A History of Indian Medical Literature v3.c43.s7.2

v3.c43.s7.2

The tantrayuktis⁵⁴² are technical terms for the procedures which are necessary in order to arrive at a correct understanding and interpretation of scientific treatises. Vāgbhaṭa describes their function in the following way: “The tantrayuktis are like the rays of the sun on a pond with lotuses whose flowers are closed, and like the light of a lamp in a dark house. A person who studies the textbooks without being familiar with the tantrayuktis fails to grasp the meaning of what he reads, just as one fails to acquire wealth when one’s good fortune declines. By establishing the meaning of sentences, the tantrayuktis provide one with the desired success (in debates), enabling one to refute the positions of those holding erroneous views. They reveal the meaning of utterances when these are hidden, interchanged, hinted at or indirectly expressed, and are said to be the essence of the ocean of the rules of speech” (A.s.U.50.154–157).