Purva-Mimamsa in its Sources c19.13

c19.13

The above leads us on to the question of the exact denotation of Words: Does the Word (name of things, noun) denote the *Universal* (Class) or the *Particular* (Individual) or both? The ground for doubt on this point (as expounded by *Shabara*, above) is that while the *Cognition* brought about by the Word pertains to the *Class*, the *Action* that follows the Word (*i.e.*, the Injunction) pertains to the *Individual*. This same view has been expressed by *Prabhākara* (*Bṛhatī*. MS., p. 36, b)—who holds the *Anvitābhidhāna* theory of Verbal Expression, according to which the *Denotation* of a Word is cognisable only through its connection with a particular *action*; hence, as each Sentence would appertain to some *action*, which by its very nature, must appertion to an *Individual*, his theory would appear to lend support to the Individualistic theory of Denotation.