had ‘fully internalized the discourse on the senses and sense
perceptions as articulated in Upaniṣads’ (Vatsyayan, 2016, pp. 54-55). It provides the
most refined statement of a world-view which was conscious of the process of gradual
refinement from one level of sense perception to the other and the need for restraint
and discipline in reaching the highest level of consciousness (Vatsyayan, 2016).
UNIFIED VISION
It is interesting to note that initially the ancient grammarians did not devote as much
attention to sentence and its structure as they did to the word. The noted grammarians
like Pāṇini, Kātyāyana, and Patañjali were mainly concerned with the derivation of the
correct form of words. Yāska and other etymologists were also primarily occupied with
word-meanings. Even the Nyāya-sūtṛas (Commentaries) of Vatsyayan emphasize the
nature of individual words.
Subsequently, long debates were held on the question: ’what is the basic unit of the
language that gives forth a meaning? Is it the word (śabda) or the sentence (vākya)?’
53

Though the discussions took several positions, it was ultimately concluded that the
letters constitute a word; and, the words come together to form a sentence. It was
pointed out that just as a word has no separate entity without its constituent letters;
similarly, a sentence has no separate entity without words that give it a structure. It was
also said that though the words are parts of a sentence, the meaning of the sentence
does not independently arise out of them. Meaning is the function of the sentence as a
whole. It is the emergent property of a systematically constructed sentence. Though the
distinction between a sentence and its parts was recognized, it was said to be mainly for
day-to-day purposes (loka-vyavahāra) and for analytical studies undertaken by the
grammarians.
Bhartṛhari’s Vākyapadīya is considered a milestone of the philosophical development of

grammar in India. Dissanayake (2003) sees a refreshing relevance of Vākyapadīya to
modern communication studies. He claims that the basic thinking reflected in
Vākyapadīya is in perfect consonance with some of the modern conceptualizations in
the field of communication. Dissanayake considers four important streams of thought
contained in the Vākyapadīya.
I. The notion of sphota which can be understood as śabdatattva or the word

essence that is disclosed by the word.
II. The contention that there is no cognition in the world in which the word does
not figure, and all knowledge is intertwined with language.
III. The emphasis on the total sentence as the unit of meaning as opposed to most
other of his contemporary scholars stress on the need to recognize the word as
the unit of meaning.
IV. That contextualization of speech facilitates the circumscribing of the field of
discourse, thereby eliminating ambiguities of meaning.
The central idea that emerges from a study of Vākyapadīya is that the ultimate reality is
of the nature of the śabdatattva or sphota, (Iyer, 1992, p. 402). All of us are born with
the essence of speech within us, which is also a source of knowledge. Proper
understanding and use of language is a discipline by following which a man can be
successful in his endeavors and attain liberation. Bhartṛhari deserves the credit for
putting together, for the first time, in a somewhat logical sequence all those general and
particular notions which form the basis of the forms of the anskrit language (Iyer,
1992).
Bhartṛhari connected the general notions of the words and their meaning with their
wider and deeper metaphysical context. He claimed that his metaphysical
understanding was derived from the Vedic tradition, and it is also true that his writings
were influenced by the works of all the major grammarians who preceded him. His
54

Śabdānusānam
writings are linked with those of his predecessors, and he was continuing the
intellectual tradition established by Pāṇini, Kātyāyana, and Patañjali.
Bhartṛhari regarded the sentence as a single ‘integral symbol’; an indivisible unit of

communication. The meaning of an integral sentence could be grasped by an
instantaneous flash of understanding Pratibhā or perception through insight or
intuition. The complete and true meaning of a sentence can be achieved only by means
of such ‘intuitive perception’ and not through a dissection and analysis of the words and
letters. Just as a letter or a syllable has no parts, so also the sentence is to be taken as a
complete integral unit and not as a collection of smaller elements.
According to Bhartṛhari, the gross sound pattern, Dhvani or Nāda, is a sequence of

sounds. Those sounds are employed to convey or give an audible form to the intent of
the speaker. Those audible sounds through their divisions and time sequence produced
one after another by the speech organs, act as a means or as vehicles to transport the
intent of the speaker. Such quanta of sound-sequences might create an impression as
though they were independent; and, the meaning intended to be conveyed by them
comprised several parts. But, in truth, the individual words have no disintegrated
existence; and, both the sentence and its meaning are integrated. A word form conveys a
cluster of meanings, and one must distinguish between possible and intended meaning,
and usual and contextual meaning. The factors that determine the meaning to be
assigned to a linguistic form in a particular sentence include among others: the
sentence; general context; spatial context; temporal context; probability; and accent.
Another pertinent observation made by Bhartṛhari in this respect is that a linguist form
does not illuminate its objective unless it is consciously used for that purpose.
Therefore, language expresses its meaning only if it is intentionally and knowingly used
for that objective. Language needs to differentiate and discriminate and be precise and
specific so that its meaning may be clearly understood. To give an example, mere
repetition and cramming of Vedic linguistic elements is meaningless, and the same
Vedic expressions can be better explained and understood depending upon the
intention of the speaker (Coward, 1990, p. 150). This observation has been vindicated
by recent researches which have shown that more than ninety percent of the
impression that a speaker has little to do with the words and more to do with integrity
and credibility of the speaker (Maxwell, 2010, p. 49).
In a similar way, Bhartṛhari makes it clear that the established system of right conduct
and social order cannot be refuted by clever arguments or reasoning based on
expedience. If this were to be accepted, than the same argument or reasoning can be
refuted by an even more clever argument. This shows the limitations of the use of bare
words or hollow words. In another text on the technique of debate, in
Khaṇḍanakhaṇḍakhādya by Śrī Harṣa, it is suggested that skills for refuting any
55

argument or reasoning can be imparted to any novice (Tripathi, 2016, p. 237). It is for
this reason that Bhartṛhari had to say that social order is not established by reasoning
dissociated from the established system, even a conclusion arrived at after great
consideration by clever logicians can be rejected by others who are more trustworthy
(Pillai, 1971, pp. 6-8).
CONCLUSION
The ever-flowing stream of India’s linguistic tradition does not allow one to come to a
conclusion. At best, one can hint at the confluence of several streams of ideas that
converge to enrich the tradition of linguistic thinking in India and make it relevant in
the present times. The first and foremost principle that emerges from the Indian
linguistic tradition is that while language may emanate from within, it is a social, and in
a sense, cosmic phenomenon. Communication cannot take place in isolation from the
social and physical reality. Effective communication is always multidimensional and
always involves interaction. Language always has to take into account its effect on
people. It needs to be adapted if it is recognized that it is not being understood, or it is
being misunderstood. The test of virtue in language lies in practice. The choice of words
must depend on how the public relates to them; and on changes in the social and
cultural context in which the communication takes place; as facts become outdated or as
new developments require attention, language must conform. Adapting to change is not
a sign of weakness of language, inclusion makes the language stronger, not exclusion. It
always has to be a living language to be meaningful.
The second principle is that words matter. Words are shaped by worldviews, and they
in turn shape worldview. Words provoke action and reaction, which in turn provoke
more words. Getting the words right is critically important. Words are carriers of
meanings well beyond the literal. Words trigger frames and images that may lead to
several meanings. As has been expressed clearly in the Ṛigveda, the real significance of
speech is that it creates or fashions out the manifold names and forms, nāmarūpa, from
the waters of the infinite ocean of the ultimate reality. Metaphors (rūpaka), which stand
for something much broader than the literal meaning, are particularly powerful carriers
of content, of emotional resonance, as made abundantly clear in Nāṭyaśāstra. When the
accepted meaning of word is prescribed in the texts and the word is used with such
meaning, it supports in upholding the social system as it is itself a social system
(Radhakrishnan, 2007, p. 167).
Finally, and most importantly, the importance and role of intention is most vital in the
process of communication. All the knowledge and consciousness of the ultimate reality
and the identity of speech with the ultimate reality is of little use if the human being
does not consciously put this knowledge of correct usage into practice. The entire focus
in India’s linguistic tradition is on restraint and discipline of words in accordance with
56

Śabdānusānam
prescribed norms derived from practice to achieve meaningful and harmonious

communication in the society. The metaphysical and the spiritual is not the conclusive
end of the intellectual quest of the Indian grammarians. The purpose of all the reasoning
and discussions is to refuse to take the popular as the final word and go beyond the
apparent to higher levels of refinement of language. The world has to be regained by the
use of integral communication because both the word and the world have their source
in the ultimate reality. It’s the man who can make the word and the world in the image
of the Supreme Reality.
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Sabdaloka: The World of Words in Indian Tradition

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SABDALOKA

THE LIGHT OF THE WORDS

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ŚABDA BRAHMA ………………………………………………………………………………………………..

ŚABDA ŚAKTI ………………………………………………………………………………………………………

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The nature of language and communication as an important concern and linguistics

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The Indian communication model is based on the structure of language as an ascending

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yatovaconivartante, aprapyamanasasaha, anandambrahmanovidvan, nabibhetikadacana.

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Just as different perceptions reveal an object in a different form, similarly, meaning is

The innovative aspect of the present research is exploration of complementarity

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Keywords: Indian culture, Vedic heritage, Cultural linguistics, Applied linguistics

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SCIENCE AND SPIRIT

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It is an open secret that the pioneers of quantum mechanics, Bohr, Oppenheimer,

every language is a vast pattern-system, different from others, in which is culturally

Application of new scientific knowledge in social science, and particularly in linguistics,

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A distinguished contemporary Western scholar has observed that:

In spite of the importance of language as the distinguishing feature of human

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In his pioneering study of the Phonetic Observations of the Indian Grammarians,

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 The empirical adequacy of their observations regarding the pronunciation of

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Aṣṭādhyāyī is formulated in a morphologically, syntactically, and lexically organised

Pāṇini’s system envisages the structure of language as an evolving hierarchy of inter-

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A remarkable example of such cultural conceptualization in the language is the

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Continuing in the Vedantic tradition, Bhartṛhari sees Brahma as the imperishable

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Just as different perceptions reveal an object in a different form, similarly, meaning is

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In recent years, researches in neuroscience have further confirmed the importance of

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the ultimate reality which is an undivided wholeness in flowing movement (Bohm,

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Chattopadhyaya, D. (1986). History of science and technology in ancient India- the

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