प्रत्यक्षम् - pratyakṣa

 

 About Śabdayoga

Blog author Jayaraman Mahadevan

 

प्रत्यक्षम् - Pratyakṣa 


Etymology

अक्षम् + प्रति  = प्रत्यक्षम्

akṣam + prati  = pratyakṣam

 

The dictionary śabdārthakaustubha[1] to gives the following derivative

प्रतिगतम् अक्षम् इन्द्रियं यत्र – pratigatam akṣam indriyaṃ yatra  - that (knowledge) in which -

·       the sense organ (akṣa)

·       is in contact (pratigata) (with the object)

This is stated as a prādi-samāsa (compound) based on the vārtika - अत्यादयः क्रान्ताद्यर्थे atyādayaḥ krāntādyarthe - to the grammatical rule कुगतिप्रादयः kugatiprādayaḥ (aṣṭādhyāyī  2.2.18).

 

Lexicon

There is one entry in the Amarakośa on this term

प्रत्यक्षं स्यादैन्द्रियकम् … (3.1.79)

pratyakṣaṃ syādaindriyakam …

Pratyakṣa refers to knowledge generated through the senses (through object contact)

This lexical entry is quite in line with the etymological derivation.

 

Textual occurrences

 
Yogasūtra

There is just one occurrence of this term

प्रत्यक्षानुमानागमाः प्रमाणानि ॥१.७॥

pratyakṣānumānāgamāḥ pramāṇāni ॥1.7॥

Among the five activities of the mind pramāṇa (right knowledge) – right knowledge is one and pratyakṣa (direct perception through the senses) is counted as one among the sources of correct knowledge as indicated by the Sūtra.

 

 

Bhagavadgītā

There is just one reference to pratyakṣa in this text. It is found in the 9th chapter. It is as follows - 

राजविद्या राजगुह्यं पवित्रमिदमुत्तमम् ।

प्रत्यक्षावगमं धर्म्यं सुसुखं कर्तुमव्ययम् ॥ ९.२ ॥

rājavidyā rājaguhyaṃ pavitramidamuttamam .

pratyakṣāvagamaṃ dharmyaṃ susukhaṃ kartumavyayam .. 9.2 ..

Rājavidyā is praised in this verse. Rājavidyā is the knowledge about the Brahman according to the commentary of śrīśaṅkarabhagavatpāda[2]. Rājavidyā is praised as pratyakṣāvagamaṃ - directly experienced. It is not something which is abstract and to be inferred.

Haṭhayogapradīpikā - The word pratyakṣa is not found in this text

 

Observations

It becomes evident based on the references above that among the Yoga texts – that in Haṭhayogapradīpikā, there is no discussion on epistemology. This seem to be true in the case of Bhagavadgītā also, where only a passing mention of the term pratyakṣa is found. Even in yogasūtra the epistemological discussions are minimal and restricted to only one Sūtra quoted above.

00000
 

[1] Śabdārthakaustubha, Vol 4, pg.1892

[2] राजविद्या विद्यानां राजा, दीप्त्यतिशयवत्त्वात् ; दीप्यते हि इयम् अतिशयेन ब्रह्मविद्या सर्वविद्यानाम्  - https://advaitasharada.sringeri.net/display/bhashya/Gita#BG_C09

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

List of Words - śabda-yoga

 List of Words  (as per the alphabetical order of Sanskrit) Click on the Words to get to the Etymological discussions    About Śabdayoga Blog created & Maintained by Jayaraman Mahadevan    A Atha   Anuśāsana   Anumāna Avasthāna   Akliṣṭa   abhāva   abhyāsa Ā Āgama  Ālambana  ī Īśvara k kaivalya kliṣṭa     kh Khyāti   G Guṇa   C Citta   J jñāna D Dṛḍhā Draṣṭā      N Nidrā Nirodha  p Puruṣa Prakṛti   Prajñā Pratiṣṭhā   Pratyakṣa   pratyaya  praṇidhāna Pramāṇa       B Bhūmiḥ           M Mithyā  Y Yoga Yatnaḥ R Rūpa   L Laya V Vastu   Vikalpa Vicāra  Vitarka viparyaya vibhūti Viṣaya    Vairāgya  vṛtti V ī rya   ś Śraddhā  śabda   śūnya    S Satkāraḥ samādhi Saṃvega Saṃskāra  S ādhana   Sārūpya   Sū...
Read more

ईश्वरः- Īśvara

 ईश्वरः- Īśvara  About Śabdayoga Blog author Jayaraman Mahadevan Etymology ईश् + वरच्   = ईश्वरः īś + varac   = īśvaraḥ ·        The root for the word is   ईश् ऐश्वर्ये īś aiśvarye – to rule, to command, to possess power ·        The suffix added to it is वरच्    - varac – It is added to the root to indicate the meaning the agent/doer ( कर्त्रर्थ kartrartha ). It added based on the grammatical rule - स्थेशभासपिसकसो वरच् stheśabhāsapisakaso varac ( aṣṭādhyāyī – 3.2.175 ). Based on the above grammatical etymology the derivative statement of the word would be - शास्ति इति ईश्वरः - śāsti iti īśvaraḥ - the one who governs etc.   Lexicon There are two entries in the Amarakośa to the term Īśvara. They are as follows - ईश्वरः शर्व ईशानः शङ्करश्चन्द्रशेखरः 1.1.30. īśvaraḥ śarva īśānaḥ śaṅkaraścandraśekharaḥ īśvara,   śarva,   īśāna, śaṅkara, candr...
Read more

सारूप्यम्- Sārūpya

    About Śabdayoga Blog author Jayaraman Mahadevan     सारूप्यम्- Sārūpya     Etymology This word is derived in two levels. First the word Sarūpa is arrived at and from that the word sārūpyam is derived. समानं रूपं यस्य सः सरूप : samānaṃ rūpaṃ yasya saḥ sarūpaḥ The one who has a similar form is sarūpa   At the first level it is a compound where the word sarūpa is arrived at by combining the words   Samāna (similar/identical) and rūpa (form). They are combined as per the Bahuvrīhi compound rule तेन सहेति तुल्ययोगे tena saheti tulyayoge   ( aṣṭādhyāyī   2 . 2.28)   सरूप + ष्यञ् = सारूप्यम् sarūpa+ṣyañ = sārūpyam The suffix ṣyañ is added to the word sarūpa to denote the nature or attribute. The suffix is added as per the grammar rule गुणवचनब्राह्मणादिभ्यः कर्मणि च guṇavacanabrāhmaṇādibhyaḥ karmaṇi ca ( aṣṭādhyāyī 5.1.124) Hence the derivative statement would be - सरूपस्य भावः सारूप्यम् sarū...
Read more