Purva-Mimamsa in its Sources c19.10
Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā in its Sources c19.10
- Language
- English
c19.10.1
We have seen that the denotation of words—i.e., the relation between Words and their Denotation—is Eternal, without beginning or end. Now as regards the Eternality of the Words themselves, it has been pointed out that we comprehend the meaning of Words by observing their use among experienced people on various occasions. If then, at each time the older man speaks of a thing, he were to create a new name for it for the occasion,—which name could disappear as soon as uttered,—necessary corollaries of the view that the Word is evanescent,—then what basis would the younger man have for observing the frequent use of the Word and thereby ascertaining its meaning? As each time that the thing is spoken of, he would be face to face with a newly created Word, never heard before; and under the circumstances, the meaning of the Word would remain ever uncomprehended and incomprehensible; and until the Word affords some Cognition, it cannot be regarded as a Valid Means of Cognition (*pramāṇa*). Consequently, unless the Logician is prepared to deny this character to the Word, he must accept it as Eternal. Then there arises the question—“If the Word is Eternal, why is it not *always* present in our Consciousness?” The answer to this is that, though the Words is ever present, yet, in order that it may become cognised, it stands in need of certain auxiliary aids that serve to manifest it and render it cognisable, or present it to our consciousness.
c19.10.2
This manifestive agency consists in the Effort put forth by the man who utters the Word. The Logician regards this Effort as the *Cause* producing the Word; but in reality, it is only a force or agency that serves to *manifest* to our Consciousness the Word that is already in existence, but imperceptible. And as these Efforts may be many, there need be no incongruity in the same Word being uttered, and heard, by several persons; whenever the manifestive agency is present and active the Word will become manifested and heard. Hence if there are several men putting forth the Effort for uttering a Word, it is only natural that there should be several manifestations of the Word. That it is the same Word that is cognised in each of these cases is proved by our direct Cognition of all of these as one and the same. And this is another reason for regarding the Word as *Eternal*. The Effort put forth by the speaker is not in itself sufficient to account for the Cognition of the Word; and in that case we could not account for the non-cognition of the Word by the deaf. In fact, the Effort tends to manifest the Word only through certain effects that it produces in the auditory organ of the person standing by.
c19.10.3
The several steps in the physiological process of speech have been thus explained:—(1) The speaker puts forth an Effort, (2) this Effort brings the Speaker's Soul into contact with the Air enclosed within his lungs, (3) in obedience to the impulse imparted by the Effort, the Air in the lungs is expelled outwards, (4) in its upward progress, it comes into contact with the vocal chords, (5) these contacts modify the character of the said Air, (6) on issuing from the mouth, the Air passes onwards and reaches the auditory organs of the persons standing near enough to be reached by the Air-waves,—the extent of the reach of this Air depends upon the greater or less degree of the initial Effort of the Speaker; (7) on reaching the said Auditory Organs, the Air-waves produce in those organs a certain change that is conducive to its power of making the Sound audible. Thus it is this faculty of the Auditory Organ that is the direct Agent manifesting the Word to the Consciousness of the Persons to whom the Auditory Organs belong. As the Air-current is endowed with a certain momentum, by virtue of which it keeps moving onwards—when it has passed out of the Auditory Organ, the Sound also passes out and the audition ceases, the person hears the Sound no longer.
c19.10.4
The next question that arises is—"What is the change in the Auditory Organ which renders it capable of manifesting Sound?" What happens is that the Air-waves issuing out of the Speaker's mouth, strikes the first layer of Air enclosed within the hearer's Tympanum and produces in the latter a peculiar modification whereby it is rendered capable of manifesting Sound and making it audible. To this end, the Mīmāṃsaka postulates the presence, in the ear-cavity, of the fixed layer of Air, for the purpose of affording a screen of resistance to the Sound-waves; against which screen these waves strike and thereby effect the change in the Auditory Organ. It is a well-recognised fact that Air cannot produce any effects unless it meets with a certain degree of resistance. Even though the Auditory Organ consists of Ākāsha, and Ākāsha is one only, yet the Ear-Drum is distinct in each person—each being limited in its power and scope by virtue of the Merit-Demerit of the person to whom it belongs. Then again, the change produced in the Sound-waves is not in the *Ākāsha* of the Ear, but in the Air enclosed within the Ear-Drum; and as this latter differs in each person, all men need not hear the Sound that may be heard by one of them. That all this diversity is due to *Air-waves* is also indicated by the fact that when Sound-waves travel with the wind, the Sound is heard at a greater distance than when they travel against the Wind.