Purva-Mimamsa in its Sources c19.4

c19.4

As a matter of fact, the Perception of each letter (of the Word) vanishes as soon as it appears; and so also the perception of each Word composing a Sentence. Hence it has been held that every such Perception leaves behind an Impression which leads on to the Perception of the next letter in the Word; and so on,—the Impression left by these Letter-perceptions combines with that left by the last Letter of the Word, and thus brings about the idea of the Word as a whole, which brings about the idea of the meaning [though according to Prabhākara, all this happens for the first time in the experience of any one person, only when the Word thus cognised is found used in a Sentence—see below].—Each Word has thus to be regarded as having the potency of bringing about the comprehension of the meaning. In a case where, even on the due hearing of the Letters of the Word, no meaning is comprehended, it has to be admitted that some necessary auxiliaries to that comprehension are wanting. Thus the conclusion is that, in the ultimate analysis, it is the Letter-Sound that is the root-cause of Verbal Cognition; and what is true of the Letters as composing the Word is true also of the Words as composing the Sentence. This theory of ‘Impressions’ left by Letters has been justified on the ground that no other hypothesis can explain the well-known facts of experience. (See *Bṛhatī*, pp. 160-161.)